Call Answering Service Virtual Receptionist

When a customer calls your business number, the call is forwarded to your AllDayDesk receptionist instead of ringing through to you or going to voicemail. The receptionist greets the caller, answers questions using the details you saved about your business, and collects the caller's name, number, and reason for calling.

Everything the receptionist does shows up in your dashboard. You can read the full call transcript, see a short summary, and review any messages or new appointments. If the caller wants to book, the receptionist can schedule a new appointment using the services and availability you have configured. Changes to existing appointments are passed to you as requests, not confirmed changes, so you stay in control of your schedule.

The receptionist is honest about limits. If a caller asks something it does not know, like a price you have not listed, it takes a message instead of guessing.

• Answers calls using your saved business information
• Takes messages and records transcripts and summaries in the dashboard
• Books new appointments once you set up services and availability
• Treats changes to existing appointments as requests for you to approve
• Takes a message when the answer, price, or opening is unknown

Setup starts with your business, not your phone. You choose your business or enter its website, and AllDayDesk pulls together the details the receptionist will use. You check those details, correct anything that is wrong, and then hear a personalized sample so you know exactly how your receptionist will sound. The sample is a preview only; it does not create a real booking.

After you approve the sample, you choose your phone setup. In most cases you keep your public number and forward calls to AllDayDesk. The forwarding instructions depend on your phone service, so check which product you actually have before dialing anything.

For example, Verizon mobile forwarding is activated by dialing *72 plus the destination number, with *71 for unanswered calls and *73 to turn it off. On T-Mobile, **21*1 followed by the destination and # enables unconditional forwarding, while **61*1 handles no-reply calls. Comcast Business, Spectrum Business Voice, and Vonage Business Communications manage forwarding through their account portals or app settings rather than a single universal code. If you are unsure which service you have, your bill or provider support can confirm the product name first.

• Choose your business or enter its website
• Review and correct the business details the receptionist will use
• Listen to a personalized sample of your receptionist
• Choose phone setup and forward your existing number
• Confirm forwarding with a real test call from another phone

New appointments go into the built-in AllDayDesk dashboard calendar by default. Before the receptionist can book anything, you configure your services and your availability, so bookings only land in open slots that match what you actually offer.

If you already run your schedule in Google Calendar, you can optionally connect it in Settings after you connect and authorize your Google account. That connection is optional and set up by you; it does not happen automatically. Other calendar tools and industry scheduling software are not part of the service.

When a caller wants to move or cancel an existing appointment, the receptionist records the request for you. You review it and make the change, which keeps your calendar accurate and avoids double bookings from misheard requests.

• New bookings use the AllDayDesk dashboard calendar once services and availability are set
• Google Calendar can be connected optionally in Settings after authorization
• Existing appointment changes arrive as requests, not confirmed edits
• Unknown answers, prices, or openings become messages instead of guesses

The main choice in this market is between an automated receptionist and a service staffed by people. Both forward your calls and take messages; they differ in cost structure, coverage, and how they handle unusual calls.

Human services, such as Ruby's live virtual receptionists, advertise plans starting at $245 per month as of October 2026, and Smith.ai uses per-call pricing for its human receptionist plans. Those figures are starting points only; real cost depends on included minutes or calls, overage rates, hours covered, and contract terms. AllDayDesk uses an automated receptionist available around the clock, with plan pricing shown separately on this site.

An in-house receptionist does more than answer the phone. Federal occupational data shows receptionists also greet visitors and handle office tasks, so a phone service is not a full replacement for that role. If your calls are routine, such as booking requests and common questions, an automated receptionist handles them well. If your calls often involve judgment calls or complex back-and-forth, weigh that when comparing.

• Human services typically price per minute or per call; verify what each plan includes
• Automated receptionists offer around-the-clock availability without per-call agent fees
• An in-house receptionist covers front-desk tasks a phone service does not
• Compare included minutes, overage rates, and hours before choosing any service

Around-the-clock availability describes when the receptionist can take calls; it is not a promise that every single call connects. Transfers to you require you to configure a destination number and the rules for when transfers happen, and neither pickup nor an immediate response is guaranteed on every attempt.

Also confirm your forwarding type. Unconditional forwarding sends all calls away from your line, while conditional forwarding only sends calls you miss, are busy on, or cannot reach. Some carriers and plans support one but not the other, and Google Voice explicitly does not support forwarding its calls to an automated system. Verify the exact product on your account before relying on either type.

Finally, remember that the receptionist speaks from the information you save. Keeping your services, prices, and hours current in your dashboard is what keeps its answers accurate.

• Configure a transfer destination and rules before expecting transfers
• Confirm whether your line supports unconditional or conditional forwarding
• Google Voice numbers cannot be forwarded to an automated answering system
• Keep saved business details up to date so answers stay accurate