What is the setup process for an AI receptionist?

The forwarding step is the one people worry about and the one that takes the least time. It is a short code dialed on your phone, or a setting in your carrier's portal.

The writing step is where the quality comes from. Hours, services, the questions people ask most, and what to do with the ones you would rather handle yourself.

Calendar connection matters only if you want appointments booked during the call, which most businesses do.

Start by listing the five questions your phone gets most. Not the ones on your website: the ones people ring about because the website did not answer them.

Write the greeting next, and keep it under ten seconds. Business name, that they are speaking with an assistant, then one question.

Connect the calendar before you go live, because booking during the call is the difference between a lead and an appointment.

Forward on a quiet day rather than a busy one, and use busy-or-no-answer forwarding first so you keep answering the calls you can.

Then read the transcripts for two weeks and edit. The first version is a guess, and the calls tell you where it was wrong.

Owners often stall at the writing step because they picture a manual. It's closer to a note for a new hire. Say you run a lawn care company. Your first pass might include lines like these.

"We mow, edge, fertilize and aerate. We don't do tree work or irrigation repair, and if someone asks, suggest they try an arborist or a sprinkler company." "We serve Cary, Apex and Holly Springs. Outside those, say sorry, we don't cover that area." "Weekly mowing for a standard lot is $45 a visit. For lots over half an acre, take the address and we'll quote."

"New customers get a free estimate visit, booked in 30-minute slots on Tuesdays and Thursdays." "If a current customer complains about a missed visit, apologize once and transfer to Rob." "If anyone mentions a chemical spill or a pet getting sick after treatment, transfer to Rob immediately."

Those six plain sentences would handle most of a normal day's calls.

The owner usually writes the brief, and the owner is often the wrong person to write it alone. Whoever picks up the phone today knows what callers really ask, which explanations land, and which questions come up every spring. Ask them to jot down every question they answer for two days, in the caller's words.

Listen to how they phrase things, because their wording has been tested on thousands of callers. If your office manager always says "we'll get you on the schedule" instead of "we'll book an appointment", use her phrase.

Tell your team what's happening before you forward anything. Explain which calls the assistant will take and which still come to them, and show them a transcript so they know what arrives. People who feel replaced will ignore the transcripts, while those who've been asked for their advice will read them and help fix the brief.

Give regular customers a heads-up if you have them. One line in your next invoice email, saying an AI assistant may answer when you're on a job, saves a few confused conversations.

GreetKeeper works through call forwarding, so you keep the number on your van and your signage.

Booking is included on every plan, starting at $49 a month for 200 answered calls, so you do not need to buy up a tier to get it.

The integration matrix states which calendars and systems write natively and which route through Zapier, which is worth reading before you plan the connection step.