Meta Tech ProviderAI receptionist
An AI receptionist that answers every call, day and night.
thinnest puts a voice agent on your business line. It answers questions from your own information, books appointments into your calendar, takes messages and hands over to a person when it should.
The short answer
What is an AI receptionist?
An AI receptionist is a voice agent that answers your business phone for you. It greets the caller, works out what they need, answers from your own information, books the appointment or takes a message, and passes the call to a person when it should — at 3am as well as 3pm.
You may also see it called an AI phone answering service or a virtual receptionist. The idea is the same: no phone menu and no voicemail box, just a conversation. Callers speak normally and the agent replies in a natural voice you pick from a searchable voice library.
- It works from what you give it — your website, documents and instructions — not from guesswork.
- Every call is recorded and transcribed, so you can read exactly what was said.
- The same agent can answer WhatsApp, website chat and Telegram, with one memory of each customer.
What it does
What does an AI receptionist handle?
The calls a front desk handles all day: answering questions, booking and moving appointments, taking messages and putting urgent callers through to a person. It does them at any hour.
01
Answers calls 24/7
Every call is picked up — nights, weekends and holidays included — and each one lands in your call log with a transcript and recording.
02
Books appointments
Into your calendar through Cal.com (which syncs with Google Calendar), or into your own booking system through an API the agent calls mid-conversation.
03
Takes messages
Name, number and the reason for the call, on the call record with the full transcript — and sent on to your CRM or a signed webhook if you connect one.
04
Answers FAQs from your knowledge base
Opening hours, prices, areas you cover, parking, what to bring. It learns from your website, sitemap, text and files, scanned PDFs included.
05
Transfers to a person
When a caller asks for someone, or the call needs a human, it transfers to your mobile or front desk. Works on Plivo and Telnyx numbers and numbers bought in India; not on imported Twilio numbers.
06
Follows up on WhatsApp
The same agent answers your WhatsApp, website chat and Telegram. Your team can send a caller an approved WhatsApp template, and when they reply the agent knows they rang.
Who it's for
Who is an AI receptionist for?
Any business that loses work when the phone rings out: trades, clinics, salons, estate and real-estate agents, and law and accounting firms. If callers hang up when nobody answers, an AI receptionist keeps them.
01 — London
Trades
Plumbers, electricians and heating engineers miss calls while they work. The agent takes the postcode and the problem, books the visit, and puts the urgent ones through to your mobile.
02 — New York
Clinics
Dental, physio and private practices. It books, moves and cancels appointments and answers questions about parking or what to bring — and you can set it to pass every clinical question to your staff.
03 — Dubai
Salons and spas
Bookings by stylist and treatment, your cancellation policy explained the same way every time, and the same agent on WhatsApp, where many clients prefer to message.
04 — Manchester
Estate and real-estate agents
Buyer, seller and tenant enquiries out of hours. It asks your qualifying questions, books viewings and valuations, and leaves your team a clean note.
05 — Pune
Law and accounting firms
New-client enquiries handled the way your intake form would: the matter, the deadline, the contact details, a consultation booked. Set it never to give legal or tax advice.
06 — Abu Dhabi
Restaurants
Table bookings, opening hours, the menu and dietary questions, while your staff look after the people in the room.
Set up
How do I set up an AI receptionist with my own number?
Create an agent, give it your information, connect your calendar, then connect your phone number. Outside India you import a number you already hold on a Twilio, Telnyx or Plivo account; in India you can also buy one from us.
- 01Pick a voice from the voice library — filter by language, accent, gender and age.
- 02Add knowledge: crawl your website or sitemap, paste text, upload files.
- 03Connect booking through Cal.com, or your own system through tool calling into its API.
- 04Connect your number. International workspaces import from their own Twilio, Telnyx or Plivo account — we don't rent numbers outside India. Many businesses keep their published number and forward calls to the imported one.
- 05Test with a call from your browser, then put it live.
Compared
How is an AI receptionist different from voicemail, a phone menu or an answering service?
Voicemail records a message, a phone menu routes the caller, and a human answering service takes a note. An AI receptionist has the conversation itself: it answers the question, books the slot, and hands over only when it should.
| Option | Answers questions | Books appointments | Hours | When it needs you |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Voicemail | No | No | Any hour | You call back later |
| Phone menu (IVR) | Recorded answers only | Rarely | Any hour | Routes to a queue |
| Human answering service | From a script | Often | Depends on the plan | Passes on a note |
| AI receptionist | From your knowledge base | Into your calendar | Any hour | Transfers or takes a message |
Your region
Where is my data stored?
In your region. Workspaces in India store their data in Mumbai; workspaces everywhere else — the US, the UK, the UAE and the rest of the world — store it in London, UK. You are placed in the right one automatically when you sign up.
Calls on international workspaces are processed partly outside the UK under UK transfer safeguards; our privacy policy sets out where.
Pricing
How much does an AI receptionist cost?
Our prices are published on the pricing page. International workspaces pay in US dollars by card; workspaces in India are billed locally — see the India page.
You can start free and build and test the agent before any caller hears it. Agencies can resell it under their own brand and set their own prices with white label, on every paid plan.
Honest fit
When is an AI receptionist the wrong choice?
When a call needs professional judgement or is an emergency. An AI receptionist is for the routine front-desk conversation, not for diagnosis, legal advice or a crisis line.
- Never use it as an emergency line. Tell callers to ring the emergency number in their country.
- Clinical, legal or financial advice should go to a qualified person — set the agent to hand those calls over.
- If someone on your team always answers within a few rings and likes doing it, you may not need one yet.
Put an AI receptionist on your line
Start free, build the agent, and test it with a call from your browser before your first caller hears it.
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