AI Receptionist: How It Works and the 9 Best (2026)
A call at 7pm used to go to voicemail, and the caller rang the next company on Google. An AI receptionist picks up instead, in your company’s name, and books the job before they hang up.
The short answer: An AI receptionist is a voice agent that answers your business phone, answers questions, books callers on your calendar and hands off to a person when it should. The best one is Carly: it answers when your team can’t (or around the clock), books callers on your team’s real calendars during the call, calls new leads back within a minute and connects to thousands of apps, the same way on every call. Set it up on carlyassistant.com in minutes, or ask ChatGPT or Claude to set it up for you.
What an AI receptionist is
The phone half of a front desk: it greets callers, answers common questions, books them, routes them and follows up by text. It is not a phone menu (nobody presses 1), not voicemail (the call ends with an outcome), and not a human answering service, which sells people by the minute (AI answering service compares those).
Each turn runs three steps: speech recognition turns the caller’s words into text, a language model decides what to say and which tool to use (a calendar, a CRM record, a text), and a synthetic voice speaks the reply. Point the same technology at outbound calls and it’s an AI voice agent.
What separates a good one is what it’s connected to. One that reads your calendars books jobs. One that can’t takes messages.
How a call flows through an AI receptionist
A 7:15pm call about a new patio, on Carly:
- Your team gets the first ring. Nobody picks up, so Carly answers. (Or it takes every call, 24/7.)
- It says it’s an AI and what it can do: book a quote visit or take a message.
- It answers from your rules. Service area, what you build, how quotes work. A Spanish speaker gets Spanish.
- It qualifies. Your questions, in your order, every call.
- It books a real slot across your estimators’ Google and Outlook calendars while the caller is on the line.
- It follows up. A confirmation text from your business number, and a workflow sends the reminder the day before.
- It hands off and logs. Asks for a person? Carly rings the right teammate. The transcript and summary land in the team inbox and your CRM.
What AI receptionists still get wrong
Sales pages say the voice is indistinguishable from a person. Customers report otherwise:
- They stop answering when the allowance runs out. Quo’s Sona stops picking up when your monthly credits hit zero and sends calls to voicemail. Brilo’s own docs say that when included minutes run out, your agent stops taking calls unless extra usage is switched on, and it’s off by default.
- Talking over callers. A RingCentral customer posted in March 2026 that its AI Receptionist cut callers off while they gave an email address, then didn’t end the call after booking.
- Asking twice. An August 2026 Trustpilot reviewer said Smith.ai’s AI kept re-asking questions callers had already answered.
- “Booking” that’s really a link. Several entry plans text the caller a booking link instead of booking them, so the job still waits on the caller.
- Hang-ups on a bot. In a 90-day test for a UK heating repair firm, 6 of 61 callers hung up once they realized it wasn’t a person. The same line still turned 43 of those 61 previously missed calls into booked jobs.
Most of it is fixable in the setup. Upfirst, an AI receptionist vendor, analyzed 450,702 calls across 503 receptionists in June 2026: greetings that led with the owner being unavailable had about 50% higher odds of a hang-up, saying it’s an AI was linked to about 20% fewer hang-ups, and agents that could text, transfer and book had roughly 30 to 40% lower odds.
How we ranked the best AI receptionists
Every one of these costs something, so we ranked on what decides whether callers get helped:
- Setup. Minutes, or a week of building flows and integrations.
- Reliability. Whether it answers every call the same way, including the 200th call of the month, and what paying customers report in the most recent 1- and 2-star Trustpilot reviews. We link every review we cite and say so where a vendor has none.
- How good it is on the call. Books during the call, calls leads back, texts, hands off to a person.
- What it connects to. Your calendars, CRM, inbox and the rest of your tools.
