Answers
One question per page, answered in the first sentence, in plain words you can act on.
Several of these correct things the rest of this category publishes. California's disclosure law is outbound-only. The FCC one-to-one consent rule was vacated. Maine and Utah are the two that genuinely reach a receptionist answering your phone.
After-Hours Calls Answered Without 24/7 Staff
Forward your line to an AI receptionist after 5pm. GreetKeeper answers any hour from $49 a month for 200 calls, books jobs and texts your on-call person.
AI Receptionist for a One-Person Business
A solo operator is the clearest case: you cannot answer while you work. Here is the arithmetic at $49 a month, run on your own missed calls.
AI Receptionist on Your Existing Number
Yes. Keep your number and forward it to the dedicated local number GreetKeeper gives you, one per location. Set up in 3 steps, with no porting.
AI Receptionist vs Answering Service Cost
Human answering services publish plans from $65 to $1,900 a month and bill by the minute. GreetKeeper is $49 to $349 a month, billed per answered call.
AI Receptionist vs Voicemail
Voicemail asks the caller to do the work, and most won't. An AI receptionist finishes the conversation. Compare the two side by side before you choose.
Answering Service for 4 Calls a Day
Four calls a day is about 120 a month. GreetKeeper Starter covers 200 answered calls for $49, with booking included and no setup fee.
Answering Service for a Doctor's Office
Judge a medical answering service on urgent-call routing, booking, disclosure and data scope. GreetKeeper covers all four from $49 a month for 200 calls.
Call Forwarding Not Working? The Usual Causes
Forwarding to an answering service usually fails on the mode, the ring delay or the number typed in. Five causes to check, in the order they show up.
Can AI Answer Multiple Calls at Once?
Yes. GreetKeeper answers calls that arrive together at the same time, so nobody queues. Check the 1 limit that sits on your phone line, not the AI.
Can an AI Receptionist Handle Angry Callers?
Yes. GreetKeeper stays calm, captures the complaint and puts an upset caller through to a person in 1 sentence, with the details already on your screen.
Can an AI Receptionist Handle Spanish?
GreetKeeper answers in English and puts Spanish-speaking callers through to your team. Set the transfer rule, then run a three-call test.
Can an AI Receptionist Qualify Leads?
It can ask the questions you would ask and record the answers. Here is how to write qualifying questions that work on a phone call rather than a form.
Can an AI Receptionist Send Calls to My CRM?
Yes. GreetKeeper posts every call to your CRM by webhook, or through Zapier on a paid plan. See the 4 events, the fields and how a record gets written.
Can an AI Receptionist Take Payments?
Reading a card number to an AI raises PCI DSS questions most vendors skip. Here is why a payment link usually beats taking the card on the call.
Can an AI Receptionist Use a Human Name?
An AI receptionist can go by a name like Sarah if callers are told it's an assistant. Maine and Utah set the rules. Here is a greeting that meets both.
Can Callers Tell It's AI?
Some callers work it out and some do not, and the split depends on the call. Here are the cues people notice, and why disclosure beats hoping they miss it.
Can I Listen to Call Recordings?
Recording is a setting with consent obligations attached. Here is why the transcript is usually the more useful artifact.
Can I Try It Before Buying?
Trying an AI receptionist before you commit means hearing it handle your own scenario. Here is what to test and what to ask for.
Can It Answer Pricing Questions?
An AI receptionist answers the prices you give it and should hand over anything needing judgment. Here is where to draw that line.
Can It Handle Medical Questions?
Scheduling and enquiries are one thing, clinical questions another. See where the line sits for 2 kinds of call, and what Utah's AI law requires.
Can It Replace My Front Desk?
An AI receptionist covers the phone part of a front-desk job and none of the rest. Here is the realistic division of labor.
Can It Schedule Across Time Zones?
Time zones are where booking systems quietly go wrong. Here is what to confirm before you take appointments across them.
Can It Send Text Messages?
