How does an AI receptionist work?
The business connects a phone line: either a new number from the provider, or its existing number forwarded to it for every call or only when staff don’t pick up. It then gives the AI its greeting, opening hours, services, prices and rules for when to put a caller through.
When a call comes in, the AI answers, works out what the caller wants and handles what it can: answering questions, taking a message, booking or changing an appointment in a connected calendar, or transferring the call to a person. The business usually gets a summary or transcript of each call afterwards. Some services combine AI with human receptionists for the calls the AI can’t handle.
Callers should know they’re talking to an AI. Under the EU AI Act, providers of AI systems that interact directly with people must make sure those people are told so, unless it’s obvious.
How is an AI receptionist different from a website voice agent?
The difference is where the conversation starts. An AI receptionist takes phone calls to your number. A website voice agent is a button on your website: visitors click it, allow the microphone and talk to an AI in their browser.
A receptionist suits customers who phone you, including out of hours, while a website voice agent suits people who have questions while they’re on your pricing, help or product pages.
Is Kawl Now an AI receptionist?
No. Kawl Now has no phone number for customers to call, and it doesn’t answer phone calls. It’s a website voice agent: visitors talk to it in their browser on your SaaS website, and its support and sales agents answer from knowledge your team has approved.
It doesn’t do the other receptionist jobs either. It doesn’t book appointments or connect to a calendar or CRM. When it can’t answer, it is told to point callers to your website’s usual contact options, or to offer a person if you’ve turned on handover. Handover is an early release: your team verifies a UK or US phone number and turns handover on for the support or sales agent, and whoever answers hears a private briefing first. Customer routing is still being tested, so keep your usual contact options.
The name is spelt K-A-W-L and pronounced like “call now”, but Kawl Now isn’t a phone service. If customers need to reach you by phone, use a receptionist or phone system for that line.
Common questions
How does an AI receptionist answer an existing business number?
Usually through call forwarding. You forward your business line to a number the provider gives you, either for every call or only when nobody answers, so callers keep dialling the number they know. Some providers also issue a new number you can publish instead.
Can an AI receptionist answer questions on a website?
Some providers add a website widget that lets visitors talk to the same AI in their browser. If your questions come mainly from people already on your website and you don’t need a phone line, a website voice agent such as Kawl Now does that job on its own.