What Does an AI Receptionist Actually Do?
An AI receptionist answers your business line when you can’t. It talks to the caller, answers common questions from information you give it, takes a message and leaves you a transcript.
Quo, the work line I build on, calls its AI agent Sona. Quo says Sona answers calls 24/7, answers questions from documents and web pages you give it, takes messages and transfers calls. It can also text a booking link while the caller is still on the phone, and it works in English, Spanish and French. A summary and transcript land in your Quo workspace after each call.
Some tools go further on booking. Rosie’s Scale plan and RingCentral’s AI Receptionist (AIR) both book appointments straight onto your calendar. Smith.ai’s AI receptionist can hand a call to a live receptionist based in North America.
The simpler cousin is missed-call text-back. Nobody talks to the caller. They just get a text after the missed call, and you pick it up from there. Quo’s auto-replies cover missed-call follow-ups and after-hours texts on every plan. For most owners, I think that’s the first thing to switch on.
What Does It Cost as of October 2026?
Prices change often, so treat these as a snapshot from each company’s own pricing page in October 2026.
| Tool | Starting price | What the AI does | Worth knowing |
|---|---|---|---|
| Quo (formerly OpenPhone) | Phone plans from $15 a user a month billed annually ($19 monthly). Sona: 10 calls a month included, then $1 a call or $25 a month for 40 calls | Answers, handles FAQs, takes messages, texts booking links, transfers | Auto-replies on every plan. Full AI call summaries and transcripts start on Business ($23 a user a month billed annually) |
| Rosie | $49 a month for 250 minutes | Answers 24/7, takes messages, texts booking links | Calendar booking and live transfers start on the $149 Scale plan (1,000 minutes). Seven-day free trial |
| RingCentral AI Receptionist (AIR) | $49 a month standalone with 100 minutes, or $39 as a RingEX add-on | Handles FAQs, routes calls, books on your calendar, texts during calls | $0.50 a minute after the included minutes, rounded up in 30-second increments |
| Smith.ai AI Receptionist | Free for 25 calls a month, then $3 a call. Pro from $150 a month | Answers and can transfer to a live receptionist | Human receptionist plans start at $300 a month for 30 calls |
| Google Voice | Starter at $10 a user a month (up to 10 users with Google Workspace) | A business number with voicemail transcripts | Standard ($20) adds auto attendants, ring groups and AI note-taking, which is a different job from answering calls |
There’s one more cost if you text customers. Quo lists 10DLC registration, the carrier sign-up for business texting in the U.S., at a $19.50 one-time review fee plus $1.50 to $3 a month.
Where an AI Receptionist Works Well
An AI receptionist is good at routine calls: the ones where the caller wants one piece of information, a time slot or proof that somebody heard them.
Missed calls are the clearest win. If you’re under a sink or in a session, the caller gets a text back instead of a voicemail beep.
Booking works when the rules are simple. Your hours, your service area, how long an appointment runs. The AI sends a link or books inside the lines you drew.
FAQs work when you’ve written the answers down. Hours, service area, whether you take small jobs, how pricing works. These tools answer from what you give them, so a thin knowledge base gets you thin answers.
Call logs are the part I’d miss most. Every call leaves a transcript and a summary, so the details stop living only in your head.
Where an AI Receptionist Doesn’t Work
Angry customers want a person. A calm, scripted voice can make an upset caller angrier. Route those calls to you, or to a callback you’ll actually make that day.
Complex quotes don’t price from an FAQ. A kitchen remodel or a custom training plan needs you. I’d keep the AI to published price ranges and “the owner will call you back,” and never let it promise a number.
Emergencies need a human right away. Say a customer calls about a burst pipe (an example, but you know the call). Your greeting should say exactly what to do in an emergency, and any transfer should ring a phone someone will answer.
And your regulars know your voice. Don’t make a ten-year customer talk to a robot to reach you.
The Middle Path I Build
The version I build sits between voicemail and a full AI receptionist. It’s a work line that texts back. It drafts replies, logs calls and books walk-throughs, and the owner approves every message.
That piece is in build now, as part of the Voice EA in my ready-made tools, which I’m piloting with Ash & Pine Construction. A separate business number is next up for Ash & Pine, and Game Face Performance’s is set up and rolling out. Both are in the case studies.
The approval step is for owners who don’t want a robot talking in their name. The assistant does the typing and waits for your thumb.
There’s an Apple catch, and I’d rather say it up front. Apple doesn’t let outside tools read or send iMessages, and Notes and Reminders are closed too. That’s why business texts go through a work number that tools can see. The text-back, the transcripts and the follow-ups all work there, and your personal iMessage stays personal. For Apple-only steps, we use Shortcuts where it helps.
Coaches have their own version of this problem, with parents texting a personal cell. I walked through it in AI for coaches and trainers.
Is an AI Receptionist a Good Fit for You?
| Good fit | Not a fit (yet) |
|---|---|
| You miss calls while you’re on a job or in a session | Most of your calls are upset customers or urgent problems |
| Most callers ask the same handful of questions | Nearly every call needs a custom quote |
| You book appointments, consults or walk-throughs | Nobody is available to take a transferred call |
| You’ll read and approve texts from your phone | You want it running with nobody checking |
| Customers already text your personal cell | You haven’t written down your hours, area and prices yet |
If the phone isn’t your biggest leak, start with how to find the chore AI should take first.
What About Recording Calls?
AI receptionists record and transcribe calls. That’s how the summaries get made, and Quo says Sona records and transcribes each call it answers.
North Carolina is a one-party consent state. N.C. Gen. Stat. § 15A-287 makes intercepting a call a felony when it’s done “without the consent of at least one party to the communication.” The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press also notes a 2005 North Carolina appeals case that found consent can be implied when a caller is told about the recording and keeps talking.
Other states are stricter. California, Florida, Pennsylvania and Washington are among the states that require everyone’s consent, and the Digital Media Law Project suggests getting everyone’s consent when callers are in different states. The easy habit is a greeting that says the call is recorded.
Outbound calls are a separate issue. In February 2024, the FCC ruled that AI-generated voices count as “artificial” under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act, so the robocall rules, consent included, apply to them.
I’m not a lawyer. If you take calls from all over the country or record anything sensitive, ask one.
Where to Start
Turn on missed-call text-back on a work number this week, and watch what comes in for a month before you add a voice agent. If you’d like help with the version where you approve every message, send me a note.