What does the AI receptionist do?
It answers calls, qualifies leads, books appointments, sends texts and emails, organises inboxes, creates notes, routes urgent calls, and makes approved follow-up calls.
AI receptionist Q&A
Questions buyers ask before installing an AI front desk agent.
The right setup depends on call volume, industry, calendar rules, human handoff, data needs, and the actions the agent should take after the greeting.
£700starting installation fee, with managed support from £400/month.
How is it trained?
It can use the company website, service pages, FAQs, opening hours, locations, scripts, pricing rules, documents, and owner-approved instructions.
Can it book appointments?
Yes. It can connect to calendars or booking workflows, offer times, send confirmations, and notify the right team.
Can it send SMS?
Yes. It can send booking links, payment links, document links, location requests, confirmations, reminders, and follow-up messages.
Can the voice match a company director?
Yes, when it is approved in writing by the person whose voice is used. The public browser demo is only a basic sample; a live installation can use a far more natural company voice or a director-matched voice profile.
Does the open-source edition support Voicebox?
Yes. The self-hosted project can connect to local Voicebox for staff lead alerts and agent speech. Twilio or a custom phone provider is still used for real phone-number connectivity.
Can it make outbound calls?
Yes, where approved. It can call back missed leads, confirm appointments, chase documents, request reviews, and remind customers.
Can it transfer to a human?
Yes. Urgent, sensitive, high-value, complaint, or blocked calls can be transferred or escalated with a clean summary.
Can it be multilingual?
Yes. Multilingual call handling can be included, with transcripts and summaries kept readable for the business team.
Can it replace a receptionist?
It can replace or reduce routine front desk workload. Human staff can stay focused on exceptions, sales, fulfilment, and sensitive work.
Can it be self-hosted?
Yes. The open-source edition is available on GitHub for CPU-first private installs, and larger organisations can request a managed private or hybrid build.
Does it work with local models?
Yes. The self-hosted project defaults to local-first auto routing: OpenZero, Ollama, llama.cpp GGUF workflows, optional hosted API fallback, and a no-model rules fallback.
What information is needed?
Website, phone setup, email inboxes, calendar, CRM, call volume, common questions, urgent scenarios, staff contacts, and the desired outcome.
Still have questions?
Send the business details and ask for a setup recommendation.
FrontDeskAgent can recommend API, hybrid, or private/self-hosted delivery based on call volume, budget, data sensitivity, and required integrations.