GreetKeeper texts the caller once after a call with the booking link or confirmation, and texts your on-call person with the caller's details.
Cheapest Answering Service for Small Business
The cheapest answering service is the one with the lowest bill at your call volume. GreetKeeper is $49 for 200 calls, booking included, $0.45 after.
Do AI Receptionists Make Booking Mistakes?
Booking errors come from misheard details, stale calendars and vague times. GreetKeeper reads every booking back and writes it live, from $49 a month.
Do AI Receptionists Sound Human?
Modern AI receptionists sound close to natural speech, and some callers still notice. See what gives them away, and why a disclosure up front works.
Do Customers Hang Up on AI?
Some callers hang up on an AI receptionist, and the cause is usually fixable. See what 26 short calls at one insurance agency showed, and what to change.
Do I Have to Disclose an AI Receptionist?
Yes in Maine, and in Utah for licensed professions. No California statute covers inbound AI calls. See the live rules and the one-line fix.
Do I Need a BAA With an Answering Service?
You need a business associate agreement when a HIPAA covered entity lets an answering service handle patient data. See the 2 tests that decide it.
Do I Pay for Spam Calls?
On many answering plans a robocall uses minutes or a call from your bundle. GreetKeeper screens spam out before the greeting, so it never counts.
Does AB 2905 Apply to AI Receptionists?
California AB 2905 covers calls placed by autodialers, so it does not reach an inbound AI receptionist. Maine and Utah set the live rules instead.
Does an AI Receptionist Transfer to a Human?
GreetKeeper transfers to your team when a caller asks or a rule fires. Calls reach your people, not a call center, and the transcript logs the handover.
Does It Need My Website?
An AI receptionist does not need a website to work, though one makes setup faster. Here is what it actually needs from you.
Does It Support Call Queues?
Queues exist because human agents are finite. Here is what changes when software answers, and where a wait can still happen.
Does It Work With a Landline?
An AI receptionist works with a landline through call forwarding, the same as any other number. Here is what to check with your carrier.
Does the TCPA Apply to Inbound Calls?
The TCPA governs calls and texts a business places, so inbound answering sits outside its core rules. Maine and Utah set the duties that do apply.
Downsides of an AI Receptionist, and the Fixes
The 6 real downsides of an AI receptionist are setup mistakes, not the technology. See each one, and the setting that fixes it before a caller notices.
Fix What Your AI Receptionist Says
Find the wrong answer in the transcript, edit one line of the brief, and the next call uses it. Fix a price, a greeting or a handover line in 2 minutes.
Forward Calls Only When You Don't Answer
Turn on no-answer forwarding at your carrier and point it at your answering number. Your phone rings first; on Verizon the delay is about 30 seconds.
Hidden Fees in Answering Service Pricing
Overage, minute rounding, setup fees, per-number charges and gated booking raise answering bills. GreetKeeper prints every rate, from $49 for 200 calls.
How Accurate Is a Call Transcript?
Transcripts are strong on clear audio. Names and numbers are where errors cluster, which is why GreetKeeper reads them back before it books.
How AI Receptionists Book Into Your Calendar
Connect Google Calendar or Outlook and GreetKeeper books during the call, reads the time back and texts the caller a confirmation. Included from $49.
How Do I Cancel?
Canceling an AI receptionist means stopping the forward and ending the subscription. Here is the order, and what to ask before signing.
How Does an Answering Service Work?
You forward your number, the service answers in your name, then sends you the message, transfer or booking. GreetKeeper runs it from $49 for 200 calls.
How Does It Learn My Business?
An AI receptionist learns your business from a brief you write, not from observation. Here is what to put in it and how it improves.
How GreetKeeper Hands Off a Call
GreetKeeper puts callers through to your team, tries a second number, then takes a full message and texts your on-call person. See the 4-step handoff.
How Long Does AI Receptionist Setup Take?
An afternoon to switch on, a week to get good. The typing is the slow part, not the technology. Here is what each stage actually involves.
