What an AI receptionist does
An AI receptionist is a voice assistant that answers phone calls for your business. It speaks with callers in a natural way, understands what they want and does the job a receptionist would do on the phone. With Linesteward it:
- Answers calls 24/7: evenings, weekends, and while you're with a customer or on a job.
- Books appointments into free times only, in its own diary or in your booking system.
- Answers questions from your website: prices, services, opening hours, the areas you cover. It sticks to the facts you checked.
- Takes messages and texts them to you: name, number and what the caller needs. Urgent ones are marked URGENT.
- Puts urgent calls through to your phone while you're open.
- Shows every call in your dashboard with a short summary and the full transcript.
It starts every call by saying it is an AI assistant, so callers always know who they're talking to.
How it works with your phone number
You have two choices, and you can change later:
- Keep your number. Your customers ring the number they know. Calls you don't answer are forwarded to your receptionist. Forwarding costs nothing from us; your phone company may charge for forwarded calls. See how to forward your calls.
- Get a new local number for £4.99 a month, in your business's name. Our phone network partner checks your business details first.
Either way, you make a test call before it answers real customers.
Booking appointments
It only offers times that are free. You can use its built-in diary, or connect Cliniko, Semble, Pabau, Cal.com, Calendly, Acuity Scheduling or SimplyBook.me. With Google Calendar or Outlook, you paste your calendar's private link so it can see when you're busy. Each booking shows in your dashboard straight away.
Trades businesses can switch on job booking: it offers free visit windows, like 8 to 12, books the job and texts it to you. Businesses that don't take bookings, such as estate agents, use it to take the details or a call-back request instead.
What it costs
Linesteward has three monthly plans. Each includes a set number of call minutes:
| Plan | Price | Call minutes included | Extra minutes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Starter | £19 a month | 200 minutes | 18p a minute |
| Business | £59 a month | 800 minutes | 13p a minute |
| Pro | £149 a month | 2,500 minutes | 10p a minute |
Extra minutes are 18p (Starter), 13p (Business) or 10p (Pro) a minute. There is no set-up fee and no contract: you pay monthly in advance and can cancel any time. No VAT is charged. Read more about what an AI receptionist costs in the UK, or see our pricing.
AI receptionist, human receptionist or voicemail?
Voicemail is free, but many callers hang up rather than leave a message, and you still have to call back. A human receptionist or answering service gives the personal touch, but costs more and may not cover every hour. An AI receptionist answers every call at any hour, gives the same answer every time and can book straight into your diary, but it can't use judgement the way an experienced person can.
Many businesses mix them: the AI answers when no one can, and puts urgent callers through to a person. Read the full comparison.
UK rules: GDPR, transcripts and telling callers
- It says it is an AI at the start of every call, and that the call is transcribed.
- Your callers' details belong to you. Under UK GDPR your business is the controller and we are your processor. Our Data Processing Agreement sets out how we handle the data.
- You choose how long transcripts are kept, from 7 days up to 2 years.
- No cold calling. It never makes sales calls. It only calls or texts when you or your customer asked for it.
More detail in AI receptionists and UK rules.
Which businesses it suits
It suits any small business that misses calls because the people who would answer are busy doing the work. It comes ready-made for these:
Any other small business can use it too: it answers questions from your website, takes messages and puts urgent calls through.
Try it in your browser
You don't need to talk to anyone to start. Sign up, pick your business type and paste your website. It reads your services, prices and hours, and you check what it found. Then you talk to it in your browser and ask what your customers ask, before you pay. Real calls start once you choose a plan.