# AI receptionist

> A real local number the AI answers in your business's voice: it books, quotes from knowledge, verifies identity, transfers to staff, takes voicemail — and plugs into your existing phone with one dial code.

The AI receptionist answers a real local number in the business's own voice. On the call it can qualify, quote from [knowledge](/docs/ai/knowledge), book with [tools](/docs/ai/tools), extract details, verify identity, transfer to a person with context, or take a voicemail that becomes a [ticket](/docs/helpdesk/overview). Every call is logged with a transcript, an AI summary, and notes & review.

## Plugging it in — the business keeps its number

Nobody ports a number to try an AI. Four deployment patterns, all live today:

1. **Missed-call redirect (the opener)** — The business keeps its phone and its number. Dial `*71` + the AI number once: conditional forwarding sends only *unanswered and busy* calls to the AI, which answers in the business's name. Their phone still rings first; `*73` turns it off. Zero risk, live in two minutes.
2. **After-hours desk** — Forward everything when closed. 42% of restaurant/hospitality calls arrive outside business hours; today those hit voicemail, and 85% of voicemail callers never call back.
3. **Full front desk** — The AI number is the main line. The AI answers first and transfers to staff by name when a human is wanted.
4. **The tracked second door** — Put the AI number on the Google profile, the ads, the website. Every call is answered, logged, summarized — and attribution tells you which door paid.

## What it can do on a call

- **Answer with your greeting** and follow the persona you set — name, tone, what it may and may not promise.
- **Run call flows** — [workflow graphs](/docs/workflows/overview) on the call: qualify, quote, book, extract variables, follow conditional routes.
- **Global escapes** — "let me talk to a person" is caught anywhere in the call by a global node and **transfers with context**.
- **Business hours** — day vs. after-hours behavior; after hours it books tomorrow instead of ringing out.
- **Voicemail** — taken, transcribed, and turned into a ticket; the *voicemail left* trigger fires workflows.
- **Identity verification** — SMS code or security questions before any account-specific talk.
- **Priority queue** — VIP callers flagged on the CRM jump the line.
- **Post-call** — AI summary on the log, notes & review, a webhook to your systems, and the *call ended / unanswered / voicemail* [triggers](/docs/workflows/triggers).

## Batch calls

Upload a CSV and every row gets a call running a chosen flow, with that row's columns available as variables — "calling about the $4,200 heat-pump quote…". Recall lists, estimate follow-ups, appointment confirmations at scale. Results land in the same call log; outbound at campaign scale lives in [Campaigns](/docs/campaigns/overview).

## Test before it's live

The service starts in **sandbox**: simulate calls from the dashboard, hear the flows, and tune the persona before a real number is attached. When you're ready, buy the number and go live — see [Phone numbers](/docs/doors/phone-numbers).

> **VOICE IS THE ONE METER:** Front Desk includes 500 voice minutes a month; past the allowance, calls meter at 25¢ per minute with a spend cap you set. The number itself is $10/mo at cost. See [Plans, billing & usage](/docs/getting-started/plans-billing).