What is AI Receptionist?

An AI receptionist is a phone agent built on conversational AI, so the agent understands open-ended answers instead of relying on a keypad menu. First, you forward or port your existing business number to the service. Next, when a call comes in, the AI answers and follows the call flows you configure. The AI then acts on what the caller needs: checking calendar availability, booking the appointment, capturing contact details and escalating emergencies to a person by text or transfer.

For example, Remi by Keres AI answers in two rings, 24/7, asks the intake questions you approve, books into Google Calendar, HubSpot or ServiceTitan during the call, and texts back missed callers within 60 seconds. Other tools connect through Zapier. Finally, the call summary is written to your calendar or CRM, so nobody retypes a message the next morning.

Voicemail records a message and waits for a callback. A traditional answering service uses human operators who mostly take messages, billed per minute or per call depending on the vendor: according to the vendors’ own pricing pages on October 11, 2026, PATLive starts at $99 a month for 50 minutes and Smith.ai’s human plans at $300 for 30 calls.

An AI receptionist is software that answers the call itself and completes the task, for example booking the appointment during the call, at any hour. AI receptionists usually sell a monthly plan with included minutes or calls, from $24.95 a month (Upfirst, 30 calls). Remi by Keres AI is billed as one monthly rate with included minutes, then per minute, with no per-call fees. Businesses that hand most routine calls to software this way call the approach front desk automation. A business can keep a person for complex calls and let the AI take the rest.

AI receptionists suit any business living on the phone and losing work when a call goes to voicemail: HVAC and plumbing contractors, dental practices and med spas, real estate teams and law firms.

The questions change by trade. For example, an HVAC call needs emergency rules, such as what to do about a gas smell. A law-firm call needs intake by practice area and the names for a conflict check. A real estate call needs pre-approval and timeline. An AI receptionist is a weaker fit in three cases. First, every caller must reach a person. Second, callers mostly speak a language the service does not answer in; Remi by Keres AI answers in English only. Finally, a practice needs a vendor willing to sign a HIPAA business associate agreement, which Keres AI does not sign. Keres AI builds Remi for local service businesses in all five of the groups above.