Every call answered.AI receptionist for businesses and individuals
Your phone answered in your business’s name: at night, at weekends and while your hands are full. Questions answered, appointments booked and urgent calls passed straight to you, with a text summary of every call.
SET UP AND LOOKED AFTER BY Tamkoz · KEEP YOUR NUMBER · PRIVACY AND RECORDING RULES CONSIDERED FROM DAY ONE
PRESS PLAY · SAMPLE CALL
BRAMBLE HAIR STUDIO
08:12 · Saturday booking, before the salon opens
TEXT SENT TO THE OWNER
- NEW BOOKING
- Sat 10:15 · Kirsty
- Cut & blow-dry · £42
- Lauren Doyle · 07700 900123
- Added to calendar · confirmation sent
SAMPLE CALL · FICTIONAL BUSINESS · AI TEXT-TO-SPEECH · UK VOICES AND UK EXAMPLES
The call you didn’t take rang someone else.
When your hands are full, the phone rings out or goes to voicemail. Some callers leave a message. Others simply ring the next business on the list.
67%of UK small businesses miss at least one call a day that they believe costs them business, according to BT Business. We cite UK research because it is the best sourced we have found; the problem is not a UK one.
£3.7bna year is BT’s estimate of the revenue UK businesses alone lose by not being able to answer the phone.
What is an AI receptionist?
An AI receptionist is software that answers your business phone in a natural voice. It can answer common questions, book or change appointments, take messages and pass urgent calls to you, then send you a written summary of every call, at any hour, including when you’re busy, closed or already on another call.
It isn’t a phone menu (“press 1 for bookings”) and it isn’t a voicemail transcription service. Callers talk to it normally, and it talks back, using only the information you’ve approved, and handing anything it can’t deal with to you.
ONE DAY’S CALLS
WHAT IT TAKES ON
“Are you open on Saturday?”
→ Answered from your hours
“Can I book for Thursday?”
→ Booked into your calendar
“Can I move my appointment?”
→ Moved, confirmation texted
“How much is a service?”
→ Quoted from your price list
Breakdown at 21:40
→ Marked urgent, texted to you
Quote request
→ Details and photos requested
“Do you cover my area?”
→ Address checked against your area
A complaint
→ Passed to you with context
How an AI receptionist works
Nothing changes for your customers except one thing: someone always answers.
OR, IF YOU’RE NOT…
01
Your number stays the same
Calls are forwarded to the AI receptionist only when you choose: when you’re busy, when nobody picks up after a few rings, or outside opening hours. Most landlines, mobiles and internet phone systems can do this.
02
It answers in your business’s name
It greets callers the way you would and says up front that it’s an AI assistant. It speaks from your prices, hours, services and policies, and nothing it hasn’t been given.
03
It gets the job done
It answers questions, books into your calendar, takes job details and checks whether you cover the caller’s area. Anything sensitive, complicated or urgent is handed to a person by text or transfer.
04
You get the summary
Every call ends with a short text or email: who called, what they wanted and what was agreed. Callers get their confirmation by text.
Sample builds: hear them work
Four receptionists set up for four very different businesses: a salon, a heating engineer, a physio clinic and a restaurant. Press play and follow the transcript.
THESE ARE DEMONSTRATIONS, NOT CLIENT WORK. THE BUSINESSES AND CALLERS ARE FICTIONAL, THE VOICES ARE GENERATED WITH AI TEXT-TO-SPEECH, AND THE PHONE NUMBER USED IS FROM OFCOM’S RANGE RESERVED FOR DRAMA. THEY WERE RECORDED FOR UK BUSINESSES, SO THE ACCENTS ARE BRITISH AND THE PRICES ARE IN POUNDS. YOUR RECEPTIONIST IS SET UP WITH THE VOICE, LANGUAGE AND LOCAL DETAIL YOUR OWN CALLERS EXPECT.
IT HANDLES
- New bookings from your live calendar
- Moving and cancelling appointments
- Prices and timings from your price list
- Confirmation and reminder texts
CONNECTED TO
- Salon booking system or Google Calendar
- SMS for confirmations
SAMPLE BUILD
BRAMBLE HAIR STUDIO
08:12 · Saturday booking, before the salon opens
TEXT SENT TO THE OWNER
- NEW BOOKING
- Sat 10:15 · Kirsty
- Cut & blow-dry · £42
- Lauren Doyle · 07700 900123
- Added to calendar · confirmation sent
SAMPLE CALL · FICTIONAL BUSINESS · AI TEXT-TO-SPEECH · UK VOICES AND UK EXAMPLES
What are missed calls costing you?
