Answering Business Calls with AllDayDesk

When a customer calls, the receptionist answers using the business details you saved, greets the caller, and works through what they need. For common questions, it answers from your saved information. For appointments, it can book new appointments on the built-in AllDayDesk dashboard calendar once you have configured your services and availability.

The receptionist also knows its limits. When an answer, price, or appointment is unknown, it takes a message instead of guessing. If you configure a transfer destination and rules, it can transfer calls to you, though neither pickup nor an immediate response is guaranteed on a transfer.

If a caller wants to change an existing appointment, that is handled as a request for you to review, not a confirmed change. You see the request in your dashboard along with the call transcript and a summary, so nothing slips through quietly.

• Answers questions using your saved business information
• Books new appointments on the dashboard calendar once services and availability are set
• Takes a message when it does not know an answer, price, or opening
• Transfers calls to a destination you configure, with rules you set
• Logs changes to existing appointments as requests for your review
• Shows calls with transcripts and summaries in your dashboard

Setup starts with your business, not paperwork. You choose your business from a list or enter its website, and the service checks the details it finds. You then hear a personalized sample of the receptionist speaking for your business. The sample creates no real booking; it is simply a preview of how your calls would be answered.

After you approve the sample, you choose phone setup. You keep your public phone number by forwarding calls to AllDayDesk, and the exact instructions depend on your phone service. Most owners answer their own phone, so there is no assumption that you have staff to manage this.

• Choose your business or enter its website
• Review the checked details
• Hear a personalized sample (no real booking is created)
• Choose phone setup and forward your existing number

Forwarding is what lets you keep the number customers already know. How you turn it on depends entirely on your phone carrier and product, so identify your exact service before following any instructions. The steps differ even within one carrier's product lines.

For example, Verizon mobile uses *72 plus the 10-digit destination for all-call forwarding, *71 for unanswered calls, and *73 to disable, and the setup must be done from the phone while in Verizon coverage. Verizon business landline uses *72 and *73 from the same line. T-Mobile uses codes like **21*1 plus the destination and # for unconditional forwarding, with ##21# to disable. Comcast Business features are managed through My Account or the Comcast Business App, and which instructions apply depends on whether you have Voice Mobility, Business Voice, or VoiceEdge.

One important exception: Google Voice does not support forwarding calls from a Google Voice number to an automated system, so that path is not a way to connect. If your carrier's conditional forwarding is not verified, check with the carrier for your exact service rather than borrowing another carrier's codes.

• Identify your exact carrier product before using any code
• Codes differ between a carrier's wireless, landline, and hosted products
• Test the destination with a real call after activating
• Google Voice numbers cannot be forwarded to an automated system

New appointments go on the built-in AllDayDesk dashboard calendar by default, once you have configured your services and availability. If you prefer Google Calendar, an optional connection is supported in Settings after you connect and authorize your Google account. Other calendars and industry scheduling software are not part of the service.

Calls leave a record you can review. You see the call, its transcript, a summary, and any bookings or messages in the dashboard, so you can catch up on the day without listening to voicemail. Editable callback templates use a callback window you choose, written in brackets, so callers hear a time range you actually mean.

• Dashboard calendar is the default for new bookings
• Optional Google Calendar connection in Settings, after you authorize your account
• Transcripts and summaries for each call in the dashboard
• Callback templates use your own bracketed time window

The main decision is between an AI receptionist like AllDayDesk and human-based options. Human virtual receptionist services exist, such as Ruby (plans advertised starting at $245 per month as of October 9, 2026) and Smith.ai's per-call human receptionist pricing, but starting prices alone are not a full comparison; you have to check included minutes, overage rates, hours, and contract terms on a current quote. An in-house receptionist, per the Bureau of Labor Statistics, does far more than answer phones, including greeting visitors and office tasks, so a phone service is not a full employee replacement.

AllDayDesk is this site's own product, and this comparison covers documented features rather than hands-on testing. The practical questions to ask are: do you need judgment on complex or sensitive calls, or mostly accurate answers, messages, and bookings? Do you want coverage outside business hours? What does your call volume cost under each pricing model? Plans here include a set number of minutes with a per-minute rate beyond that, and pricing is displayed separately from this page.

• AI receptionist: consistent answers, messages, and bookings from saved info
• Human services: judgment calls, at a price that varies by plan and usage
• In-house staff: full office role, not just phones
• Compare included minutes, overage rates, and hours on any current quote