Set up your AI receptionist
An AI receptionist (also called an AI phone assistant, virtual receptionist, or AI answering service) answers your business line with a natural voice — it books real appointments on your calendar and answers questions about your services, prices, and hours, around the clock. With Scheduley, setting one up takes minutes, not a hiring process.
What an AI receptionist does
Every call gets answered on the first ring — while you’re with a client, after hours, on holidays. The AI greets callers in your business’s voice, checks your real availability, books the appointment, and texts the client a confirmation. You see the recording and transcript of every call in your dashboard.
Step 1: Get your number
In the Agent tab, choose a local phone number — pick the area code you want and Scheduley provisions the number for you. Put it on your website, Google profile, and business cards, or forward your existing line to it.
Step 2: Choose how calls are routed
- AI answers all calls — the agent picks up every call
- AI answers, can transfer to you — the agent handles the call but forwards to your number when the caller asks for a human
- You answer first, AI as backup — your phone rings first; if you don’t pick up, the AI takes over
Step 3: Make it sound like your business
Under Greeting & Instructions, set how the agent introduces itself and any standing instructions. Pick its voice under Agent Voice — listen to samples and choose the one that fits your brand.
What the AI can do on a call
- Book, reschedule, or cancel appointments — using your real availability and booking rules
- Answer questions about services, pricing, hours, and location
- Handle mobile-service bookings: collect the address and mention your travel fee
- Transfer to you when a caller needs a human
It stays in sync automatically
Change your services, hours, team, or settings and the agent knows on its very next call — nothing to retrain. To give it deeper knowledge, see Teaching your AI about your business.
Step 4: Call it yourself
Call your new number and book a test appointment. You’ll see it appear on your Calendar, and the full call recording and transcript in your dashboard.