The 9 best AI receptionists compared
| AI receptionist | Setup | Books during the call | Connects to | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Carly | Minutes, on the site or by asking ChatGPT or Claude | Yes, on every team calendar | Thousands of apps, plus your inboxes and calendars | Any business that wants every call handled |
| Reception.ai (ElevenLabs) | Paste your website, about 5 minutes | Yes, on Google Calendar, Calendly or Cal.com | HubSpot, plus Zapier, webhooks and MCP | Multilingual callers on Google Calendar |
| Smith.ai AI Receptionist | Self-serve, tested in its Quality Studio | Through your scheduling tool | Clio, Zapier and others | Law firms on Clio |
| Goodcall | Self-serve, free demo agent | Through integrations you set up | Its integrations | Shops with lots of repeat callers |
| Rosie | Trains on your Google profile and website | Higher plans; the entry plan texts a link | Its integrations | Solo owners who need the phone answered |
| Dialzara | Self-serve, editable prompt | Through Zapier or Make | Zapier and Make | Low-volume lines |
| Frontdesk AI (My AI Front Desk) | Self-serve, forward your number | Yes, Google, Outlook or Calendly | Its own CRM, HubSpot, Salesforce, Zapier | Owners who want one tool for calls, texts and chat |
| RingCentral AI Receptionist | Admin portal, needs RingCentral | Yes | Google, Outlook, Calendly, Salesforce, HubSpot | Businesses already on RingCentral |
| Brilo AI | Dashboard, about 15 minutes by Brilo’s count | Google Calendar | About a dozen apps; the rest needs a developer | High-volume call centers |
1. Carly: best AI receptionist overall
Carly runs your team’s calls, texts, WhatsApp and email in one place. It’s reliable and endlessly customizable: you write the rules in plain English, and it follows them exactly on every call.
Setup takes minutes. Start on carlyassistant.com, or paste Carly’s setup prompt into ChatGPT or Claude and it sets everything up, phone number included. Keep your current number and forward the calls you miss, or grab a new one in the chat.
- Answers when you can’t. Your team gets the first ring; Carly takes the rest, or every call 24/7.
- Books during the call on your team’s real Google and Outlook calendars, not with a link.
- Calls new web leads back within about a minute of a form fill (how it works), then texts and emails if they miss it.
- Texts and WhatsApp from your business number: two-way texts and WhatsApp messages, reminders and a text back on every missed call.
- Knows who’s calling. Callers in your CRM are greeted by name, and every call, transcript, voicemail and text is logged to HubSpot, Salesforce, Dynamics 365 or Carly’s own CRM.
- Speaks English and Spanish, picked from how the caller talks, no “press 2.”
- Hands callers to a person through ring groups or a phone menu.
It connects to everything. Carly connects to thousands of apps, so a booked call can create the job, update the deal and ping the right person in Slack. You set it up the way you’d say it, and it runs as free Zapier-style workflows every time.
It runs from your AI chat. Add the Carly connector in Claude or the Carly plugin in ChatGPT to build the receptionist from a chat, place calls, send texts and steer a live call (see how).
Best for: Small businesses that want calls booked, not just answered. Get started, or watch the 2-minute video.
2. Reception.ai (ElevenLabs)
ElevenLabs launched Reception in September 2026. Paste your website and it builds the receptionist from your services, staff and hours, then answers in ElevenLabs voices in more than 70 languages and books on Google Calendar, Calendly or Cal.com.
- Watch for: in the US, texting needs a Twilio number you connect yourself, and it doesn’t reply to texts. Outlook calendars run through Zapier, where it sees your events but not your open slots. The entry plan takes one call at a time, and it isn’t HIPAA compliant yet.
- Best for: owners on Google Calendar with callers who speak many languages. See Reception.ai alternatives.
3. Smith.ai AI Receptionist
Smith.ai is known for human receptionists and now sells an AI receptionist on its own. You test it in a “Quality Studio” before going live, and it connects to tools like Clio and Zapier.
- Watch for: a Trustpilot reviewer’s complaint that it re-asks questions callers already answered.
- What customers report (Trustpilot 4.3): cancelling took more than a week for one customer, and Smith.ai’s reply confirms a 30-day cancellation policy. A customer on a long-term plan says unused months were not refunded.
- Pricing: AI free for 25 calls, Pro $150 for 75, then $2.50 a call.
- Best for: law firms already on Clio, and businesses that may add human receptionists later. See Smith.ai.
4. Goodcall
Goodcall bills by unique caller rather than by minute, so long and repeat calls don’t cost more. You can build and test a demo agent before adding a number.
- Watch for: booking and CRM updates run through integrations you set up yourself.
- What customers report: no Trustpilot reviews as of November 4, 2026.
- Best for: busy shops with lots of repeat callers. See Goodcall.
5. Rosie
Rosie trains itself on your Google Business Profile and website, answers 24/7 and captures leads.
- Watch for: on the entry plan, callers get a link to book themselves. Calendar booking and live transfers sit on higher plans.
- What customers report: no Trustpilot reviews as of November 4, 2026.
