AI receptionist for small businesses
An AI receptionist is software that answers your business calls in a natural voice, day or night. Memobell knows your hours, prices and services, takes messages, books appointments and puts urgent callers through to you. After each call you get a one-line summary of what the caller wanted. Plans start at $49 a month for 75 calls, with 7 days free.
Updated by Ramy Khuffash
Set it up from your Google listing
Free to set up. No card needed.
What it does
- Answers every call, day and night, including the ones you can’t get to
- Learns your business from your Google listing and website, no script to write
- Takes a message and emails you a one-line summary after each call
- Books appointments in the hours you choose
- Puts callers through to you when they need a person
- Hangs up on robocalls so they never reach you
An example: the evening call
Say Nadia calls a hair salon at 7:40 PM, after it’s closed, to ask about a color appointment on Saturday. The receptionist checks the calendar, offers 10:00 or 1:30, books 1:30 and texts a confirmation. The owner sees one line in the morning: “Nadia booked a color for Saturday at 1:30 PM.”
When it doesn’t know the answer
It won’t guess. If a caller asks something it hasn’t been told, it says it’ll find out, takes their number and puts the question at the top of your inbox. Add the answer under What it knows, and the next caller gets it.
It answers from your real details
When you set it up, Memobell reads your Google listing and website and writes down what it learned: business hours, services, prices, the area you cover. You check it, fill in anything that isn’t online, and give it a test call. It only answers from what’s there, and says it’ll find out when it doesn’t know.
You see who needs you
Calls that need a callback sit at the top of your inbox with the number ready to tap. Everything it handled on its own sits underneath, each call readable like a text conversation. You can also get an email or text alert when someone needs you.
Keep your number
Forward your existing business number when you’re busy or don’t pick up, so calls you answer still ring you first. Or take a new local number from us and put it on your website and Google listing.
AI receptionist or a person at the front desk?
A receptionist you hire can do things an AI can’t, like greeting people at the door and talking through a difficult situation. An AI receptionist covers the phone: it answers at any hour, can be on more than one call at a time and never takes a lunch break. If nobody sits at a desk in your business, the real choice is between an AI receptionist and voicemail. If you do have a team, calls they pick up still ring them first.
Who an AI receptionist suits
It suits businesses where the person who’d answer the phone is busy doing the work: a plumber under a sink, a stylist mid-cut, an agent at a showing. It also fits offices that close at 5 and still get calls in the evening. If most of your calls are the same few questions about hours, prices and booking, it can handle them on its own.
Setting it up
Search for your Google listing and Memobell reads it and your website. Check what it learned, add anything that isn’t online, and choose its name, voice and greeting. Make a test call, then forward your number or use a new local one.
AI receptionist, answering service or voicemail?
Voicemail takes a message and leaves the rest to you. A traditional answering service has people at a call center reading from a script you give them, often billed by the minute. An AI receptionist answers right away from your own hours, prices and services, books into your calendar and texts callers links while they’re still on the line. If a caller needs a person, it puts them through to you.
What an AI receptionist costs
Memobell counts calls, not minutes. Solo is $49 a month for 75 calls, Team is $129 for 300 and Busy is $249 for 800. Website chat and texts are included. Robocalls, blocked numbers, hang-ups and your own test calls don’t count, there’s no extra charge for nights or weekends, and there’s no setup fee or contract.
How to choose an AI receptionist
Make a test call before it answers real customers, and ask it something it hasn’t been told: a good one takes a message instead of guessing. Check that you can keep your number, that it books around your calendar, and that it says it’s a virtual assistant when asked. Then ask how you’re billed, and whether spam and hang-ups count.
One receptionist for calls, chat and texts
The same receptionist can answer your website chat and reply to text messages from the same details, so customers get the same answer however they reach you. Turn on Spanish and it answers callers in English or Spanish at no extra cost. Everything lands in one inbox.
Questions
What does an AI receptionist do?
It picks up your business calls, answers questions about your hours, prices and services, takes messages, books appointments and puts urgent callers through to you. After each call you get a short summary of what happened.
Will it sound like a robot?
No. It uses a natural voice you choose, and it says it’s a virtual assistant if anyone asks. Try a test call during setup before it answers real customers.
How long does it take to set up?
You can be answering calls the same afternoon. Search for your Google listing, check what it learned, make a test call and forward your number.
How much does an AI receptionist cost?
Memobell starts at $49 a month for 75 calls, with 7 days free. Website chat and texts are included, and robocalls, hang-ups and your own test calls don’t count.
Is an AI receptionist the same as an answering service?
They overlap. Both pick up when you can’t. An AI receptionist also answers questions from what it knows about your business, books appointments and texts callers links while they’re on the line.
Can it transfer calls to me?
Yes. It puts callers through to you when they need a person. On Team and Busy you can set rules by time of day, with backup numbers if you don’t pick up.
Can it take more than one call at a time?
Yes. Callers don’t get a busy tone while it’s on another call.
What happens if I run out of calls?
You can buy more calls in packs, or have 50 added automatically. Without them it keeps answering for a few more calls, then pauses, and calls ring your phone and go to voicemail until you add calls or the month renews.
Can an AI receptionist replace a human receptionist?
It can cover the phone, but not the front desk. It won’t greet people at the door or talk someone through a difficult situation. If you have a team, it picks up the calls they can’t get to.
Does it tell callers it’s AI?
Yes. You choose its name, voice and greeting, and it says it’s a virtual assistant if anyone asks.
Does it work with Google Calendar?
Yes. Connect Google Calendar and it won’t book over your other plans.
Can it speak Spanish?
Yes. Turn on Spanish and it answers callers in English or Spanish at no extra cost.
Can I try it first?
Yes. Setting it up is free, needs no card, and you can give it a test call. Getting a real number starts a 7-day free trial.
Related
- Virtual receptionistA virtual receptionist for your business that answers right away, day and night, and costs a fraction of a staffed service. Priced per call, not per minute.
- After-hours answeringAn after-hours answering service for nights, weekends and holidays. Answers questions, takes messages, books appointments and puts real emergencies through to you.
- Appointment bookingLet callers and website visitors book appointments with an AI receptionist. It offers real free times, sends a confirmation text and a reminder the day before.