# Receptionist: Your Business Line Answered When You Can't > The Receptionist is the AI receptionist in the Ai1 platform by MyZone AI: it picks up your business phone line when your team cannot, tells callers they are speaking with an AI, takes clear messages, books appointments and puts urgent calls through to the person you name. Canonical page: https://myzone.ai/pages/agents/ai-receptionist-agent Part of Ai1, by MyZone AI. Book a Receptionist walkthrough: https://calendly.com/d/ct6h-tcy-8qf/ai1-demo?a1=Receptionist&utm_source=myzone.ai&utm_medium=agent-page&utm_content=ai-receptionist-agent-final Last updated: 2026-10-15. Reviewed by the MyZone AI team. Your phone answered, messages written up and urgent calls put through. ## At a glance - **You set:** The greeting, what it may answer and which calls count as urgent - **When it picks up:** Calls your team does not answer, including after hours - **Call messages:** The caller's name, number and reason for calling, repeated back and sent in writing - **Bookings:** Open times from the calendar slots you make available, confirmed on the call - **Urgent calls:** Put through to the person you chose when they match your rules - **AI disclosure:** Every caller hears that it is an AI assistant, in wording you approve - **Recording:** Only with the notice and consent your settings call for, as rules differ by state and province ## What the Receptionist does - **Answers in your business's name:** It greets callers the way you would want, says it is an AI assistant and asks how it can help. - **Takes a proper message:** It asks the caller's name, number and reason for calling, repeats it back and sends your team a short written message. - **Books appointments:** It offers open times from your calendar and confirms the booking with the caller before the call ends. - **Puts urgent calls through:** Calls that fit the rules you set, such as an emergency or an existing client, go straight to the right person. - **Answers simple questions:** Opening hours, location and other basics come from information you have approved. Anything beyond that becomes a message. - **Respects consent rules:** It follows the disclosure and recording wording you set, and any text confirmation follows the consent rules for business texting. ## How the Receptionist differs from a voicemail box Voicemail leaves you with long recordings to replay and callers who hang up. The Receptionist answers in your business's name, introduces itself as an AI assistant and asks how it can help. It takes a message with the caller's details, books a time from the slots you offer or puts an urgent call through. Simple questions get answers only from information you approved, and callers can always ask for a person. How this differs from the Customer Support Agent (https://myzone.ai/pages/agents/ai-customer-support-agent): The Customer Support Agent suits customers who write in by email, with a person signing off each answer; the Receptionist picks up your business phone line when your team cannot. How this differs from the Website Chat Assistant (https://myzone.ai/pages/agents/ai-website-chat-agent): the Website Chat Assistant answers visitors in a chat window on your website, while the Receptionist answers calls to your business phone line and says it is an AI. ## How it works 1. **Set your greeting and rules** (Before the first call): You choose how it greets callers, what it can answer and which calls count as urgent. 2. **Agree the wording** (you approve) (Before it answers any caller): You approve the AI disclosure and any recording notice, matched to where you and your callers are. 3. **It picks up when you cannot** (Whenever your team cannot pick up): Calls your team does not answer go to the Receptionist. 4. **Callers are helped** (During the call): It takes a message, books a time or puts the call through, depending on what the caller needs. 5. **Your team follows up** (As soon as the call ends): Each call arrives as a short written message, with bookings already in the calendar. ## When to use it - **You are with a client and the phone rings:** The caller is greeted, their reason for calling is written down and you see a clear message when you are free. - **A new customer wants an appointment:** They choose an open time on the call and get a confirmation. - **An existing client has an emergency:** The call matches your urgent rule and is put through to the person on call. - **Calls come in after hours:** Callers can still leave a proper message or book a time, and your team picks it up in the morning. - **Voicemails are hard to understand:** Instead of long recordings, you get short written messages with the caller's details and what they need. ## What you get - A greeting and call script in your business's name - Written call messages with the caller's name, number and reason for calling - Appointments booked into the calendar slots you make available - Urgent calls put through to the person you choose - A daily list of calls handled ## Example: daily call report Example with a fictional company. Names, people and figures are invented to show the agent's output. Any resemblance to a real company or person is unintended. What it was asked: When the front desk can't get to the phone, answer for us: take clear messages, book patients into open slots and put anything urgent through to the right person. Send me a summary each morning. This is an illustrative example of the daily call report Receptionist is being built to produce: the day at a glance, the message sheet, bookings and urgent transfers, and the approved greeting script and rules. It was written by hand from the agent's design for an invented physiotherapy clinic, with invented callers and figures. No real systems, calls or people were involved, and nothing was booked, sent or changed. Run date: 15 October 2026. ### What it found - The Receptionist picked up 47 of the clinic's 132 calls on Wednesday, mostly while the front desk was already on another call or checking in a patient. - It booked or moved 17 appointments into open slots, took 19 messages for named staff and put 4 calls through, 3 of them urgent under the clinic's own rules. - Every caller heard they were speaking with an AI assistant; 37 of 45 agreed to recording, and 8 who declined were helped with typed notes only. Twilio is a trademark of its owner. MyZone is not affiliated with or endorsed by Twilio. ## Guardrails - Your Ai1 team will tell you when the Receptionist is ready for your account. - It opens every call by saying it is an AI assistant, in wording you approve. - Recording rules differ by state and province. It records only with the notice and consent your settings call for. - It answers only from information you approve. Anything it cannot answer from that information, such as quotes or advice, becomes a message for your team. - Callers can always ask to leave a message for a person instead. ## Frequently asked questions ### Do callers need to be told they are speaking to an AI receptionist? In many places, yes, and recording a call can need the caller's consent. The Receptionist opens with a short disclosure and follows the consent wording you set for where you operate. Check the rules that apply to you. ### What should a phone message taken for a small business include? The caller's name, a number to call back and the reason for the call, written so your team can act without replaying a recording. The Receptionist asks for those details, repeats them back to the caller and sends a short written message, with any appointment already in the calendar. ### What can an AI receptionist do for a small business? It answers the calls your team cannot get to. The Receptionist greets the caller, takes a clear message, books appointments from the times you offer and puts urgent calls through to the right person. ### Will callers know it is not a person? Yes. It opens every call by saying it is an AI assistant, in wording you approve, and callers can ask to leave a message for a person. ### Are calls recorded? Only if you choose to, and only with the notice and consent your settings call for. Recording rules differ by state and province, so check what applies where you and your callers are. ### Can it book appointments into my calendar? Yes. It offers the open times you make available, confirms the booking with the caller and adds it to your calendar. ### Is the Receptionist available now? Not yet. Your Ai1 team will tell you when the Receptionist is ready for your account. You can talk to us today about how calls reach your business. ## More on this topic - [Your leads are going cold while you're in meetings. Here's the fix.](https://myzone.ai/pages/blog/ai-lead-response-automation): Why a quick, personal first reply matters when a new lead comes in, and how AI helps your team send it. - [How AI Agents Are Changing Small Business Operations](https://myzone.ai/pages/blog/ai-agents-small-business): AI agents are transforming how small businesses operate: from automating customer service to managing entire workflows. Here's what you need to know. ## About Ai1 Ai1 is the AI operations platform by MyZone AI, where each client runs on its own private server. The Receptionist is not sold on its own: every Ai1 agent, including this one, is included on Developer Pro and every Fully Managed option, with no per-agent charge. Developer Core includes the development agents. Pricing: https://myzone.ai/pages/services/ai1-pricing. Security: https://myzone.ai/pages/security.