# How to Set Up an AI Receptionist for a Small Business Published by 3Gen Internet Corporation, maker of OpenAssistant, Skej and AGNT. Comparisons use public documentation, without hands-on testing. ![A welcoming miniature reception desk with a telephone handset, service bell and appointment calendar, incoming inquiry cards routed neatly toward booking and message trays.](https://bestaipersonalassistants.com/images/ai-receptionist-small-business-c447c7ee2c18.webp) The steps below are taken from each vendor's help pages. We have not run them. To set up an AI receptionist, pick the number it will answer, decide when it answers, tell it what to do, and choose how you hear about each call. An AI receptionist greets the caller, answers common questions, takes a message or books an appointment, and passes urgent calls to a person. [OpenAssistant](https://openassistant.us/?utm_source=bestaipersonalassistants\&utm_medium=content\&utm_campaign=ai-receptionist-small-business) is an assistant with its own phone number whose homepage says it can receive calls on your behalf like a receptionist. This guide shows what OpenAssistant documents, and the full setup steps in three products built for business phone lines: - **OpenAssistant**, made by the company that publishes this site: an assistant with its own phone number that can take calls for you. - **RingCentral AI Receptionist**, the most fully documented, with calendar booking. - **Quo Sona** (Quo was formerly OpenPhone), which you add to a business number's call flow. - **Goodcall**, whose docs have the clearest instructions for forwarding your existing number. ## The four decisions 1. **Which number.** Get a new number from the provider, move (port) your existing number to them, or keep your number and forward calls to the AI. 2. **When it answers.** Every call, only calls you miss, or only after hours. 3. **What it does.** Answer questions, take a message, book an appointment, transfer to a person. 4. **How you hear about it.** Email, text, or an app. Also decide what callers are told. Several vendors recommend, and in some places require, telling callers they're speaking to an AI and that calls are recorded. Check the rules where you and your callers are. ## Option 1: OpenAssistant (an assistant with its own number) OpenAssistant gives each assistant its own phone number. Its homepage says the assistant "can receive phone calls on your behalf like a receptionist," and its executive assistant page says "Call it, text it, or let it call others for you." ([OpenAssistant](https://openassistant.us/), [OpenAssistant](https://openassistant.us/ai-executive-assistant)) 1. **Find the number.** System assistants show their number on the assistant's profile. For a custom assistant, you request a phone line from its profile. ([OpenAssistant](https://help.openassistant.us/en/articles/16276195-connecting-your-phone-number)) 2. **Tell it how to handle callers.** Save standing instructions, such as your hours and what to do with urgent requests, under Instructions (app.openassistant.us/instructions). ([OpenAssistant](https://help.openassistant.us/en/articles/15426482-instructions)) 3. **Set what it may do without asking.** Autonomy can be set to Manual, Confirmation Window or Autonomous for each kind of action. ([OpenAssistant](https://help.openassistant.us/en/articles/15425929-supervision-autonomy-settings)) OpenAssistant's changelog says it regrouped these settings, so the labels in the app may differ from the help center. ([OpenAssistant changelog](https://openassistant.us/changelog)) 4. **Follow what happened.** Requests from every channel show up in the dashboard, where you can answer questions and approve actions. ([OpenAssistant](https://help.openassistant.us/en/articles/16302208-waysto-work-with-openassistant)) **Where the others do better:** for a dedicated business line with a greeting, call routing and message alerts, the three products below have documented steps, and OpenAssistant's help center does not yet. The free Starter plan includes 1,000 credits at signup, plus 100 bonus credits a day once those are used up, up to 1,000 a month. ([OpenAssistant pricing](https://openassistant.us/pricing?utm_source=bestaipersonalassistants\&utm_medium=content\&utm_campaign=ai-receptionist-small-business)) ## Option 2: RingCentral AI Receptionist ### What you need RingCentral's pricing page lists the AI Receptionist on its own from $49 a month, or as an add-on to RingEX from $39 a month, each with 100 minutes included, $0.50 a minute after that, and a 14-day free trial. ([RingCentral pricing](https://www.ringcentral.com/pricing/ai-receptionist.html)) It's available in the US, Canada, Australia, the UK and Europe. ([RingCentral](https://support.ringcentral.com/article-v2/setting-up-your-ai-receptionist-in-the-admin-portal.html?brand=RingCentral\&product=RingEX\&language=en_US)) ### Step 1: Create it from your website 1. Sign in to the AI Receptionist as an admin (in the Admin Portal, the **AI** tab, then **AI Receptionist**) and click **Create**. ([RingCentral](https://support.ringcentral.com/article-v2/connecting-your-ai-receptionist.html?brand=RingCentral\&product=RingEX\&language=en_US)) 2. Under **Add your business details**, choose **Website** and enter your URL, or **Google Business Profile** and pick your listing. (Or **Set up manually**.) 