How an AI receptionist works (and how to test one this week)

The plan

1. Count the calls you miss in one normal week (section 4 shows you how, on your own phone).
2. Write down the 10 questions callers ask you most, with your real answers.
3. Call two AI receptionists yourself and score them against that list.

1. Start here if you've never used AI

You don't need to know anything about AI to read this. Here's the short version of what you need.

What "AI" means in this guide. AI here means software that can understand ordinary language, typed or spoken, and answer back in ordinary language. The best-known examples are chatbots like ChatGPT and Claude: websites or phone apps where you type a question and they write an answer back, like texting a very fast assistant. They're free to try, and you'll use one in this guide to write your fact sheet.

What an AI receptionist is. It's the same kind of technology, answering your phone. A caller rings, and instead of voicemail or a menu ("press 1 for..."), they hear a natural voice that greets them with your business name. They say what they want in their own words. It answers from the information you gave it, takes their details, and sends you a written note about the call.

What it's good at:

• Answering the same common questions, calmly, every time
• Picking up when you're busy, on a job, with a patient, or closed
• Taking a name, number and reason for the call without forgetting any of it
• Writing a short summary so you don't have to listen to voicemail

What it's bad at:

• Anything you didn't tell it. It only knows what's on the fact sheet you give it.
• Being right every time. AI can say something wrong in a completely confident voice. A well set up receptionist is told to say "I'll have someone call you back" instead of guessing, and you'll test for this in section 8.
• Judgement calls: whether to take a job, whether to give a discount, whether something is urgent in a way you didn't foresee

It doesn't replace you. It handles the routine calls and the ones you'd otherwise miss, and passes the rest to a person.

You can hear one before deciding anything. Section 8 shows you how to test one by calling it, which costs nothing but a few minutes.

Words you'll see

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