Four questions, your own numbers. It’s rough maths, but it’s usually the moment the decision makes itself.
Include evenings and weekends.
If you’d answered.
What a typical customer spends.
The starting numbers are placeholders, not statistics. Change them to match your business.
MISSED CALLS
YOUR NUMBERS · A MONTH
- Missed calls
- 26
- New enquiries among them
- 10
- Jobs you might have won
- 3.1
WORK THAT MAY HAVE GONE ELSEWHERE
$312
≈ $3,744 A YEAR
Get these calls answeredAI receptionist vs answering service vs voicemail
Each has its place. Here’s an honest side-by-side.
| Voicemail | Human answering service | AI receptionist | In-house receptionist | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Answers at night and weekends | Records a message | Depends on the plan | Yes | Only if you staff it |
| Books into your calendar | No | Often, if set up | Yes, if your system allows it | Yes |
| Handles a delicate conversation | No | Yes | Hands it to you | Yes |
| Several calls at once | Takes messages only | Depends on the plan | Usually, depending on plan | One at a time |
| Typical cost (UK market) | Usually included with your line | £50–£200+ a month¹ | From £25–£99 a month off the shelf² | £21,000–£25,000 a year salary³ |
- ¹ Fasthosts’ estimate for traditional answering services. Source: Fasthosts.
- ² Moneypenny AI Receptionist from £25 a month; Fasthosts AI Receptionist £39, £69 or £99 a month. Advanced setups cost more. Source: Moneypenny.
- ³ National Careers Service average, before employer costs such as National Insurance and pension. Source: National Careers Service.
How much does an AI receptionist cost?
Two separate costs, and it helps to keep them apart.
1 · THE PLATFORM · PAID MONTHLY TO THE PROVIDER
Off-the-shelf AI receptionists start from around £25–£99 a month ≈ $30–≈ $125: Moneypenny advertises its AI Receptionist from £25 a month, and Fasthosts charges £39, £69 or £99 a month with a one-month free trial. Fasthosts estimates most businesses pay between £30 and £500+ a month depending on call volume, features and integrations.
THESE ARE UK MARKET RATES FROM UK PROVIDERS, IN POUNDS. PRICES WHERE YOU ARE WILL DIFFER, AND ANY CONVERSION SHOWN IS APPROXIMATE.
SOURCES: Moneypenny · Fasthosts · PRICES CHECKED 5 OCTOBER 2026
2 · SETTING IT UP PROPERLY · OPTIONAL, QUOTED BY US
You can set a basic tool up yourself. Where we come in is making it genuinely useful: connecting your calendar and booking system, writing the answers in your words, handover rules, texts, testing and tuning. That work is quoted in writing before anything starts, and you pay the platform directly, so you always know what the monthly running cost is.
What we set up for you
The right platform for you
We compare options for your call volume and budget, including a simple off-the-shelf tool if that’s all you need.
Your number, your hours
Call forwarding set up on your existing number, with rules for busy times, evenings and weekends.
Scripts in your words
Greeting, prices, policies and the answers to the questions you get asked every day, written with you, not guessed.
Bookings and alerts
Connected to your calendar or booking system where it supports it, plus text summaries to you and confirmations to callers.
Clear handover rules
Emergencies, complaints and anything it’s unsure about go straight to you by text, email or a transferred call.
Privacy basics
What callers are told, whether calls are recorded and who has to consent where you operate, how long recordings and transcripts are kept, and who can see them, set up before launch.
Tested before it goes live
We ring it like your customers do, with awkward questions, background noise and local accents, and fix what trips it up.
Looked after afterwards
We read transcripts with you in the first weeks and keep improving the answers.
AI receptionists, privacy and recording
A phone call is personal data: a name, a number, sometimes much more. Under the UK and EU GDPR, people have the right to be told how you’ll use their information at the point you collect it.
In the United States the rule that bites first is consent to recording. Federal law allows one party to the call to consent, but a number of states require every party to agree, and which states those are depends on how the statutes are read. If you take calls from more than one state, set the receptionist to announce recording on every call: it is the only rule that works everywhere.
