When the AI Receptionist isn't picking up calls, work through this checklist top-to-bottom.
| Symptom | Likely cause | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| No greeting; silence or fast busy | Add-on inactive, not provisioned, or number not routed to AI | Steps 1–4 below |
| AI answers but doesn't help | Greeting/FAQ/routing misconfigured | Step 7 — review transcript and edit FAQ |
| Calls coming in but rejected as spam | Carrier-side spam reputation too tight | Step 5 — verify with a clean phone test |
| AI sounds robotic / hard to understand | Voice choice or recent voice change | Step 8 — try a different voice |
Is the add-on active?
Settings → Billing. Confirm the AI Receptionist line shows as Active. If your account's behind on payment, the add-on may have been suspended.
Is the agent provisioned?
Settings → Voice. The page should show your agent's name, voice, and greeting. If it shows a setup wizard or Not provisioned, you haven't completed setup yet. See Setting up the AI Receptionist.
Is the receptionist assigned to a phone number?
Settings → Phone → Numbers. For each inbound number you want the AI to answer, confirm the routing is set to AI Receptionist. If a number is routed to voicemail or external forwarding instead, the AI never sees the call.
Is the number active and registered?
Same Numbers page — confirm the number's status is Active. If it's Suspended for A2P compliance issues or carrier dispute, calls don't reach the AI.
Is the carrier flagging spam?
Open Settings → Phone → Usage. If you see calls coming in but all classified as spam (rejected before the AI engages), the carrier-side spam reputation may be over-tight. The spam threshold is 0.7; carrier reputation that high typically means the caller's number is on a spam list.
You can verify this is the issue by calling your number from a known clean phone — if your clean call gets through and only random callers don't, it's likely real spam being filtered.
Test the receptionist directly
Call your business number from a phone that's not in the system as a customer. The AI should answer within 2 rings with your greeting. If silence or fast busy:
- The AI isn't engaging — see steps 1–4.
- Carrier or number issue — see Common phone issues.
Listen to a recent transcript
If the AI answered but didn't help correctly:
- Phone → Calls → open a recent AI call.
- Read the transcript.
- The AI's responses tell you whether your greeting, FAQ, and routing are configured correctly.
If the AI consistently misunderstands certain questions, edit the FAQ — see Adding business facts to the AI prompt.
Voice quality issues
If callers report the AI sounds robotic or hard to understand:
- Check that you're on a supported voice (the 9 voice options). Some voices model better than others on certain accents.
- If you switched voices mid-month, give it a few real calls before changing again — the 10-changes-per-month limit will catch up to you.
When to escalate
If you've worked through the checks and the AI still isn't behaving as expected, email admin@runacall.com with:
- A specific failed call's timestamp.
- What the caller wanted.
- What the AI did (or didn't) do.
The team can review server-side logs for the call.