Virtual receptionist or AI receptionist?

What each one is

A virtual receptionist is a real person, usually working for an answering service, who picks up your calls under your business name. They follow a script you agree on, take messages, and may book appointments or put calls through. Services differ in their hours and in what they’ll do.

An AI receptionist is software that answers in a natural voice, understands what the caller says and replies from your business’s information. It can book appointments, take orders and messages, and put a caller through to you. J-Voice Agent is our AI receptionist.

Where a human virtual receptionist is better

People are still better at calls that need judgement. A distressed caller, a complaint that needs calming down, or a request that fits no rule you wrote down: a trained receptionist reads the situation and adapts.

A person can also build a relationship. Regular clients get to know them, and some businesses value that familiar voice. If most of your calls are complex, sensitive or emotional, a human service may suit you better.

• Upset, distressed or emotional callers
• Complaints and negotiations
• Calls that need judgement beyond a script
• Clients who expect the same person each time

Where an AI receptionist is better

AI is better at volume and consistency. It answers every call, including when several come in at once, and it has no shifts, breaks or bad days. Each caller gets the same correct answer about your hours, prices and services.

Cost is easier to predict too. Instead of paying per call or per minute of a person’s time, you pay a monthly plan with minutes included. It also does the follow-through: bookings land in your calendar, and orders and messages arrive in your inbox with a call summary.

• Every call answered, 24/7, public holidays included
• Several calls at once
• The same answer every time
• A fixed monthly price with minutes included

Hybrid setups: AI first, a person for the hard ones

You don’t have to pick one. A practical setup is to let the AI answer every call and handle the routine ones, then put the tricky ones through to a person.

With J-Voice Agent, that person is usually you or your team. When a caller is urgent or asks for someone, the agent rings your mobile. You answer and press 1 to take the call. If nobody picks up, the caller goes back to the agent and leaves a message.

You decide which calls come through: only emergencies, say, or every new customer too. Start narrow, then widen it once you’ve heard how the agent handles your callers.

Questions to ask either provider

Whether you’re comparing answering services or AI agents, the same questions sort the good from the rest. Ask them before you sign anything.

Then test it. Ring at 8 am on a Monday and again late at night, ask something awkward, and see what reaches you afterwards.

• What are the hours, and what happens outside them?
• What happens when several calls come in at once?
• Does it book straight into my calendar, or do I get a message to action?
• How are urgent calls put through, and what if I don’t answer?
• How am I charged: per call, per minute or a monthly plan? What do extra calls or minutes cost?
• Is there a minimum term, a setup fee or an exit fee?
• Where are call recordings and notes kept, and who can see them?

A cost worksheet you fill in

Prices vary by provider and plan, so use your own numbers. Pull last month’s call log from your phone provider and get a written quote from each option. Then work through these lines.

A worked example with J-Voice Agent: 300 calls a month at 3 minutes each is 900 minutes. Starter includes 800, so that’s A$199 plus 100 extra minutes at 30c, or A$229 a month, GST included. Past about 1,470 minutes a month, Growth at A$399 works out cheaper.

• Calls per month: count them from your phone bill or call log
• Average minutes per call
• Monthly minutes = calls per month × average minutes per call
• Human service: its monthly fee + (calls or minutes × its rate)
• AI receptionist: the plan that covers your monthly minutes, plus the rate for any extra minutes
• Compare the totals, then weigh what the calls it can’t handle are worth to you