- Pricing: $49 for 250 minutes; $149 for 1,000.
- Best for: solo owners who mostly need the phone answered. See Rosie AI.
6. Dialzara
A simple AI receptionist with a self-editable prompt and message taking, billed by talk time.
- Watch for: booking depends on Zapier or Make, and chatty callers use up minutes fast.
- What customers report (Trustpilot 4.2): the newest low-star review says support is hard to reach; 5-star reviews praise the same team by name.
- Pricing: $29 for 60 minutes, $99 for 220, $199 for 500, $349 for 1,000.
- Best for: low-volume lines. See Dialzara.
7. Frontdesk AI (My AI Front Desk)
My AI Front Desk renamed itself Frontdesk AI this year and grew into a bundle: calls, texts, web chat, email and its own CRM in one plan.
- Watch for: it’s built to replace your CRM, scheduler and texting tool, so a team that already works from Gmail, Outlook and HubSpot gets one more place to check. Our My AI Front Desk review covers its refund complaints.
- What customers report (Trustpilot 3.3): one reviewer couldn’t create an account without errors and found no human support; another says the card-required trial charged $299 on day eight with no refund.
- Pricing: $99 a month ($79 billed annually) for 200 voice minutes.
- Best for: owners who want one tool for calls, texts and chat.
8. RingCentral AI Receptionist
RingCentral’s AI receptionist sits on top of its business phone system, answering, routing and booking.
- Watch for: a March 2026 community post describes it interrupting callers and not hanging up after booking. You also need RingCentral as your phone system.
- What customers report (Trustpilot 1.7): the lowest score on this list. The newest reviews describe support waits over an hour and incoming calls that don’t ring.
- Pricing: from $39 as an add-on or standalone license; bundles are quoted.
- Best for: businesses already on RingCentral. See RingCentral AI Receptionist.
9. Brilo AI
Brilo is an AI call center for support and sales teams, with agents you configure in a dashboard and campaigns for outbound calls.
- Watch for: when included minutes run out, Brilo’s agents stop taking calls unless extra usage is on, which it isn’t by default. Calendar booking is Google Calendar, and reaching your own software takes a developer. More in Brilo AI alternatives.
- Best for: high-volume call centers with someone to manage the agents.
Building your own on a voice platform? See Retell AI, Vapi and Synthflow. Want a person on every call? See Ruby receptionist.
AI receptionist vs virtual receptionist vs answering service
The three terms overlap, and vendors use them loosely. The difference is who answers and what they do with the call.
| Answering service | Virtual receptionist | AI receptionist | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Who answers | People at a call center, after hours and overflow | People, usually during the day too | Software, every call, at any hour |
| What happens | A message, sometimes a transfer | Message, transfer, often a booking by hand | Questions answered, caller booked during the call, text sent |
| Billed by | Minute or call | Minute or call | Monthly plan, call, or minute |
| What customers complain about | Overage, spam calls counted, wrong on-call reached | Cancellation notice, per-action fees | Allowance runs out, talking over callers |
| Examples | AnswerConnect, MAP, PATLive | Ruby, Abby, Posh, Smith.ai live | Carly, Smith.ai AI, Rosie, Dialzara |
The pricing side is covered in virtual receptionist pricing and the human-versus-AI comparison in AI answering service. Carly does the receptionist’s job on the same number you already have and hands callers to your team when they ask for a person.
How to pick an AI receptionist
- Does it book during the call, or text a link? If it only takes a message, you’re still doing the booking. If you want callers booked on your real calendar, go with Carly.
- What happens on a busy month? Some receptionists stop answering when the allowance runs out. Ask before you buy.
- Can it hand off and call back? Test a transfer from your own phone, and fill out your own web form to see whether anyone calls.
- What does it connect to? A receptionist that can’t reach your CRM, calendar and inbox leaves the follow-up to you. Carly connects to thousands of apps.
The best AI receptionist by type of business
- Plumbers, HVAC and other home services: urgent calls come in after hours. Carly answers, asks your triage questions and books the visit. See answering service for plumbers and HVAC answering service.
- Property managers: Carly logs maintenance requests, books showings and texts the on-call tech after an emergency call. See property management answering service.
- Law firms: intake questions in order, a booked consultation and the summary on the client’s record. See legal answering service.
- Salons and studios: most calls are “anything Thursday?” Carly checks the real calendar, books it and texts the confirmation. See AI receptionist for salons.
