Virtual Assistant Phone Calls: What They Are and How They Work

The flow is simple once forwarding is on. A caller dials your normal business number. Your phone service forwards that call to the virtual assistant instead of ringing your phone. The assistant answers in your business name, using information you saved about your hours, services, and policies.

During the call, the assistant answers questions it can answer from your saved details. If a caller asks something the assistant does not know, like a price that is not on file or a question about a specific appointment, it takes a message so you can follow up. That same rule applies to appointment changes: an existing appointment change is recorded as a request for you to approve, not a confirmed change.

After the call, you can open your dashboard and see the call, read the transcript, review a summary, and check any bookings that were made. Nothing happens invisibly; you always have a record of what was said.

• Caller dials your existing number; you never have to change it
• Forwarding routes the call to the assistant based on your phone service settings
• The assistant answers using your saved business information
• Unknown answers, prices, or appointment details become a message for you
• Calls, transcripts, summaries, and bookings appear in your dashboard

You keep your public phone number. To route calls to a virtual assistant, you turn on call forwarding with your phone provider. The exact steps depend on who provides your phone service, so check your provider's own instructions before entering any codes.

Some providers use star codes. For example, Verizon mobile uses *72 plus the destination number for all-call forwarding, *71 for unanswered calls, and *73 to turn forwarding off, and these must be dialed from the phone while in Verizon coverage. T-Mobile uses codes like **21*1 followed by the destination and # for unconditional forwarding, with ##21# to disable. AT&T Phone for Business uses *72, destination, # for all calls and *92 for no-answer forwarding, which is different from AT&T wireless and AT&T Collaborate codes.

Other providers use a web portal instead. Spectrum Business Voice manages forwarding through SpectrumBusiness.net under Voice Settings or Forwarding Manager, where you choose all calls or busy/no-answer forwarding and set the destination. Vonage Business Communications has a Call Forwarding setting where you enable forwarding to a phone number. Comcast Business features depend on whether you have Voice Mobility, Business Voice, or VoiceEdge, so identify your product first.

One important limit: Google Voice does not support forwarding calls from a Google Voice number to an automated system, so a Google Voice number is not a compatible path for this kind of service. If you are unsure which product or plan you have, your provider's support team or your bill can tell you.

• Forwarding instructions differ by carrier and even by product within one carrier
• Wireless codes (like Verizon *72/*71) do not apply to the same company's landline products
• Portal-based providers like Spectrum Business and Vonage manage forwarding in account settings
• Google Voice numbers cannot forward to an automated answering system

There are two broad kinds of virtual assistant phone services, and the right choice depends on your call volume, budget, and how complex your calls are.

Human virtual receptionist services, like Ruby, AnswerConnect, and Smith.ai's live receptionist offering, staff calls with trained people. Human services typically cost more; for example, Ruby advertises plans starting at $245 per month as of October 2026, and Smith.ai uses per-call pricing that depends on the needs you select. Those starting prices are not complete comparisons, since included minutes, overage rates, hours, and contract terms vary, so always check a current quote.

AI virtual assistants, like AllDayDesk and Smith.ai's separate AI receptionist product, answer calls automatically using your saved business information. AllDayDesk answers around the clock using your business details, books new appointments into its built-in dashboard calendar once you have configured services and availability, and optionally connects to Google Calendar from Settings after you connect and authorize your account. An AI assistant is available outside business hours without shift scheduling, but it works from the information you give it, so it takes a message whenever it does not know an answer.

A fair way to decide: if your calls involve judgment-heavy conversations, sensitive topics, or frequent unusual requests, a human service may fit better. If your calls are mostly appointment requests, hours, directions, and routine questions, an AI assistant handles them consistently and is available at any hour. Note that around-the-clock availability does not guarantee every call connects, and configured transfers to you require you to set a destination and rules in advance.

• Human services: trained people answer, usually at a higher monthly or per-call cost
• AI services: automatic answering from your saved business details, available around the clock
• AllDayDesk books into its built-in calendar by default; Google Calendar is an optional connection in Settings
• Neither type replaces an in-office employee's full role; in-house reception also covers visitors and office tasks
• Transfers to you only happen if you configure a destination and rules, and pickup is not guaranteed

AllDayDesk is this site's own AI virtual assistant service. Setup starts by choosing your business or entering its website, then checking the business details the assistant will use. You hear a personalized sample of how your calls would be answered before you commit to anything. The sample is a demonstration only; it does not create a real booking.

After you approve the details, you choose your phone setup. Since you keep your public number, that means turning on forwarding with your provider using the instructions for your specific service. Once calls are flowing, the assistant answers in your business name, takes messages when it does not know an answer, and books new appointments into the built-in AllDayDesk dashboard calendar by default, as long as you have configured your services and availability. If you prefer Google Calendar, you can connect and authorize your Google account in Settings.

Everything the assistant does is visible in your dashboard: calls, transcripts, summaries, and bookings. Existing appointment changes come to you as requests to approve, so nothing on your schedule changes without your sign-off.

• Choose your business or enter its website to pull in details
• Review and correct the saved information before going live
• Listen to a personalized sample (no real booking is made)
• Turn on forwarding with your provider to route calls
• Configure services and availability so new bookings can be made
• Optionally connect Google Calendar in Settings after authorizing your account

Knowing the boundaries helps you set expectations with callers and decide whether the service fits your business.

A virtual assistant can greet callers in your business name, answer questions from your saved details, take messages, book new appointments when your services and availability are configured, and record requests to change existing appointments for your approval. With transfers configured, it can also pass a call to you at a destination you set, though pickup is not guaranteed.

A virtual assistant does not give medical, legal, or financial advice, does not verify insurance, does not handle emergencies or dispatch, and does not collect sensitive medical, legal, financial, or payment details. When a caller asks something outside the saved information, the correct behavior is to take a message so you can respond personally.

• Can do: greetings, saved-detail answers, messages, new bookings, appointment change requests
• Can do: configured transfers to a destination you set (pickup not guaranteed)
• Cannot do: advice, insurance verification, emergency dispatch, or sensitive data collection
• Unknown answers always become a message for the owner