What is an AI receptionist?
What an AI receptionist is, what it actually does on a call, what it costs, and how it compares with a human answering service.
Updated October 17, 2026
An AI receptionist is software that answers your business phone in a natural voice, understands what the caller wants, answers questions from your business details, books appointments against your calendar, takes structured messages, and transfers urgent calls to a person. It works 24/7 and is priced on included minutes rather than per call. Elavo Answer is one, built for home-service and local businesses.
What happens on a call
The caller hears a greeting in your business name and an honest "I am an AI assistant". They say what they need. The AI answers from your services, prices, hours and service area, books if that is the goal, or takes a message with name, number, reason and urgency. If the situation is urgent it transfers to whoever is on call.
What it is not
It is not a phone tree or an IVR that makes callers press buttons, and it is not a chatbot reading a script. It holds a conversation and acts on it.
What it costs
Live services run about $1.30 to $5.00 a minute on published plans. Elavo Answer is $299/month for 1,200 minutes, about $0.25 a minute, with no overage and one 300-minute block for $75 when you need more.
Where it fits
Any business that loses calls while working: trades, cleaning, pest control, property management, clinics, salons. The more calls go unanswered today, the bigger the payoff.