24/7 AI receptionist: how to set up a voice bot to answer every call

At night, on weekends and when every manager is busy, incoming calls go nowhere: a clinic or car service client won't wait and calls the next company, and the request you paid for with advertising is lost. A 24/7 AI receptionist on a voice bot closes this gap. The bot picks up every call with no queue, answers questions, books the client and sets the step in the CRM. In the morning, the administrator sees a ready lead.

To make the bot start taking calls, it's enough to link a number to it. But to keep it from losing clients, you need to train it for a couple of days and move calls to it in batches. Watch the two-minute video, and below you'll find the step-by-step setup and the launch method.

Why businesses need it

• Clinic, salon, car service: during the day, calls go to administrators, and at night and on weekends — to the AI receptionist. Not a single booking is lost because of the work schedule.
• Sales team: the bot picks up a call that an employee didn't answer and transfers complex cases to a manager.
• Any business with incoming calls saves on an on-duty operator. A minute of the bot's conversation costs $0.12 on average — with no salary, sick days or weekends.
• A business where the bot both makes and takes calls: a step condition won't let a client who called back to “troll” the robot overwrite the “Booked” step.

Handing incoming calls to the bot pays off most when:

• calls are taken by administrators or consultants rather than salespeople, and the client gets an answer instead of a booking;
• sales calls land in the service department, where the client gets advice and is let go;
• managers are busy, don't pick up right away, and many calls go unanswered;
• calls come in the evening, on weekends and holidays, while you work only on weekdays;
• there's a lot of spam and off-target calls that eat up managers' time.

Unlike a person, the bot doesn't blurt out the price right away or give up after “I'll think about it” — it leads the client to a booking.

How a voice bot takes incoming calls

An AI receptionist is a voice bot that answers incoming calls instead of an administrator: at any time and with no queue. The incoming scheme is the call route: who the call goes to and in what order. When you link a number to the bot, a branch with the “Launch an autofunnel” block appears for this number in the scheme. This block hands the call and the lead over to the bot. You can put two filters in front of the bot:

• “Blacklist” — calls from subscribers marked in the CRM end immediately;
• “Steps for incoming calls” — only leads at the selected funnel steps reach the bot.

The “Stopped” status in the bot list turns off only outbound calling — see “AI outbound calling bot”. The bot takes incoming calls anyway.

How to link a phone number to an AI voice bot

1. 1
   Prepare a number

   Rent or connect a number in the “Phone numbers” section (more in “Renting a phone number for calls”). We recommend the built-in telephony: its numbers show up in the test window right away.
2. 2
   Open the test window

   Bot card → “Settings” → the “Inbound settings” sub-tab. The same window opens from the “Test call” handset on the “Instruction” tab.
3. 3
   Link the number

   Click “Change number” and choose a number from the list. No numbers? Click “Manage numbers”. You can also link a number in the “Phone numbers” section: number card → the “Autofunnels” block → the checkbox next to the bot.
4. 4
   Decide whether you need a step condition

   In the “Add a step condition to the incoming scheme?” window, click “No, without a step condition” or “Yes, choose steps”. In the second case, tick the steps and click “Link”. The number is written to the incoming scheme right away.
5. 5
   Call the bot

   From your own phone, dial the number shown in the “Call this number to test the AI” line.
6. 6
   Tune the pauses

   Right during the test calls, move the sliders for the pauses before the first and the later AI answers. Then click “Save” in the card.

Steps for incoming calls and a caller blacklist

A step condition is needed when the same bot both makes calls and takes incoming ones. Example: the bot set the lead to the “Interest” step, and the client called back to “troll” the robot. Without the condition, the bot will set “Refusal”, and the manager will miss a hot lead.

In the “Steps for incoming calls” block of the test window:

• “Lead steps” — the steps at which the call is let through to the bot. The “Change steps” and “Remove the condition” buttons.
• “If the step does not fit” — what the robot says to the caller before ending the call. Empty — the call simply ends. The “Insert the standard text” button inserts a ready-made version.
• “Blacklist” → “Set up the blacklist” → “Create the ‘Blacklist’ field” or your own field → “Save”. Then mark such subscribers in the lead card: their calls end even before the step check.

All of this is written to the incoming scheme immediately: “Steps saved.” or “The blacklist has been saved.” appears under the block. The same settings are available in “Launch conditions” on the “Incoming call conditions” tab.

How to launch an AI receptionist without losing calls

The prompt is ready in minutes, but on incoming calls the bot has to answer every client question. Train it gradually, the way a child learns: in greenhouse conditions you won't account for about 10% of how real people talk. Training usually takes a couple of days, no more than seven. Fix the answers using real calls: “Training AI” has “Find a call” and “AI training on real calls” — more in “AI voice bot training”. While the bot is learning, test it on a separate number.

Then move calls over in batches. Open the “Incoming scheme settings” link on the “Incoming call conditions” tab — the “Incoming requests setup” section opens in a new tab. How this scheme works is covered in “Routing incoming calls to an AI voice bot”. The bot is placed with the “Launch an autofunnel” block:

1. First — in the “If the employee has not answered” branch: the bot picks up missed calls.
2. Then — in the “Off hours” branch: the AI receptionist at night and on weekends.
3. When the bot handles about 95% of cases — first in the number's group. Then it takes all calls.

Keep the bot's own schedule in mind: if a call comes in outside its “Schedule”, it won't go past the block. Don't want to deal with it and need a guaranteed result? Order a turnkey setup — the button is at the end of the article.

Read also: AI outbound calling bot: call your contact list without wasting budget, How to stop missing business calls: an AI bot for calls and messengers, Virtual phone number for business: prices, SIP and a bot number