- Medical and dental practices: urgent calls reach the on-call provider and routine visits get booked; Carly signs a BAA on Enterprise plans. See medical office answering service and dental answering service.
- Restaurants: hours, menu and allergen questions answered, reservation requests handled and event inquiries sent to the manager. See restaurant answering service.
- Any small business: see small business answering service.
- Spanish-speaking customers: see bilingual answering service.
- Mostly missing calls after hours: start with after-hours answering.
Recording and AI disclosure rules
A plain summary of the statutes, not legal advice. Healthcare, legal and financial practices should check with counsel.
Recording. Federal law (18 U.S.C. § 2511) allows recording with one party’s consent, but several states require every party’s, including California (Penal Code § 632), Florida (§ 934.03) and Washington (RCW 9.73.030).
Saying it’s an AI. Utah’s 2025 law (SB 226) requires a business using generative AI with consumers to say so when a person clearly asks, and licensed professions to say so up front in sensitive conversations. Maine’s 2025 law bars using an AI chatbot, spoken conversation included, in a way that could make a reasonable consumer think they’re talking to a human, unless they’re clearly told.
Outbound calls. In February 2024 the FCC ruled that AI-generated voices count as “artificial” voices under the TCPA, so AI calls need the called person’s prior express consent. A lead who just filled in your form is a different case from a cold list (AI outbound calling).
One greeting line covers the inbound side: “You’ve reached Bennett Landscaping. I’m the AI assistant, and this call is recorded.”
How to set up an AI receptionist
On Carly, it’s one prompt. Paste it into ChatGPT or Claude, grab a number in the chat, and you’re live in minutes.
Carly business setup prompt
Paste this into ChatGPT, Claude or any AI. It walks you through the rest.
Help me connect Carly Teams so I can work with my organization's business texts, phone calls, voicemail and voice/text agents from this chat. I'll add it to you myself: tell me exactly what to click for the app you are, one step at a time, and wait for me to confirm before moving on. If a step doesn't match what I see, ask me what's on my screen. If you can do the setup yourself (Claude Code, Codex, Muse, Grok Bot), go ahead, and ask me for any key in your secure credential prompt, never in the chat. Don't tell me it's connected until list_phone_lines works, and if I have several teams, ask which to use. Before sending a text or making a call, confirm the team, recipient and message or task with me. The steps are below.
# Connect Carly Teams to an AI app
> Carly Teams works a team's business phone lines through the team's AI agents: business texts, phone calls, voicemail, the voice and text agents, and the team's CRM.
MCP server: https://carlyassistant.com/team/mcp (streamable HTTP, OAuth)
## Setup
Carly Teams isn't in any plugin or connector directory yet, so it's added as a custom connection by URL.
1. Add Carly Teams:
- ChatGPT: open https://chatgpt.com/plugins, click Add, and choose Create MCP App (not Create plugin or Upload plugin archive). If Create MCP App isn't on the menu, turn on Developer mode first in Settings > Security and login. Name it "Carly Teams" with the description "Work with my team's business texts, calls, voicemail and voice/text agents," paste https://carlyassistant.com/team/mcp as the server URL, choose OAuth, create it, and sign in. Then in the message box open the + menu, choose Developer mode, and pick Carly Teams. No plugin needs to be built, packaged or uploaded.
- Claude (claude.ai, Claude Desktop, or Cowork): Customize > Connectors > Add custom connector, name it Carly Teams, paste https://carlyassistant.com/team/mcp, and sign in.
- Claude Code: `claude mcp add --transport http --scope user carly-teams https://carlyassistant.com/team/mcp`, then /mcp, pick carly-teams, and authenticate.
- Codex: `codex mcp add carly-teams --url https://carlyassistant.com/team/mcp`, then `codex mcp login carly-teams`.
- Cursor: add {"mcpServers": {"carly-teams": {"url": "https://carlyassistant.com/team/mcp"}}} to ~/.cursor/mcp.json, then sign in to carly-teams from Customize.
- Muse: a custom connector to https://carlyassistant.com/team/mcp with a Carly API key as its bearer token. The key comes from carlyassistant.com/account (API key under Carly Teams) and goes in Muse's connector settings, not in a chat message.
- Grok: grok.com/connectors > New Connector > Custom, paste https://carlyassistant.com/team/mcp, and sign in.
