AI phone answering service: an AI receptionist that answers your calls 24/7
Frontivo.io answers your business phone line in seconds, day and night, in a natural voice. It answers questions from your own services, prices and hours, qualifies the caller, books an appointment on your real calendar and hands off to your team when a person is needed. You keep your existing number and forward it to Frontivo.io. All-in-one plans start at $299/month, Phone Only at $199/month, and every plan starts with a 14-day free trial.
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What is an AI phone receptionist?
An AI phone receptionist, also called an AI phone answering service or AI answering service, is software that answers a business's incoming phone calls with a real-time AI voice instead of voicemail or a human answering service. It understands what the caller says, replies in natural speech, answers questions using the business's own information, collects the caller's details, books appointments and transfers or takes a message when a person is needed. Frontivo.io's AI phone receptionist does all of this on your existing business number, 24 hours a day.
How Frontivo.io's AI phone receptionist works
- 1
Frontivo.io connects a phone number for you after you subscribe: in the US, Canada, Puerto Rico and a few other countries it is connected in seconds; most other countries, including the UK, Australia, Germany and the Philippines, need business documents first, which takes 1-3 business days; in some countries you confirm a monthly local-number fee on the card first; and where no local number is offered you get a US (+1) number in seconds. You forward your existing business line to it, so customers keep calling the number they already know.
- 2
When a call comes in, the AI answers with the greeting you chose, in the receptionist voice you picked (every plan includes two receptionist voices, female and male: name them and pick one for calls).
- 3
It listens with real-time speech recognition and replies in natural speech, in 30+ languages.
- 4
Before every reply it searches your private knowledge base (services, prices, hours, policies, FAQs) and answers only from what it finds. If the answer isn't there, it says so and offers a person.
- 5
It asks the qualifying questions you set (what the caller needs, how urgent it is, where they are) and captures name, phone number and the service requested.
- 6
If the caller wants to book, it checks real open times on your calendar (built-in, Google Calendar or Outlook Calendar), books the appointment and reads the details back.
- 7
If the caller asks for a person or one of your escalation rules matches, it transfers the call live to your team or takes a detailed message and alerts you right away.
- 8
The full transcript and a short AI summary land in your inbox, and a missed-call text-back goes out automatically if a call couldn't be answered.
What the AI phone receptionist can do
Answer questions from your own information
Hours, prices, services, service area, policies and FAQs, straight from your knowledge base. If it isn't sure, it says so and offers a person.
Qualify callers
Asks about the need, timeline, urgency and location, then saves the caller as a lead with the details your team needs to follow up.
Book real appointments
Offers only times that are really open, in your time zone, and books directly onto your calendar. Reschedules and cancellations sync with Google Calendar and Outlook Calendar.
Recommend and sell your services
Explains the options you offer, suggests the right one for the caller and captures the buyer as a qualified lead. It doesn't take payments.
Handle emergencies and escalations
Recognises urgent calls and the situations you flag (anger, billing or legal questions, emergencies) and brings in your team: live transfer to the number you set, or a detailed message and an instant alert.
Win back missed callers and new leads
If a call can't be answered, a text goes to the caller automatically. You can also have your AI call missed callers back, and call new website leads who said yes to a quick call, within minutes, while you're open. Included with every plan that has the phone channel.
Speak the caller's language
Replies in the language the caller speaks, so one receptionist serves every customer.
Take many calls at once
Several callers are answered at the same time, so nobody hears a busy signal while your line is within its plan allowance.
Which plans include AI phone receptionist?
The AI phone receptionist is included in Starter ($299/month, 300 AI voice minutes, about 100 calls) and Growth ($549/month, 450 minutes, about 150 calls), and on its own in the Phone Only plan ($199/month, 300 minutes). Live call transfer and appointment reminders come with all three; time on a transferred call counts toward your minutes. Voice minutes cover phone calls and website voice conversations together, and in some countries a call minute counts as 2 or more (see the table). Calls work from day one; texting switches on after carrier approval for your number. See pricing.
Compare all plansWhat it doesn't do (yet)
- It answers with AI, not live people. If you want a human on every call, a human answering service may fit better.
- A phone number is connected once you subscribe (the free trial covers website chat and voice; you can talk to your AI by voice in your browser).
- Local numbers are available in 40+ countries (see where Frontivo.io works for calls, texts and WhatsApp by country); elsewhere you get a US number and forward your line to it. In some countries a local number has a monthly local-number fee: the Phone calls card shows the exact amount and you confirm it before the number is set up.
- One phone number per account today; multiple numbers and locations are coming soon. Several locations or 1,500+ minutes a month? Talk to us.
- Every call is transcribed and summarised in the inbox. Call audio isn't recorded unless you turn recording on; recorded calls start with a spoken notice, and recordings are kept for 90 days.
- It doesn't sign HIPAA business associate agreements (BAAs) and doesn't take payments.
More on what Frontivo.io is and isn't: Why Frontivo.io.
FAQ
AI phone receptionist: FAQ
Straight answers about AI phone receptionist in Frontivo.io.
- No. Frontivo.io gives you a local number in your country (40+ countries; a US number elsewhere) and you forward your existing line to it, so customers keep calling the number they already know. In 28 countries you can also move your existing number to Frontivo.io so the AI answers calls and texts on it. See phone numbers by country.
Still have questions?
Pick whatever's easiest. We're happy to help.
Keep exploring
Related features
- Human handoff and live call transfer
- AI appointment booking
- Text messaging (SMS)
- Knowledge base and AI training (RAG)
Learn more
- What is an AI answering service? How it works, what it costs and how to choose one
- What is an AI voice agent, and how is it different from an AI receptionist?
- What is an AI receptionist?
- AI receptionist vs answering service: what actually changes?
- After-hours answering service: your options compared (and what each costs)
- Plumbing answering service
- HVAC answering service
- Legal answering service for law firms
- Dental answering service
Put AI phone receptionist to work today.
Website chat can be live in about 15 minutes. No credit card required.
- 14-day free trial
- No credit card
- Cancel anytime
Several locations, a team, or a custom setup? Talk to sales