Which calls should an AI receptionist take, and which should a person?
An AI receptionist can usually take simple questions and bookings within rules you set, and take a message after hours. Emergencies, complaints, upset callers, price negotiation and anything legal or medical should go to a person, or at least be passed on at once with the caller's details. Write the hand-off rules down before it answers a live call.
Sorting calls by type
| Call type | AI receptionist can | A person should |
|---|---|---|
| Simple questions | Answer from facts you wrote, such as hours and service area | Take anything not on that list |
| Booking | Book within job types and slots you set | Handle unusual jobs and full calendars |
| After hours | Take details and say when someone will call | Call back first thing next day |
| Complaints | Take name, number and a short summary | Call back and decide the remedy |
| Emergencies | Alert the on-call person by a written rule | Respond at once |
| Upset callers | Offer to connect or take a message | Speak with them |
| Price talk and sales | Say a person will send a quote | Negotiate and set the price |
| Legal or medical | Take a message only | Handle, or refer to a licensed professional |
Rules for handing a call to a person
- The caller asks for a person, in any words. It should connect them or take a message, not argue.
- The caller seems upset, repeats themselves or says they are not being understood.
- The call mentions smoke, flooding, injury or another safety risk. As general advice, the script can tell callers who are in danger to call 911 first.
- The caller asks for a discount, a firm promise about timing or any other promise.
- It touches the law, an injury, a refund dispute or health advice.
- The system is unsure. It should say it will pass the question on, not guess.
Make the hand-off work
A hand-off only helps if someone is there. Decide who is on call, how they are alerted, how long they have to respond, and what the system tells the caller if nobody answers. A caller who is told "someone will call you" with no time and no follow-through is likely to try another business.
Whoever picks up should see the caller's name, number, what they said and when they called, so they do not ask everything again. Read the summaries daily at first, and treat a call that should have gone to a person but did not as a reason to tighten the rules. Any callback or text goes out only with the person's consent.
Recording and where to read more
Whether and how to record calls is a separate question; the related answer on consent to record customer calls covers it. The related answer on answering services and AI receptionists compares the options and covers testing the system yourself, and the related answer on after-hours inquiries covers what to promise callers.
Related answers
- Should a small business use an answering service or an AI receptionist?
- Do you need consent to record calls with customers?
- How should a small business handle inquiries that arrive after hours?
AI assistants and chatbots
A good assistant answers the question a customer asks at nine at night, in your words, from your information, and brings in a person when it should. We build that, and we test it on your real questions before a customer sees it.