[Home](/) / AI receptionist AI receptionist # An AI receptionist for small business. A receptionist that never leaves the desk, set up around the way your business answers its phone.[Book a demo](https://cal.com/vidhaniai/30min)[How pricing works](/pricing/) What it is ## What an AI receptionist is An AI receptionist is software that does the phone half of a receptionist's job. It picks up when a customer calls, works out what they need and settles it before they hang up. A booking gets made. A question gets answered. A request gets logged for your team. Vidhani AI builds and runs one for your business. It speaks in your voice, knows your services, hours and prices, and reads your calendar live. You hear it work before any customer does. A call, start to finish ## One call, from ring to booking - **It picks up.** Your number rings the receptionist, which greets the caller by your business's name. - **It listens.** In a sentence or two it works out whether this is a booking, a question, a change or a problem. - **It looks things up.** Prices, openings and policies come from the systems we connect, not from guesswork. - **It acts.** The appointment lands on your calendar and the confirmation lands on the caller's phone. - **It hands over, when it should.** Anything that needs a person goes to one, with the story so far. What it handles ## Everything the phone does all day - **Calls.** Picked up right away, with no hold music and no voicemail box to check later. - **Texts.** Customers text the same number. The thread books and confirms like a call does. - **Web chat.** A visitor on your site gets an answer and a booking instead of a contact form. - **Questions.** Prices, directions, policies and what to bring, answered from what your business has told it. - **Changes.** Reschedules and cancellations by call or text, with the freed slot offered onward. - **Reports.** A morning list of what was booked, changed and asked. Side by side ## AI receptionist, voicemail, phone tree or virtual receptionist | | Voicemail | Phone tree | Virtual receptionist (a person) | AI receptionist | |---|---|---|---|---| | The caller | Leaves a message and waits | Presses numbers through a menu | Talks to someone who may take a message | Says what they need in their own words | | Who finishes the job | Your staff, later | Your staff, after routing | Your staff, after the message | The receptionist, during the call | | Books the appointment | No | No | Sometimes, depending on the plan | Yes, on your calendar | | Callers served at once | Messages may pile up unanswered | Several, though each may only reach a menu | As many as there are people on shift | All of them, with no queue | Handoff ## When a person needs to step in You decide which calls belong to a human: an emergency, a long-standing customer, a complicated case. For those, the receptionist stops handling and starts briefing. The person who picks up learns the caller's name, the reason for the call and everything said so far. The caller should not have to repeat themselves. That is the difference between a handoff and a transfer. Evenings, weekends and holidays work the same way, and the [after-hours answering service](/after-hours-answering-service/) page covers the night shift in full. Limits ## What an AI receptionist will not do - **Give advice.** No legal, medical or financial advice. Where a business gives advice, that stays with its professionals. - **Make things up.** A question outside what your business told it goes to a person, not into a guess. - **Decide for you.** Refunds, exceptions and judgment calls wait for your team unless you have said exactly what to do. Trust ## Checks before it speaks Our decision layer looks up hours, prices and openings in your own systems during the call. Private-record requests are set up to pass your caller checks before any details leave the desk. Booking limits are enforced in code beyond the language model. Access rules are built to keep who may hear what outside the model too. Missing facts trigger a handoff with the question already attached. [See the three checks](/how-it-works/#decision). Why Vidhani AI ## What sets this receptionist apart ### [It checks. It doesn't guess.](#decision) Answers come from your own systems, checked before they are spoken. ### Privacy rules outside the AI. Built to keep who may hear what in rules the model cannot rewrite. ### Caller checks before private details. Set up to match the caller to your records before sharing private details. ### We build it. We run it. No builder, no prompts, no homework. You hear it before your customers do. Your trade ## Pick your trade to see the calls it handles Each industry page lists the calls that trade gets and how the receptionist deals with each.[Dental ### Family dental practice](/industries/dental-offices/)[Medical ### Medical practice](/industries/medical-offices/)[Clinic ### Physical therapy clinic](/industries/physical-therapy-clinics/)[Hotel ### Boutique hotel](/industries/hotels/)[Property ### Residential property manager](/industries/property-managers/)[Home services ### HVAC and plumbing company](/industries/home-services/)[Salon ### Hair salon and spa](/industries/salons-and-spas/)[Law ### Neighborhood law office](/industries/law-offices/)[Insurance ### Independent insurance agency](/industries/insurance-agencies/)[Parking ### Parking operator](/industries/parking-operators/) Weighing it against other options? Read [AI receptionist vs answering service](/compare/ai-receptionist-vs-answering-service/), the [buyer's guide](/guides/how-to-choose-an-ai-answering-service/) or the [cost guide](/guides/ai-receptionist-cost/). Questions ## The short answers. ### How is it different from a virtual receptionist? A virtual receptionist is a person working remotely. This is software, so the number of callers it can talk to at once is not set by who is on shift. ### Can it replace my human receptionist? It replaces the phone half of the job. The people at your counter still greet, escort and handle what only a person can, and you can use it to take them off the phone. ### Will callers know it is an AI? Yes, if a caller asks. The opening line is set with you, and the FAQ explains how. ### Will it sound like a robot? It speaks the way your best receptionist does. You hear it yourself first, and anything that sounds off gets changed. ### Does it work with my phone system? You forward calls to the front desk, so your existing setup stays in place. We check the details of yours on the first call. ### Is it worth it for a one-person business? If the phone pulls you off the work, yes. A plumber under a sink is the classic case. ### What will an AI receptionist cost me? It depends on call volume, channels, systems and locations, so we quote it in writing. The cost guide explains how to compare quotes from any provider. ## Hear it answer for your business.[Book a demo](https://cal.com/vidhaniai/30min)