How it works
One number in. A qualified job out.
The assistant is a layer in front of the phone you already have. It answers, asks the questions you approved, books what it can book, and hands you a written record of everything else.
Onboarding: 3–5 business days · no new hardware · you keep your number
The call, end to end
What happens between the ring and the text message.
Ring
Your line forwards on busy, no answer, or after hours — whichever rules you set. The assistant picks up on the first ring. The caller hears a normal phone line, not a menu tree.
Disclose
First sentence: it names your business, says it is the Front Desk Clerk assistant, says it is an AI, and announces recording where your state requires it. The exact wording is on the disclosure page.
Qualify
Problem, address, urgency, access, callback number. For clinics: new or returning patient, reason for the visit, insurance, preferred time. All of it is configured before go-live.
Resolve
It offers a real slot from your calendar and reads it back. If no slot fits, or the caller does not want to book, it takes a message and confirms when you will call back.
Report
You get a text with the caller's name, number, address, and one-line reason. The full transcript lands in your inbox. Nothing sits in a dashboard you have to remember to open.
The questions
Written for your trade, not for a call centre.
These are the default qualification sets. We tighten them during onboarding with your service area, your hours, and the things you are tired of asking twice.
| Trade | The assistant asks |
|---|---|
| HVAC | Heating or cooling? System type and age? Is it running at all? Anyone home? Address, callback number, how urgent. |
| Plumbing | Where is the water? Is the shutoff closed? Fixture or appliance involved? Address, callback number, whether anyone can meet a technician. |
| Electrical | Whole-property outage or one circuit? Breaker panel accessible? Any burning smell or heat at an outlet? Address, callback number. |
| Roofing | Active leak or storm damage? When did it start? Roof age and material if known? Insurance claim opened? Address, callback number. |
| Dental | New or existing patient? Reason for the visit? Dental insurance provider? Preferred day and time? Pain level, if any. |
| Med spa | Service of interest? First visit? Provider preference? Preferred day and time? Best callback number. |
Scripts are text, not code. You can change a question by emailing us; changes are applied before the next business day.
Onboarding
Three to five business days, most of it waiting on forwarding.
| When | What happens | Who does it |
|---|---|---|
| Day 0 | 30-minute kickoff call. We collect your hours, service area, on-call number, calendar, and the rules for what counts as an emergency. | You and us |
| Day 1–2 | We write the script, connect the calendar, and set up the number and forwarding plan. You review the opening line and the qualification questions. | Us; you approve by email |
| Day 3 | Test calls: a booking, a message, an after-hours call, and an escalation. You listen to each one. | Both |
| Day 4–5 | Forwarding is switched on. We watch the first live calls and correct the script if a question lands badly. | Us |
The long pole is usually your phone provider's forwarding settings, not the assistant. If you can change call forwarding in your provider's app, setup is faster.
When it cannot finish
Three branches, decided in advance.
The caller asks for a person
It says it can take the details and have someone call back, then does exactly that. The message goes to your on-call number immediately. It does not argue, and it does not invent a hold time.
The call is an emergency
You define the keywords — gas smell, active flooding, no heat below a set temperature, a downed line. On a match, it stops qualifying and follows your escalation rule: on-call number, second number, then a recorded message.
The assistant fails
If it cannot answer or loses the line, forwarding falls through to your existing phone or voicemail. The failure mode is the phone system you have today, not a dead line. We monitor the line and alert you if it stops answering.
What we need from you
Five things, all of them things you already know.
- Your hours and holiday rules. Including the days you close early and the weeks you do not.
- Your service area. Towns you cover, towns you do not, and the radius where a call-out fee applies.
- Calendar access. The calendar you actually use for bookings, with the appointment lengths you want offered.
- On-call routing. Who gets the text at 2 am, and who gets it if that person does not answer.
- Your rules. What counts as an emergency, what you will not quote over the phone, and what the assistant should never promise.
Boundaries
What the assistant will not do.
- It does not claim to be a human, a receptionist, or you.
- It does not give medical, legal, or structural advice.
- It does not quote a price you have not loaded into the script.
- It does not promise an arrival window you have not authorised.
- It does not make outbound cold calls, ever.
- It does not call numbers from a purchased list.
- It does not keep a caller on the line to collect data it does not need.
- It does not hide the recording notice in a state that requires consent.
Next step
Read a call before you book one.
The demo page has the full transcript of a booking, a human request, and an emergency escalation — with the disclosure line intact.