An AI receptionist is software that answers your business phone with a natural-sounding voice, holds a real conversation, and does the work a receptionist would: answering questions, taking down details, booking appointments and putting urgent calls through to a human.
How it works: when someone calls your number, the AI answers in under a second. It has been configured with your services, prices, hours, service area and booking rules — so it has an actual conversation, captures the caller’s details, checks your live calendar and books the job. Urgent calls are transferred to a human; every call is transcribed.
What it can do: answer every call 24/7, speak natural Australian English and 30+ languages, answer questions about your business, capture details, book into Google Calendar, Microsoft Calendar or ServiceM8, handle many calls at once, transfer urgent calls, and make outbound calls for invoice chasing, quote follow-ups and reminders.
What it can’t do: greet a walk-in customer at a front desk, make judgement calls outside the rules you set, or do varied hands-on admin like a human assistant. It replaces the missed call and the voicemail beep — not every human role.
Cost: typically a flat monthly fee based on call minutes. AIssie voice plans run $199–$670 per month, versus $55,000+ a year for a full-time hire. No lock-in contracts.
What to look for: a natural Australian voice (call the demo before you buy), real booking ability into your calendar, human escalation you control, full call transcripts, honest data handling (customer conversations should never train someone else’s AI), and month-to-month pricing.