Answering Phone Calls
What It Does
On the Chat + Booking + Phone plan, the receptionist answers the client's business phone 24/7 in a natural voice. It answers questions from the same Knowledge as the website chat, books appointments, takes messages, transfers callers to the team during business hours and screens out spam. Every call's transcript and summary land in the Inbox, and the owner gets an email after each call.
Get a Phone Number
- Open Phone: in the client's receptionist dashboard, click Phone in the menu.
- Search: pick United States or Canada, type a 3-digit area code and click Find numbers. If that area code is sold out, it suggests numbers in the same state.
- Choose: click Choose next to a number. It starts answering right away. Call it to hear the receptionist.
A client can change their number once on their own. After that, they ask you, and you contact support.
Keep Their Existing Number
Most businesses forward their current line to the new number. On Verizon, dial *72 and the number to forward every call, or *71 to forward only missed calls; *73 stops it. On AT&T and T-Mobile, dial **21*, the number and # for every call, or **61* for missed calls; ##21# or ##61# stops it. Office and internet phone systems have a forwarding or after-hours setting.
Voice, Language and Greeting
- Pick a language and voice: over 40 languages and many voices. Click Play to hear a sample.
- Greeting: the first thing callers hear. Leave it empty for the default, or click Write it for me for a draft from the business's details.
Transfers and Business Hours
Add a US or Canada number in Transfer calls to. When a caller asks for a person, the receptionist connects them. With Only transfer during business hours on (the default), it uses the hours set in Bookings; outside those hours it takes a message instead. If nobody picks up a transfer, it comes back on the line and takes a message.
Spam Protection
- Screen suspicious calls: callers with hidden or unverified numbers must press 1 before the receptionist answers. Robocalls can't.
- Block hidden numbers: optional; rejects private and unknown callers.
- Blocked numbers: numbers that are always rejected. Anyone calling more than 8 times in a day is blocked automatically. The transfer number is never screened.
Calls in the Inbox
Phone calls show with a phone icon next to website chats. Each call has a summary at the top, the full transcript and a Call back button. Recent Calls on the Phone page lists every call, including blocked spam, with its result and length.
Call Button on the Website
When the client has a number, the chat widget shows a call button in its header, so website visitors can tap to call. It can be turned off in Appearance.
Limits and Cancellation
Calls are unlimited for normal business use, up to 15 minutes each. US and Canada numbers only for now. If the service is suspended or cancelled, calls go to the transfer number (or a short message), and the number is released 7 days later (30 days if suspended).