Twelve questions to ask before you choose an AI receptionist

Honesty with your callers

1. Does it say it is an AI? Callers deserve a straight answer, and a receptionist that dodges the question damages trust in your business, not the software’s. NeuCalla’s receptionist is told to say plainly that it is your business’s AI receptionist when a caller asks, and not to claim to be human.

2. What happens when it does not know? Listen for a specific answer, not “it knows everything”. NeuCalla answers from your business info and Rules & FAQs, and your rules win if anything disagrees. If the caller does not book, it can take a message that lands in Follow-ups. Analytics lists moments where a caller’s question went unanswered or the call got stuck, so you can fill the gap.

3. Are callers told the call is recorded or transcribed? Ask what the caller hears at the start. With NeuCalla, callers are told the call is transcribed, or recorded if you switch recording on.

When a person needs to step in

4. Can a person take over? On calls, ask how transfers work and what happens if nobody answers. NeuCalla tries up to five numbers in turn, each with its own days and hours, and can play a message you choose while the caller waits and give the person answering a private briefing. If nobody picks up, the call carries on to the next step you choose. On texts and website chat, press Take over to reply yourself and Hand back when you are done.

5. How are bookings confirmed? A booking the customer does not know about is worse than none. NeuCalla books only inside your opening hours and booking rules. NeuCalla can text the caller a confirmation when your number can send texts and their mobile can receive one, and bookings show as pending or confirmed in your calendar. Callers can ring back to find, move or cancel a booking.

6. Can it take a payment without reading card details over the phone? With Stripe connected, NeuCalla sends a secure payment link by text, email or both, for a call-out fee, deposit or order. The money goes to your Stripe account.

Cost and control

7. What does a minute cost, and what happens when the minutes run out? Ask for the price including GST and the cost of going over. NeuCalla is $99 a month including GST, with 100 call minutes. Extra minutes are prepaid at $0.50 each. If your balance reaches zero, NeuCalla takes voicemail messages until you top up.

8. Can you hear your own calls? You should be able to check what was said on your behalf. In NeuCalla, open a call to read the full conversation turn by turn, or play the recording if you have recording switched on.

9. Can you export your data? Ask before you sign, not when you want to leave. NeuCalla lets you download a ZIP file of your customers, conversations, bookings, sales, reminders, staff and business settings; we email you a private link that works for 24 hours. You can also export your customers as a CSV file.

Fitting into how you work

10. Do I have to change my number? A good answer is no. With NeuCalla you keep your number and use your carrier’s forwarding codes (Telstra, Optus or Vodafone), for calls you miss or for each call.

11. Can I test it before customers hear it? Ask whether changes go live the moment you save them. In NeuCalla, Save work keeps your changes as a draft that callers do not hear, and nothing changes for callers until you press Make live.

12. Who helps me set it up? Some providers hand you a login and a help centre. NeuCalla includes hands-on setup: we help with forwarding and make a test call with you.

Questions worth asking any provider

A few more that do not have a single right answer, but are worth hearing out:

• Which calendars does it connect to, and what happens if the connection drops?
• How many calls can it answer at once?
• Can I see a month of usage before the bill arrives?
• What happens to my number and data if I cancel?

If you are still deciding between software and people, read AI receptionist or a human answering service? For the basics, start with AI receptionist for Australian businesses.