The AI Receptionist doesn't transfer calls to a human. Instead, it takes a complete message and creates a follow-up task for your team — no caller is ever told "I can't transfer you."
What the AI does when a caller wants to "talk to someone"
The AI is trained to never refuse a transfer outright. Instead it says something like:
"Nobody's available at the office right this second — but I can take down everything you need and someone will call you right back. What's going on?"
Then it gathers:
| Info | Why |
|---|---|
| Caller's name and number | So you can call back. |
| Reason for the call | Routing context. |
| Urgency signal | Broken AC in summer, no heat in winter. |
| Best time to call back | Avoids phone tag. |
That information becomes a follow-up task in the Phone inbox. Your team sees the task immediately and calls the customer back.
Why no live transfer
The platform is designed as a 24/7 message-taker, not a switchboard. The trade-off:
| Side | Detail |
|---|---|
| Pro | After-hours calls still get answered well. The customer talks to "Jessica" instead of voicemail. |
| Pro | No risk of transferring to a busy line that goes to voicemail anyway. |
| Con | A customer who insists on talking to a human right now will be slightly disappointed — though the AI handles the framing well. |
What you see when a follow-up comes in
Open the Phone inbox. Follow-up tasks appear with:
| Field | What it shows |
|---|---|
| Caller name + number | Who called. |
| Summary | What the AI gathered. |
| Urgency level | Emergency, high, normal, low. |
| Category | Schedule change, estimate question, invoice question, vendor message, etc. |
| Transcript | Every word of the call. |
Tap one to act — call back, book a job, send an estimate.
How to make this work well
- Set your business hours so the AI's "nobody's available right now" framing is honest.
- Configure the callback priority order in your team settings so the right person sees urgent tasks first (e.g. service emergencies → dispatcher).
- Review follow-ups within the SLA you promise the customer ("we'll call you back within an hour" is reasonable for service hours).