An AI receptionist is software that answers your business phone. It picks up in a natural voice, talks to the caller, answers their questions from what you have told it, and takes a message or books an appointment, then sends you the details. It works around the clock and can take several calls at once.
For a small business, the point is simple: calls that would have rung out or gone to voicemail get a proper answer, and you hear about every one of them.
What an AI receptionist does
A good AI receptionist handles the calls a person on your front desk would handle. Tilly, for example:
- Answers every call, day or night, without hold music. See 24/7 call answering.
- Answers questions about your services, prices, opening hours, areas and policies, in your words. She never makes up a price or a time she has not been given.
- Takes a proper message: the caller's name, the best number to call back and what it is about, read back to check. See message taking.
- Books appointments into your diary on the Pro and Business plans, and checks your own calendar first. See appointment booking.
- Puts urgent calls through to you or your team, when the rules you set say so. See urgent call transfer.
- Turns away sales calls politely, so they never reach you. See sales call screening.
- Sends you the summary by email straight after the call, with a text for urgent calls on Pro and Business.
The full list, from missed-call texts to reminder texts and a monthly report, is on our features page.
How an AI receptionist works
Behind the friendly voice, a call goes through a few steps in a fraction of a second:
- The call arrives. Callers ring the number the receptionist gives you, or your own number forwards the calls you cannot take.
- It listens. Speech recognition turns what the caller says into text as they speak.
- It decides what to say. An AI language model reads the conversation, together with your instructions about your business, and works out the reply.
- It speaks. A voice model reads the reply aloud in a natural voice, quickly enough for a normal conversation.
- It does the job. When the caller confirms their details, it saves the message, makes the booking or puts the call through.
- You get the details. A summary and the transcript arrive in your inbox and your dashboard.
Tilly runs on conversational voice AI from ElevenLabs and connects to the UK phone network through Twilio, so callers hear a natural voice on an ordinary UK number. Our how it works page shows the set-up screens.
What an AI receptionist cannot do
It helps to be clear about the limits before you choose one.
- It only does the phone. It cannot greet visitors, sign for parcels or run an office.
- It only knows what you tell it. If a price or a policy is missing, it should say someone will confirm it and take a message, not guess.
- It cannot see inside your other systems. On Pro and Business, Tilly books into her own diary and checks your Google, Outlook or Apple calendar first, but she cannot see inside other booking software, such as a salon or practice management system.
- It is not an adviser. Tilly never gives medical, legal or financial advice, and never takes card or bank details over the phone.
- Some calls need a person. An upset caller, a complicated complaint or an emergency may need someone with judgement. That is what transfer rules are for.
Is an AI receptionist the same as a virtual receptionist?
Not quite, although the names overlap.
- A virtual receptionist usually means a person working remotely, often for an answering service, who answers calls in your business name.
- A telephone answering service is a call centre whose staff answer for many businesses and pass on messages, usually charged by the call or the minute.
- An automated phone menu ("press 1 for sales") only routes calls. It cannot hold a conversation or take a message.
- An AI receptionist holds a real conversation, like a person would, but it is software, so it answers at any hour and handles several calls at once.
Some people call an AI receptionist an AI virtual receptionist, which is fair: it does the virtual receptionist's job, without the person.
Does an AI receptionist tell callers it is an AI?
It should. Tilly speaks naturally, but she never pretends to be a person: if a caller asks, she says she is the business's AI receptionist and carries on helping. If the business records its calls, which is an add-on, she also tells callers at the start that calls are recorded. Our guide to the law on AI receptionists in the UK explains the rules on telling callers.
What does an AI receptionist cost?
Most charge a monthly fee with a set number of calls or minutes included. Tilly's plans start at £29 a month with 40 calls included, and every plan starts with a 14-day free trial. Our guide to what an AI receptionist costs in the UK compares other providers, human answering services and a salaried receptionist.
Who uses an AI receptionist?
Any business that misses calls because the people who would answer them are busy doing the work: plumbers and electricians on a job, salons with a client in the chair, clinics with a patient, garages under a car, estate agents out on viewings. Each of our industry pages shows the questions Tilly asks for that kind of business.
How to try one
The quickest way to judge an AI receptionist is to hear it. You can listen to sample calls and ring a demo business from your browser, compare the voices, and then start a free trial when you are ready. If you are weighing it up against hiring someone, our guide to AI and human receptionists sets out the pros and cons.
Last checked against Tilly's features on 15 October 2026.