Use case
AI receptionist for small business: every call answered, for less than hiring
Stay on the job: a 100% AI receptionist picks up the calls you can’t get to, asks what you’d ask and sends you the details. Stay on the job: a 100% AI receptionist picks up the calls you can’t get to.
Free setup · No contract · Cancel anytime
Short answer
An AI receptionist for small business answers every call you can’t get to, takes down what the caller needs and sends you a summary, for a fraction of what a person at the front desk costs. AIReceptionistGo is 100% AI and says so when it picks up. It answers 24/7 in English and Spanish, uses the call protocol of your trade and has no monthly fee to start, with free setup and no contract.
The call you miss while you’re on the job
It’s Thursday, 3:15 p.m. Mike runs Hollis Heating & Air, a one-truck business (a fictional example). He’s on a roof swapping out a condenser, and his phone is ringing in the truck. It’s a homeowner whose AC is blowing warm air, and they want someone to look at it.
Mike gets 30 or 40 calls a month. That’s not enough to hire a receptionist, and too many to miss. Every call that goes to voicemail while he’s working is a job that might go to someone else.
With an AI receptionist on his line, that call is answered with his business name. The caller is asked the questions Mike would ask. When he climbs down, the details are waiting in his inbox, and he decides when to call back.
How it works for a small business
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Tell us about your business.
The services you offer, your hours, the questions you’d ask a new caller and who should hear about which calls. Nothing technical.
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We set up your protocol.
We start from the protocol for your trade and adapt it to you. Setup is free, and nothing goes live until you’ve approved it.
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Forward your line.
You keep your number. Send every call, just the ones outside your hours, or only those you can’t pick up.
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Read the summary.
Who called, what they want, whether it’s urgent and what the AI did. Recordings and transcripts are in your dashboard.
The details, step by step, are on how it works.
Example call: Hollis Heating & Air
A fictional call to Mike’s line, about 30 seconds, while he’s up on that roof.
Hollis Heating & Air · AC blowing warm air
Thu · 3:15 PM
New job
- AI
- Hollis Heating & Air, you’ve reached AI Receptionist, Mike’s AI assistant. How can I help?
- Caller
- Our AC is blowing warm air. How much is a new unit?
- AI
- Mike gives prices once he’s seen the system. What’s the address?
- Caller
- 48 Willow Lane.
- AI
- And your name and number?
- Caller
- Dan Moreno, 405-555-0138.
- AI
- Thanks, Dan. Mike will call you back at that number.
Summary sent to you · Thu · 3:16 PM
- Caller
- Dan Moreno · (405) 555-0138
- Needs
- AC runs but blows warm air. Asked about a new unit.
- Address
- 48 Willow Lane
- Done
- Took the details. No price given. Told him Mike will call back.
Stop losing jobs to missed calls
Missing calls like Dan’s?
or hear example calls from other trades on the demo page.
Free setup · No contract · Cancel anytime
What you decide
You run the business, so you set the rules, and we put them in place for you:
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When it answers
All the time, after hours, or whenever you’re busy on a job.
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What it asks
The questions for each kind of call, and the details that can’t be missing.
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Who hears about it
The calls that should reach you, what your team should handle, and how you want to be told.
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What it never says
Your list of things it must not promise. The example caller asked for a price and got a callback instead.
When your business changes, the rules change with it.
Built on how small businesses actually get calls
A small business phone answering service is only as good as its questions. Our call protocols come from nearly two decades of running phone reception for small businesses. That’s how we know what a caller with no hot water, a new legal matter or a roof leak needs to be asked. Three rules carry over to every call:
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It asks what matters, in the order that matters for your trade: what’s wrong, where, and how to reach the caller.
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It knows when to hand over. Your rules decide which calls reach you right away and which can wait for the summary.
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It never promises what you don’t. No quotes, no dates, no advice, unless you’ve approved them.
Why those rules, and the two others behind every protocol, is explained on our method.
Your protocol · Heating & Air
ApprovedOn the call above · Hollis Heating & Air (example)
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It asks what matters
On this call: What’s wrong, where, and how to reach the caller
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It knows when to hand over
On this call: Not urgent → Mike gets the summary, calls back
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It never promises what you don’t
On this call: “Mike gives prices once he’s seen the system.”