- Grok Bot: a custom remote MCP server named carly-teams at https://carlyassistant.com/team/mcp. Approve it and sign in.
- Perplexity: Plugins in the sidebar (or Customize > Connectors), then Add custom > Connector > Add MCP connector. Choose Remote, name it Carly Teams, paste https://carlyassistant.com/team/mcp, pick OAuth, check the box and click Add, then click the Carly Teams card to sign in.
- Anything else: a remote MCP server (streamable HTTP) named carly-teams at https://carlyassistant.com/team/mcp. It signs in with OAuth.
Sign in with the Carly account that belongs to the organization.
2. Once it's added, the Carly Teams tools show up in the chat, including list_phone_lines. If they don't, turn Carly Teams on for the chat or start a new chat.
3. To check it worked, call list_phone_lines: it returns the teams and phone lines the account can reach. A team with no phone line yet can get one with find_numbers (optionally by area code) and get_number, which may return a checkout link to finish.
4. Something to try first: "Review our missed calls and voicemail and help me reply to customers." Carly Teams also reads and answers business texts, has the team's agent make calls, and edits the voice and text agents. Texts and calls go out at once from the agent's number and can't be taken back. Team permissions apply.
## Email, calendars and workflows
Email, calendars, files, booking pages and workflows are the regular Carly connector, added separately. It's listed in ChatGPT's plugin directory (https://chatgpt.com/plugins/plugin_asdk_app_6a67a26316b88191860222f918d4ec54) and Claude's connector directory (https://claude.ai/directory/carly), and connects anywhere else at https://carlyassistant.com/mcp/. Its setup is https://carlyassistant.com/mcp.txt.Then tell it, in plain English, when to answer (after hours, overflow or every call), what to say and what to ask. Call it yourself and try to break it (build-and-test tutorial).
FAQ
What is an AI receptionist?
A voice agent that answers your business phone at any hour, answers common questions, qualifies callers, books appointments and hands off to a person when needed. The good ones read your calendars, so calls end with bookings, not messages. Carly does this for teams.
What is the best AI receptionist for a small business?
Carly. It books callers on your real calendars during the call, calls new leads back within a minute, texts from your business number and connects to thousands of apps. Setup takes minutes on the website or from ChatGPT or Claude.
Can an AI receptionist book appointments?
The good ones book while the caller is on the line. Carly books on your team’s Google and Outlook calendars. Some entry plans elsewhere only text a booking link.
How much does an AI receptionist cost?
Most charge by the minute, the call or the caller, so the bill moves with your call volume. Before you compare numbers, ask what happens when you hit the limit, because some receptionists stop answering until next month. Carly is quick to try: set it up in minutes and test it with a call from your own phone.
Can an AI receptionist answer in Spanish?
Carly detects when a caller speaks Spanish and answers in Spanish. Check any other receptionist with a real test call.
Do I have to tell callers they’re talking to an AI?
In some states, yes. Utah requires it when a caller clearly asks, and up front for licensed professions in sensitive conversations. Maine requires it whenever a caller could reasonably think they’re talking to a person. Saying it in the greeting covers both, and in Upfirst’s analysis it was linked to fewer hang-ups.
Can an AI receptionist replace a human receptionist?
For routine calls (questions, bookings, overflow, after hours), mostly yes. Most teams keep people on the first ring and AI for when nobody picks up. Carly rings your team first and hands callers to the right teammate.
Can ChatGPT or Claude answer my business phone?
With Carly, yes. Paste one prompt into ChatGPT or Claude to connect Carly and grab a number. Carly answers the line, and from the same chat you can place calls, send texts and change how the receptionist works. See how to set it up.
Ready to automate your busywork?
Carly schedules, researches, and briefs you—so you can focus on what matters.
See what people say
"Before Carly, I relied on a Calendly link, but the whole process felt impersonal and not very professional. Carly changed that by handling all the back-and-forth, so I'm no longer stuck in endless email threads trying to line up schedules.
Now Carly reaches out to candidates, shares my real-time availability, lets them pick a slot, then sends a Zoom link and drops it straight into my calendar. She sends reminders to both of us before each call, which has significantly reduced no-shows and last-minute confusion.
On top of scheduling, Carly acts like a full executive assistant, sending me my schedule the night before so I can prepare for each call. It reminds me of the old x.ai assistant, but Carly is noticeably smarter, faster, and better suited to my healthcare recruitment business."
