What is an AI receptionist?
An AI receptionist is a voice agent that answers your business phone line, talks to callers in natural conversation, and completes the work a front desk would: qualifying the caller, answering common questions, booking appointments, routing urgent calls to the right person, and logging everything in your systems. Unlike voicemail or an answering service that just takes a message, it finishes the job on the call.
Can I try an AI receptionist before buying?
Yes, and you do not need to book anything or hand over an email first. Scarlett is a live agent running right now. Call (720) 770-2664 and talk to her like a customer would. Ask hard questions, interrupt her, try to trip her up. That is the fastest way to judge whether this works for your business.
How much does an AI receptionist cost?
A custom AI receptionist is scoped to your workflows, integrations, and call volume rather than sold as a fixed subscription tier. The important difference from off-the-shelf tools is the pricing model: many vendors charge per minute or per conversation, so a busy month costs you more. A scoped build does not scale its cost with your call volume. Our AI automation pricing guide walks through real ranges and what drives them.
AI receptionist vs answering service: what is the difference?
A traditional answering service takes a message and passes it along, so someone on your team still has to call the person back, qualify them, and book them. An AI receptionist completes the work on the call: it answers the question, books the appointment on the right calendar, and writes the record into your CRM. It also answers every call at once, so a rush of calls does not sit in a queue.
Will callers know they are talking to AI?
Most callers simply experience a fast, helpful conversation. We recommend being straightforward about it, and we build the agent to say so if asked. What actually drives caller satisfaction is that the phone gets answered immediately and the caller gets a real outcome instead of voicemail.
Does it work with my CRM and scheduling software?
Yes. That is the core of a custom build. If your system has an API, we connect it: your CRM, scheduler, field-service platform, ticketing system, or an internal tool your team built. Booked jobs and captured leads land where your team already works instead of in a separate dashboard nobody checks.
Can it route calls to the right person or territory?
Yes, and this is where custom builds separate from off-the-shelf tools. Scarlett can route based on the caller's location so the tech who covers that area gets the job, based on service type so the right specialist takes it, or based on your on-call rotation after hours. Off-the-shelf products typically forward to a single number or a simple list.
What happens if the AI cannot answer something?
You define the escalation path. The agent can transfer to a live person, take a detailed message with the specific context captured, schedule a callback, or flag it as urgent to your team. The goal is that nothing gets dropped, not that the AI handles literally everything.
Is it month to month?
We scope engagements around the build rather than locking you into a long subscription for software you do not own. Since you own the resulting workflow, you are not renting access to your own phone system. Talk through the specifics on a scoping call and we will be direct about what your situation costs.
How long does it take to launch?
It depends on how many integrations and call paths are involved, but a focused first workflow is deliberately scoped to go live quickly rather than disappearing into a six-month project. We start with the calls that matter most, launch that, and expand from there.