15 Questions to Ask Before You Buy an AI Receptionist

Every AI receptionist demo sounds impressive, because demos are built around the easy calls. The difference between products shows up on the awkward ones: the caller with a heavy accent, the emergency at 2am, the question nobody wrote an answer for. These fifteen questions are designed to get past the demo. Ask them of any provider, including us.

How it handles real calls

1. Can I call it myself, on a real number, before I sign anything? A recorded demo shows the best call. A live test shows a typical one.
2. What does it do when it does not know the answer? The right answer is that it says so and takes a message. The wrong answer is that it improvises.
3. How does it hand a call to a person? Ask whether it can transfer live, to which numbers, at which hours, and what happens if nobody picks up.
4. How does it decide a call is urgent? Ask to see how urgency rules are set, and whether you can define them in your own words.
5. Can callers interrupt it, change their mind, or ask for a human at any point? Natural conversation matters more than a natural voice.

How it fits your business

6. Can it book directly into the calendar we already use, and respect our booking rules? Ask which calendars are supported and how double bookings are prevented.
7. Can it look things up during a call, such as order status or availability, or is it limited to a fixed script?
8. Can I keep my existing phone number? Conditional call forwarding should make this possible with most phone systems.
9. Who writes and maintains the information it uses, and how quickly can I change it? Prices and hours change, and you should not need a support ticket for every edit.
10. What do I get after each call? A transcript, a summary, the caller's details, a recording? Where does it arrive: email, text, a dashboard, your CRM?

Cost and commitment

11. How is it priced: per minute, per call, or a flat fee? Ask for a worked example at your current call volume and at your busiest month.
12. Are there setup fees, minimum terms or cancellation fees?
13. What happens to the service, and to my number forwarding, if I stop paying or cancel? You should be able to switch back to your old setup the same day.

Data, privacy and compliance

14. Where are call recordings and transcripts stored, who can access them, and how long are they kept? Can I delete them?
15. Can it be used for the kind of information my callers share? If you handle health, legal or financial details, ask exactly what the provider will and will not sign up to, and get it in writing. For example, JaneJack does not sign BAAs today and should not be used for protected health information.

Answers that should make you pause

• Big numbers without a source. If a provider quotes impressive statistics about missed calls or satisfaction, ask where they come from.
• "It can handle anything." No receptionist, human or AI, can. Good providers are clear about limits.
• No way to hear real, unedited calls before you commit.
• Long contracts before you have seen it work on your own calls.
• Vague answers about where your data goes.

Run a fair trial

If you can, start with a limited trial: forward only after-hours calls, or only overflow calls when your team is busy. Read every transcript in the first week. Note each call that went well, each that went badly, and each the assistant should have handed off. That week will tell you more than any sales call. For what this looks like in a particular trade, see our guides for dental practices, plumbers and HVAC, law firms and veterinary clinics.

Frequently asked questions

Is an AI receptionist better than an answering service?

It depends on your calls. We compare the options honestly, including hiring, in our guide to AI receptionists, answering services and hiring someone.

How long does setup usually take?

Most of the time goes into writing down how your business works: services, prices, booking rules and handoff rules. The better that briefing, the better the calls. Our guide to briefing an AI receptionist covers what to include.

Should I tell callers they are speaking to an AI?

We think you should. See our post on whether an AI receptionist should say it is an AI for the trade-offs.

Judge an AI receptionist on the calls it gets wrong, not the ones it gets right in a demo.