If calls aren't reaching your AI Receptionist, or it isn't handling them the way you expect, work through these checks in order. Most problems come down to the add-on, call routing, or forwarding from another phone system.
Who can do this: owners and admins.
Run the health check
Go to Settings → Phone → Receptionist and click Run health check, then Start test. Place a quick test call to the number shown. Run a Call watches the call land and reports on each check — the line, the receptionist, and the call itself. If no call arrives within 5 minutes, the test times out; click Run again and make sure you're calling the number shown.
The results usually point straight at the problem. If they don't, keep going.
Is the add-on active?
Go to Settings → Billing and look for the AI Receptionist card under Add-ons.
| You see | What it means |
|---|---|
| Active or Free during trial | The add-on is on — go to step 3 |
| Not subscribed | The add-on isn't on. Click Add card & activate. |
| Cancels and a date | It was cancelled and stops answering on that date. Click Reactivate to keep it. |
If your Run a Call subscription itself is past due or expired, the receptionist stops too — see Updating the card on file for your subscription.
Has it used up its included calls?
The add-on includes 100 answered calls per billing period. With the default Stop at your quota setting, the receptionist stops taking calls past 100. Check Calls used this period on the Billing card. To keep answering, turn on Allow overage in Settings → Phone → Receptionist ($0.75 per extra call). See How the AI Receptionist is billed.
Are calls being sent to it?
If you have Run a Call Voice: the receptionist only answers the calls you route to it. Check the Call routing card in Settings → Phone → Voice — Nobody answers and After hours should be set to AI receptionist for the calls you want it to take. If the card says Call routing is customised in Call flows, open your call flow and check that it sends calls to the receptionist at the step you expect.
If you forward from another phone provider: calls only reach it if forwarding is on.
- Confirm busy / no-answer forwarding is set to the receptionist's number with your carrier.
- Ring your business line from a cell phone and let it go unanswered. If the receptionist doesn't pick up, the forwarding isn't active.
- Make sure your phone system passes through the original caller's number, or every call looks like it came from your own line.
See Setting up the AI Receptionist.
Is it just one caller?
- Blocked number — check Settings → Phone → Blocked. Blocked callers never reach the receptionist.
- Flagged as spam — robocalls and known spam numbers are dropped automatically. See Spam filtering and blocked numbers.
It answers, but doesn't say the right things
Open the call in Conversations and read the transcript to see where it went wrong. Then:
- Wrong or missing information (prices, brands, service area) — add or fix your business facts. See Adding business facts to the AI prompt.
- Wrong hours — check your business hours in the receptionist settings.
- Greeting, name, voice, or tone — see Customizing the AI Receptionist.
Still not working?
Send us a request from Settings → Support with the time of a call that didn't work, the number the caller dialed, and what happened. See Getting help from Run a Call support.