Read the ICO’s guidance: ICO. This is practical guidance, not legal advice, and we are not your lawyers: check what applies where your callers are.
HOW WE SET EVERY RECEPTIONIST UP
- Tell callers they’re speaking to an AI assistant, at the start of the call.
- If calls are recorded or transcribed, say so, and say why, when the call begins.
- Keep a short, plain privacy notice on your website that covers phone calls.
- Decide how long recordings and transcripts are kept, and delete them on schedule.
- Never take card numbers by voice. Send a secure payment link by text instead.
- Check where your provider stores data and sign their data processing terms.
Who uses an AI receptionist?
Hair, beauty and barbers
Bookings, rebookings and no-show reminders while you’re with a client.
Trades and home services
Breakdowns triaged, quotes started and service areas checked while you’re on a job.
Clinics and therapists
New patient bookings and cancellations, without giving medical advice.
Restaurants and takeaways
Table bookings and allergy notes taken without stopping service.
Estate and letting agents
Viewings booked and maintenance reports logged out of hours.
Professional services
New enquiries taken and callbacks booked while you’re in meetings.
AI receptionist questions
Something else? Ask in the chat. A person answers.
How much does an AI receptionist cost?
Off-the-shelf AI receptionists start at around £25 to £99 a month in the UK market, where our sourced figures come from: Moneypenny advertises its AI Receptionist from £25 a month and Fasthosts charges £39, £69 or £99 a month, and Fasthosts estimates most businesses pay between £30 and £500+ a month depending on call volume and features. Prices from providers in your own country will differ. If you’d like it set up and connected to your systems for you, we quote that in writing, in your currency where we can, before any work starts.
What is an AI receptionist?
Software that answers your business phone in a natural voice. It answers common questions, books appointments, takes messages and passes urgent calls to you, then sends you a summary of each call.
Is an AI receptionist a good idea for a small business?
It is if you regularly miss calls (while you’re working, at lunchtime, in the evening or when it’s busy) and most of those calls are routine: bookings, prices, opening hours, quotes. If most of your calls are long, delicate conversations, a person is still the better first contact, and we’ll tell you so.
Will callers know they’re talking to an AI?
Yes. We set every receptionist up to say it’s an AI assistant at the start of the call. Under the UK and EU GDPR people have a right to be told how their information is used when you collect it. In much of the United States every party to a call must also agree before it is recorded. Being upfront is both the safe answer and the one that builds trust. Callers who want a person can ask, and it will take a message or pass them on.
Can I keep my existing phone number?
Yes. Your number doesn’t change. Calls are forwarded to the AI receptionist using call forwarding: for example, only when you’re busy, when nobody answers, or outside opening hours.
Can it book appointments into my calendar?
Yes, if your calendar or booking system allows connections. Google Calendar and Microsoft Outlook usually do, and many booking systems have their own integrations. We check yours before you commit.
What happens if it can’t answer a question?
It says so, takes the caller’s details and passes the message to you straight away. It only answers from information you’ve approved, so it shouldn’t make things up, and we read transcripts with you in the first weeks to close any gaps.
Will it understand regional accents and second-language speakers?
Speech recognition handles accents far better than it used to, and it can work in other languages, but a strong accent, background noise or a weak signal can still cause mistakes. That’s why we test with calls like your real ones, in the accents your customers actually have, before launch, and why it reads important details back to the caller to confirm them.
Is there a free AI receptionist?
Some providers offer free trials. Fasthosts, for example, offers a one-month trial on its plans. A receptionist that answers questions and books appointments has running costs, because every minute of AI conversation costs the provider money, so free versions are usually limited.
Can it take payments over the phone?
We don’t set receptionists up to take card numbers by voice. Instead, it can text the caller a secure payment or deposit link: safer for them, and simpler for you.
SOURCES · CHECKED 5 OCTOBER 2026
- ISPreview: “Fancy an AI receptionist? BT Business will sell your company one” (Oct 2026)
- Moneypenny: AI Receptionist
- Fasthosts: How much does an AI receptionist cost? (updated 9 Jul 2026)
- National Careers Service: Receptionist job profile
- ICO: The right to be informed (UK GDPR)
- National Gas: emergency contacts
- Ofcom: Telephone numbers for TV and radio drama
Never miss the next one.
Tell us how calls reach you today. We’ll come back with a plan and a written quote.