Is an AI receptionist worth it?

It is worth trialling if you miss calls while you work and those calls are jobs.
An AI receptionist answers when you cannot, takes the caller’s details and the problem, and sends you a summary to call back.
Start with missed calls only, for two weeks, and count the jobs it catches.

Who it suits

It suits businesses whose phone rings when nobody can answer.
A plumber up a ladder, an electrician on a job, an estate agency after six and at weekends.
In each case an unanswered call goes to the next name on the list.

It suits you less if most calls need a decision on the spot, or if you already miss few calls.
Count your missed calls for a week before you buy anything.

What it should do

• Answer the calls you miss, not replace you on the ones you can take.
• Take the details: name, number, postcode and what the problem is.
• Answer simple questions from information you give it, such as your area, hours and call-out arrangements.
• Flag the urgent ones, such as a burst pipe or a buyer ready to offer.
• Book only within your rules, if it books at all.

What to check before you sign

• Your number stays yours. Forwarding missed calls keeps your number.
  Moving the number to the supplier makes leaving harder.
• It says it is an AI. Callers who find out later trust you less.
• Where the recordings go. Callers give names, addresses and sometimes more.
  Ask where the supplier keeps recordings, for how long, and whether it signs a processing agreement.
• You can read every call. In the trial, read each summary against the recording.

How to trial it

Forward missed calls only, for two weeks.
Keep quotes and technical advice with you.
At the end, count the callers it captured that you would have lost, and check how many summaries were wrong.

Then do the sum.
Our guide to whether an AI tool pays for itself shows how, with the time spent checking left in.