AI receptionist for small business: what to look for and how to choose

Why small businesses use an AI receptionist

Small businesses use an AI receptionist because the owner and the team are usually the receptionist, and they are busy doing the work. A plumber under a sink, a dentist with a patient, a salon owner halfway through a colour and a lawyer in a meeting all miss calls for the same reason: the phone rings when they cannot pick up. Each missed call is a customer who may simply try the next business on the list.

Hiring a full-time front-desk person solves it during office hours but costs a salary, and it still leaves evenings, weekends and lunch uncovered. An answering service covers the phone but usually bills by the minute or call and often books through a separate scheduling tool. An AI receptionist like Frontivo.io answers calls and messages around the clock, several at a time, from your own information, for a flat monthly fee. The basics are in What is an AI receptionist?.

What to look for in an AI receptionist

Products in this category vary a lot. These are the seven things that matter most for a small business, roughly in order of importance.

• Every channel your customers use. Phone matters most for service businesses, but many customers start on website chat, a text or WhatsApp. Look for one receptionist that covers phone, website chat, text, messaging apps and email with the same knowledge, not a separate tool per channel.
• Real calendar booking. A link to a booking page is not booking. The receptionist should check your actual calendar, offer only open times in your time zone, read the details back and sync reschedules. Frontivo.io does this with its built-in calendar, Google Calendar or Outlook Calendar; see appointment booking.
• Answers from your own information. A good receptionist answers only from the knowledge base you give it and says so when the answer isn't there, rather than guessing.
• Human handoff. Check whether it can transfer a live call to your team, and what it does when nobody picks up: it should take a detailed message and alert you straight away. See human handoff.
• Flat, predictable pricing. Per-minute billing punishes you for being busy. A flat monthly plan with a clear allowance, published overage rates and no setup fee is easier to budget for.
• A free trial without a card. You should be able to load your own information and test it before paying anything.
• Works in your country and your customers' languages. Ask whether you can get a local number where you are, and whether the AI replies in the customer's language. Frontivo.io is sold worldwide; it chats and texts in most languages and takes phone calls in 30+ languages.

Questions to ask a vendor before you buy

Bring this list to the demo or the trial. A good vendor answers every one plainly; a vague answer is itself an answer.

• Which channels are included in the plan I am looking at, and which cost extra?
• Does it book on my actual calendar (Google, Outlook or built-in), and does it respect my busy times?
• Where does it get its answers, and what does it say when the answer isn't there?
• What happens when a caller asks for a person? Is live transfer included in my plan, or is it a message and an alert?
• What is included in the monthly price, what counts as overage, and what happens when I reach my allowance?
• Can I try it before paying, without entering a card?
• Can you give me a local phone number in my country, and how long does that take?
• What is not available yet? Ask directly. Frontivo.io lists its own gaps on Why Frontivo.io.

Frontivo.io's answers, for the record: every plan includes the inbox with transcripts and summaries, calendar booking, the knowledge base and a handoff message with an instant alert. Live call transfer and appointment reminders are on Phone Only, Starter and Growth, the CRM on Starter and Growth, and review requests and analytics on Growth. Extra usage is billed per unit at the start of the next month, or you can pause at your allowance. The fine print is in plans and billing.

Which products should a small business compare?

These are the eight products Frontivo.io compares itself with on the compare pages, with the kind of product each one is. Smith.ai and Ruby offer live human receptionists; the others are AI phone, voice or chat products.

• Smith.ai: Live human receptionists plus an AI receptionist.
• Ruby: Live human virtual receptionists and live chat.
• Rosie: AI phone answering service.
• Goodcall: AI phone agent.
• My AI Front Desk: AI receptionist with built-in CRM.
• Dialzara: AI phone answering service.
• Synthflow: Voice AI agent platform.
• Tidio: Customer service chat with Lyro AI.

For starting prices, included usage, channels and which product fits which kind of business side by side, read Best AI receptionist for small business: 9 options compared.

Which plan size fits which business?

Plan size mostly comes down to two things: which channels you need and how many conversations you handle in a month. Use last month's call volume as a starting point, then round up a little, because a receptionist that answers around the clock will handle more calls than you answered before.

Starter includes 300 AI voice minutes (about 100 calls), 300 website chat conversations and 300 AI text replies a month with 3 team users; Growth 450 minutes (about 150 calls), 600 conversations, 500 text replies and 5 users. Every plan is month to month with no setup fee, and paying annually saves 15%. Compare them on pricing, and read How much does an AI receptionist cost? for what drives the price.

If you run more than one location, each is a separate Frontivo.io account today; see multiple locations.

Examples by industry

The job is the same everywhere, but what the receptionist needs to know and ask changes by trade. These are common setups, each with a full industry page and a sample conversation.

• Plumbers, HVAC and electricians: separate emergencies from routine work, collect the address and the problem, book the next open slot and alert the on-call person after hours. See plumbers, HVAC companies and electricians.
• Dental, medical, chiropractic and veterinary practices: answer the policies you have written down, book and reschedule, and send reminders. See dental offices, medical offices, chiropractors and veterinary clinics.
• Law firms, accounting firms and insurance agencies: screen new enquiries with intake questions, book consultations and take a detailed message for existing clients. See law firms, accounting firms and insurance agencies.
• Salons, restaurants and real estate: bookings, table enquiries and viewing requests arrive over chat, Instagram and WhatsApp as much as the phone. See salons, restaurants and real estate.
• Cleaning, landscaping, pest control, movers and auto repair: quote and job requests captured with the details you need to price them. See cleaning companies, landscapers, pest control, movers and auto repair shops.
• Online stores: order status after the customer gives their order number, plus product questions, on chat, WhatsApp and Instagram. See ecommerce.

The full list is on the industries page. If you worry that it will sound like a robot, judge for yourself with the live demo; if you worry about being locked in, Frontivo.io is month to month with a 14-day money-back guarantee on the first payment, explained in cancel and refund.

How to get started

You can be answering website chat within about 15 minutes, and phone calls 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).

1. 1Start the 14-day free trial. No card is needed, and your phone number is connected when you subscribe.
2. 2Add your services, prices, hours and policies to the knowledge base. This is the step that makes the receptionist sound like your business.
3. 3Connect your calendar and install the website widget (one script tag).
4. 4Chat and test-call your receptionist in the browser with the Channel Tester until the answers sound right.
5. 5Subscribe, get your local number where available, and forward your existing line.

The full walkthrough is How to set up an AI receptionist. If you would rather talk it through first, contact sales.