What does an AI receptionist do that voicemail does not?
Voicemail records a message and waits for you to call back. A Feerasta Concierge call is answered: by default the AI says it is an automated assistant, replies from the hours, prices and booking rules you wrote, takes the caller's details, books where your Feerasta booking calendar is set up, and passes the caller to a person on request. Concierge is $149 a month.
Side by side
- Answering: voicemail plays a greeting, and Concierge talks with the caller.
- Questions: voicemail cannot answer, while Concierge answers what you taught it, such as hours, prices and whether you take new customers.
- Booking: voicemail leaves you a task, while Concierge books where your booking calendar is set up.
- Record: voicemail gives you audio to play back, while Concierge gives you a written record and a plain summary.
- A person: both can lead to you, but Concierge transfers a caller who asks for a person to the number you chose, and takes a message if nobody can answer.
Where voicemail is enough
If few calls come in, or every call needs your judgement before anything can be answered or booked, voicemail may be all you need. An AI receptionist adds a step if nothing can be settled without you.
It earns its place when the phone is your front door, when calls arrive after hours, or when you are busy with a customer and cannot stop to answer. Our article on whether you need an AI receptionist walks through the test.
What the AI will not do
A question nobody set up an answer for is not guessed at. The agent takes a message instead. A complaint or a request for regulated advice is not answered from your rules, and the call is marked urgent for you.
Common questions
Is an AI receptionist the same as an answering service?
No. An answering service usually has people take your calls. Concierge answers from rules you can read, says by default that it is an automated assistant, and answers from the hours, prices and booking rules you gave it.
Can I still use voicemail?
Yes. You choose which calls your carrier passes to us: always, after a number of rings, or when you are busy. Calls you do not forward ring through as they do today.
Does the AI invent answers?
No. It answers only what it was taught. A question nobody configured gets a message taken, not a guess.