How to compare AI receptionists

Why a checklist

We are not going to name other companies or quote their prices. Their products change, and anything we wrote would be out of date or unfair within months. What does not change is what matters when you are choosing.

Put these questions to every provider you are considering, including us. A good one will answer each plainly. Be wary of anyone who is vague about what happens when things go wrong.

1. What does it say when it doesn't know?

This is the most important question. A voice assistant that invents an answer, such as a price, an arrival time or a piece of advice, can lose you a customer or land you in trouble.

What to look for: it should say it isn't sure and that someone will ring back. Test it: ask something it cannot possibly know.

Kallorix: she uses only the details you have confirmed. Anything else, she says she is not sure and that someone will let them know, then carries on taking the details.

2. Can I hear it as my own business before I pay?

A polished recording on a website tells you little. You need to hear it answer with your name, about your services, to your kind of caller.

Kallorix: yes. Give us your website, or your trade and town, and we build a receptionist for your business. You ring it and talk to it. No card is needed for the demo.

3. How is it priced, and what would my month cost?

Pricing comes in three shapes: per minute, per call, or a flat fee with an allowance. None is wrong, but they suit different businesses, and some come with set-up fees or charges for extras.

What to do: estimate your missed calls in a month and how long each takes, and ask for the total.

Kallorix: a flat monthly price. Starter is £39 for 250 minutes, Growth is £99 for 500, Maximus is £149 for unlimited minutes with a fair-use ceiling of 3,000. No set-up fee. Every plan has the same features; only the minutes differ. A typical call is about two minutes.

4. What happens when I run out?

Some services stop answering. Some keep going and bill you for the excess. You should know which before a busy week finds out for you.

Kallorix: you are never charged extra. Your phone still rings as normal. If you miss a call, the caller hears a short message that you will ring back, and we text you their number. We also text you when you have used most of your allowance.

5. Is there a contract?

A provider confident in its product does not need to tie you in.

Kallorix: no contract. It is paid monthly and you can cancel at any time from your billing page. There are 7 days free, and nothing is charged until your receptionist is actually working.

6. Does it know my trade?

A general assistant takes a general message. One set up for your trade asks the questions that let you judge the job: for recovery, whether the vehicle rolls; for a plumber, whether water is still running; for a tree surgeon, what the tree is near.

Kallorix: she has a short set of questions for each trade we support, kept to the few that change what you do next. You can edit what she asks and what she knows at any time in your account.

7. Do I keep my number, and what if my phone can't divert?

Most services work by diverting the calls you miss. Not every phone or tariff can do that, especially some pay-as-you-go SIMs.

Kallorix: you keep your number and dial one code. If your network cannot divert, you give out your Kallorix number, which rings your mobile first and lets her answer what you don't pick up. Our guide on divert problems explains the options.

8. Are calls recorded, and what happens to the data?

Your callers are your customers, and you are responsible for what happens to their details. Ask whether audio is kept, for how long, and who can access it.

Kallorix: we do not keep audio recordings. The conversation is turned into text as it happens so we can write your job text. That text is kept for 90 days so you can read it in your account, then removed. Our privacy policy has the detail.

9. Is it honest with callers?

Some products are designed to pass as human. Think about how your customers would feel on finding out.

Kallorix: she answers as your business and sounds natural. She does not bring it up, but if someone sincerely asks whether they are speaking to a real person, she says she is your virtual receptionist.

10. Can it reach me when it matters?

A message is no use for a genuine emergency. Ask whether it can put an urgent caller through, and how it decides.

Kallorix: if you switch it on, she tries your mobile once for a caller with an emergency or one who asks to speak to someone now. If you don't answer, she takes the details and marks your text urgent.

Other things worth asking

• Other languages. Ours switches to the caller's language and still texts you in English.
• Appointments. Ours can offer a free time from your calendar for you to confirm.
• Photos and locations. Ours can text the caller a link to share either.
• How long a call can last. Ours takes calls of up to five minutes.
• What it won't do. Ours cannot take payments, ring the emergency services or give safety advice.

Test before you trust

Whichever you are considering, ring it as an awkward customer. Interrupt it. Give your number quickly. Ask for a price. Then read the message it sends and ask yourself whether you could do the job from that alone.

You can do that with ours now. The free demo takes about two minutes. Put the same ten questions to anyone else you are considering, and compare the answers with ours.