How Many Calls Can It Take?
Call capacity and the calls included in your plan are two different questions. Here is how to get a straight answer to each.
How Many Calls Fit in a Minute Plan?
Divide the plan's minutes by your average call length, rounded up. At three minutes a call, a 250-minute plan holds about 83 calls. Here's the math.
How Many Calls Until It Pays for Itself?
Divide the plan price by what one recovered call is worth. At $49 a month, one recovered job can cover the whole bill. Work out your own number.
How Much Does a Missed Call Cost?
The cost of a missed call is your conversion rate times your customer value. Work out your own number with the free missed-call cost calculator.
How Much Does an AI Receptionist Cost?
AI receptionists run $29 to $599 a month. GreetKeeper is $49 for 200 calls, $149 for 750 or $349 for 2,000, with overage printed on every plan.
How to Handle Calls on a Job Site
Answering mid-job wrecks the job, and voicemail loses the caller. Forward missed calls to GreetKeeper from $49 a month and get the details by text.
How to Measure AI Receptionist Performance
Track 5 numbers each month: calls answered, bookings made on the call, transfers, messages and new jobs won. Then set the jobs against a $49 plan.
How to Set Up Call Forwarding
Set call forwarding at your carrier in 4 modes: all calls, busy, no answer or unreachable. Get the dial codes by carrier, the ring delay and a test.
How to Stop Missing Business Calls
Find when your calls go unanswered, then forward those calls to an answering line. GreetKeeper answers them from $49 a month for 200 calls.
How to Train an AI Receptionist
Training an AI receptionist means writing a brief, then editing it from real transcripts. See the loop, and the 5 test calls to rerun after each edit.
HVAC and Plumbing Emergency Calls After Hours
Decide what counts as an emergency, then let an answering line sort each night call. GreetKeeper texts your on-call tech, from $49 a month.
Is an AI Receptionist HIPAA Compliant?
HIPAA for an AI receptionist rests on a business associate agreement with each of 4 vendor layers. Get the questions to ask before a call touches PHI.
Is an AI Receptionist Legal?
Yes. AI voices are lawful but restricted, and inbound answering sits outside the outbound robocall rules. Here is what applies, dated and checked.
Is an AI Receptionist Worth It?
An AI receptionist is worth it when one saved booking a month covers the fee. At $49 for 200 calls, here is the break-even sum for your own phone.
Is My Data Shared With AI Vendors?
An AI phone call passes through several services. Here is the chain, and the question worth asking every vendor about it.
Is There a Free AI Receptionist?
A few AI receptionists have a small free tier, and most offer a trial. GreetKeeper gives 14 days free with every feature on and no card to start.
Is There a Setup Fee for an AI Receptionist?
GreetKeeper has no setup fee. The monthly plan is the whole price, from $49 for 200 calls, and the first 14 days are free with no card needed.
Is VoiceNation Now Moneypenny?
On September 24, 2026, voicenation.com redirected to Moneypenny's US site. Here's what that means for your plan, your number and your options.
Part-Time Receptionist vs AI Receptionist Cost
A 20-hour part-time receptionist costs about $1,580 in monthly wages at the BLS median. GreetKeeper answers 200 calls for $49, at any hour.
Per-Minute vs Per-Call Pricing
Per-call pricing wins when calls run long, because an 8-minute call costs the same as a 1-minute one. Run both billing models on your own call log.
Phone Greeting Script for an AI Receptionist
Write an AI receptionist greeting in 3 parts: your business name, an AI notice and one open question, in under 10 seconds. Copy the sample scripts here.
Route Calls by What the Caller Needs
Route each call on the reason the caller gives: sales to one person, repairs to another, billing to a message. Set it up in 4 steps, with a backup number.
Should a Small Business Use AI?
Whether it fits depends on your call pattern more than your size. Here is how to read your own calls, and where it earns its keep fastest.
Should Landlords Share a Personal Cell Number?