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It escalates real emergencies
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You see every call
What it costs compared with hiring or a live service
There are three common ways to get your calls answered when you can’t: hire someone, pay a live service, or use an AI answering service for small business like AIReceptionistGo. Here’s how they compare on the things a small business owner checks:
| Part-time receptionist | Answering service with people | AIReceptionistGo | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Monthly cost | Wages, plus taxes and time off | Charged per minute or per call, often with a monthly minimum | No monthly fee; $0.99 per answered call |
| Hours covered | Their shift | The hours in your plan; nights and holidays often cost extra | 24/7 |
| Calls at the same time | One | As many as the staff on shift can take | Many at once |
| Time on hold | Busy when on another call | Can happen at busy times | None |
| Languages | Whoever you hire | Depends on the provider | English and Spanish |
| After the call | A note or a message | A message | Recording, transcript and summary |
| Commitment | Payroll, taxes and notice periods | Often a minimum term; ask | No contract, cancel anytime |
What a part-time receptionist costs
The median wage for receptionists in the US was $18.27 an hour in May 2025, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. For a part-time receptionist at 20 hours a week, that’s about $1,580 a month in wages alone, before payroll taxes, and the line is still unanswered the rest of the time.
A person at your front desk can do much more than answer calls, and a live answering service does good work. If what you need is every call answered, the right questions asked and the details passed on, an hourly wage pays for more than the job requires. The side-by-side is in AI receptionist vs. answering service, and if you’re weighing a virtual receptionist for small business with people on the line against one that’s 100% AI, that page covers what each one does.
Which plan fits a small business
The cheapest way in has no monthly fee. The service doesn’t change from plan to plan. What changes is how many calls are included and what each extra call costs:
- Pay As You Go: no monthly fee, $0.99 per answered call. For a handful of calls a month.
- 50-Call Plan: $29 a month with 50 calls included, then $0.69 per extra call. For a few calls a day.
- 100-Call Plan: $49 a month with 100 calls included, then $0.49 per extra call. For busier lines.
Not sure how many calls you get? Check your phone provider’s call log for last month. If it looks like Mike’s, set it next to the 50 calls in the 50-Call Plan. If you get far fewer calls than that, or far more, do the math with your own number on pricing: each plan lists its monthly price, the calls it includes and the price of each extra call. For numbers across the industry, see the State of AI Reception 2026 report.
Your month, by plan
Best fit: 50-Call Plan, $29.00
- Pay As You Go Best fit $29.70
- 50-Call Plan Best fit $29.00
- 100-Call Plan Best fit $49.00
What the month would cost on each plan: the monthly fee plus each call past the ones included.
Questions small business owners ask
How much does an AI receptionist for a small business cost?
AIReceptionistGo has no monthly fee to start: Pay As You Go charges $0.99 per answered call. Every plan comes with 24/7 answering in English and Spanish, a protocol for your trade, call transfers, texts to the caller, recordings, transcripts and a summary of each call. You don’t pay for setup and you don’t sign a contract. Plans differ in how many calls are included each month and in the price of each extra call.
Is it worth it if I only get 30 or 40 calls a month?
That’s the business it was built for. At 30 or 40 calls a month, hiring someone doesn’t add up, but each missed call can be a lost job. Compare the plan that covers your calls with what one new customer is worth to you, and decide from there.
What’s the difference between a call answering service for small business and an AI receptionist?
A traditional call answering service for small business uses people on shifts and typically charges per minute or per call. An AI receptionist answers every call itself, 24/7, with no hold and several calls at once. Both take messages and pass on the details. AIReceptionistGo adds a recording, a transcript and a summary of every call.
Can it answer only when I’m busy or after hours?
Yes. You choose when your calls are forwarded: all the time, only outside your hours, or only when you can’t get to the phone. You can keep answering yourself between jobs and let the AI take the rest. If nights and weekends are your problem, see the after-hours answering service.
Is there a contract or a setup fee?
No to both. You don’t pay to get set up, you don’t sign a contract, and you can cancel whenever you like. You pay the monthly price of your plan, plus any extra calls beyond what it includes. Before your line goes live, you review the protocol we’ve set up and approve it.
Will it give my customers prices or quotes?
Only the ones you approve. If you haven’t given it a price, it tells the caller you’ll confirm it, takes their details and passes them on. The same goes for dates and advice. That rule is part of every protocol, because a wrong promise costs more than a missed call.
What should a small business look for in an AI receptionist?
Four things. It tells callers it’s an AI. It asks the questions your trade needs, not a generic script. You approve everything it can say, including prices. And you can check every call afterwards: recording, transcript and summary. If a service can’t show you an example call for your kind of business, keep looking.
Stop losing calls while you work
Stay on the job and let the phone get answered by an AI that asks what you’d ask. Click “Get started,” tell us what you do and which calls you can’t get to, and we’ll write your protocol for free. It starts answering only once you’ve approved it.