Give tenants a dedicated rental line, not your personal cell. GreetKeeper answers it 24/7 from $49 a month and puts real emergencies through to you.
Switch Answering Services, Keep Your Number
Keep your business number by forwarding it, not handing it over. Test the new service, move the forward, run both for 1 week, then cancel the old one.
Two-Party Consent Across State Lines
An interstate call can fall under the stricter state's all-party consent law. One disclosure at the start of every call covers you. See how to set it.
Two-Party Consent States and Call Recording
Eleven or twelve states need every party's consent to record, and the lists disagree. Set one recording notice for every caller instead of a state map.
Typical AI Answering Service Overage Fees
AI answering overage runs from $0.25 a call to $0.50 a caller where it is published. Compare each vendor's rate, its unit and who leaves it off the page.
Virtual Receptionist vs AI Receptionist
A virtual receptionist is usually a remote person billed by the minute; an AI receptionist is software billed by the call. GreetKeeper starts at $49.
Warm Transfer vs Cold Transfer
A warm transfer hands over the caller with their name and reason, so nobody repeats a word. A cold transfer just connects the line. See when to use each.
What About Spam Calls to an AI Receptionist?
Spam and robocalls reach an AI receptionist like any line. Here is how to cut them, and why a robocall doesn't count toward your GreetKeeper plan.
What Counts as a Call?
GreetKeeper counts an inbound call it answers. Robocalls, spam and very short calls don't count toward the 200, 750 or 2,000 calls in your plan.
What Data Does an AI Receptionist Store?
Caller number, transcript, summary, booking details, and audio if recording is on. Here are the questions to ask any vendor about storage and retention.
What Does a Virtual Receptionist Do?
A virtual receptionist answers in your name, books, transfers and takes messages. GreetKeeper does the whole front-desk job from $49 for 200 calls.
What Does an AI Receptionist Sound Like?
An AI receptionist speaks in a clear, even voice, greets with your business name and reads details back. Hear GreetKeeper on your own line for 14 days.
What Does the Caller Hear First?
The first ten seconds of a call decide how the rest of it goes. See what belongs in an AI receptionist's greeting, and which words to cut first.
What Happens If I Go Over My Plan?
Go over your GreetKeeper plan and every call is still answered, at $0.45, $0.35 or $0.25 a call by tier. See when moving up a plan costs less.
What Hours Should It Cover?
Deciding the hours means looking at when calls are actually missed. Here are the three patterns most businesses fall into.
What If an AI Receptionist Mishears a Number?
GreetKeeper reads the name, number and time back before it books, so a caller fixes a wrong digit mid-call. See how the read-back catches 10-digit slips.
What If the Internet Goes Down?
An AI receptionist reached by call forwarding does not depend on your office internet. Here is what does break and how to cover it.
What Is a Catch-All Greeting?
A catch-all greeting is one opening line used for every caller regardless of why they rang. It is simple, and it is why most first setups underperform.
What Is a Good Answer Rate?
Answer rate is the share of calls that reach somebody. Here is how the number gets flattered and what to measure instead.
What Is a Unique Caller in Pricing?
A unique caller is one phone number counted once however often it rings. Goodcall bills 100 of them for $79; GreetKeeper bills 200 calls for $49.
What Is an Escalation Path?
An escalation path is the written route from an AI receptionist to a person. See the 4 parts that belong in one, and the gaps that break it.
What Is the Setup Process?
Setting up an AI receptionist means writing what it should say, connecting a calendar, and forwarding your number. Here is the order.
Which States Require AI Call Disclosure?
Two state laws reach an inbound AI receptionist today: Maine's §1500-DD and Utah's rule for regulated jobs. See what each asks and how to meet both.
Why Callers Hang Up Without a Voicemail
Callers skip voicemail because they want an answer now and your competitor is one tap away. See who those silent callers are and how to reach them.
Hear it take one of your calls
Two minutes, your own scenario, no card.