3. Choose a **Primary language** and click **Create**. 4. Give it a **Name**, then pick **Voice**, **Personality** (Friendly, Neutral or Formal), **Response detail** and **Talking speed**. Click **Next**. ([RingCentral](https://support.ringcentral.com/article-v2/setting-up-your-ai-receptionist-in-the-admin-portal.html?brand=RingCentral\&product=RingEX\&language=en_US)) ### Step 2: Check what it learned It fills in a **Company description**, a **Company greeting**, your **Location and business hours**, and suggested **FAQ** answers from your website or listing. Read each one and correct it. Turn off any FAQ you don't want it to answer. Accounts in the EU must disclose to callers that they're talking to an AI, placed with the **AI disclosure** dropdown. ([RingCentral](https://support.ringcentral.com/article-v2/setting-up-your-ai-receptionist-in-the-admin-portal.html?brand=RingCentral\&product=RingEX\&language=en_US)) ### Step 3: Set where calls go when it can't help Set a **Default transfer destination** for calls it can't resolve or callers who ask for a person. ([RingCentral](https://support.ringcentral.com/article-v2/setting-up-your-ai-receptionist-in-the-admin-portal.html?brand=RingCentral\&product=RingEX\&language=en_US)) Under its skills, **Transfer by context** lets you add rules, such as sending billing questions to one extension, including **Transfer to external number**. ([RingCentral](https://support.ringcentral.com/article-v2/managing-skills-for-the-ai-receptionist-in-the-admin-portal.html?brand=RingCentral\&product=RingEX\&language=en_US)) ### Step 4: Let it book appointments (optional) 1. Connect a calendar: **AI**, **AI Receptionist**, **Integrations**, the **Gallery** tab, then **Google Calendar** or **Outlook Calendar**, **Connect my calendar**, and **Save**. 2. Click **AIR Studio**, click the receptionist's profile card, then **Appointment booking**, and select **Create new calendar access appointment**. It always asks callers for their name and phone number. Set the name, how far ahead people can book (up to 30 days), length and staff, click **Create**, then turn on **Use Appointment type skills**. ([RingCentral](https://support.ringcentral.com/article-v2/using-calendars-to-book-appointments-with-the-ai-receptionist.html?brand=RingCentral\&product=RingEX\&language=en_US)) ### Step 5: Take messages and get alerts In the skills library, open **Lead capture**, click **Create questionnaire** (name and phone are always asked; add up to 5 questions), set **Capture options** (for message-taking, **At a natural break** fits), and turn on **Use Lead capture skill**. Without a CRM connected, responses appear in the **Leads** tab. For email alerts: the settings gear, **Alerts** tab, **Get notified as you get new leads**, and choose immediately, daily or weekly. ([RingCentral](https://support.ringcentral.com/article-v2/using-lead-capture-with-the-ai-receptionist.html?brand=RingCentral\&product=RingEX\&language=en_US)) ### Step 6: Try a practice call, then connect your number Click **Start test call**, talk to it, then read the transcript. Test calls count toward your minutes. Then, in the **Connect** step, choose whether it answers during **Business hours**, **After hours**, or both, toggle on the **Direct numbers** it should answer, and click **Finish**. ([RingCentral](https://support.ringcentral.com/article-v2/setting-up-your-ai-receptionist-in-the-admin-portal.html?brand=RingCentral\&product=RingEX\&language=en_US)) If a number isn't connected, calls bypass the AI Receptionist. ([RingCentral](https://support.ringcentral.com/article-v2/connecting-your-ai-receptionist.html?brand=RingCentral\&product=RingEX\&language=en_US)) **Recording is off by default.** Turning it on takes two settings: add the AI Receptionist's extension to automatic call recording, then switch on **Automatic call recording** in its settings. ([RingCentral](https://support.ringcentral.com/article-v2/automatically-record-ai-receptionist-calls.html?brand=RingCentral\&product=RingEX\&language=en_US)) If your phone service isn't RingCentral, its product page says you can use call forwarding or a SIP connection, but no help article with simple forwarding steps is cited here. ([RingCentral](https://www.ringcentral.com/ai-receptionist.html)) ## Option 3: Quo Sona ### What you need A paid Quo plan (Starter, Business or Scale), billed through Stripe rather than the iOS App Store, and owner or admin permissions. Setup is on web or desktop. ([Quo](https://support.quo.com/core-concepts/ai-automations/sona-ai-agent.md), [Quo](https://support.quo.com/core-concepts/ai-automations/sona/overview.md)) Pricing is by credit tier: every workspace gets 1,000 credits a month (about 10 calls) free, with paid tiers from $25 a month for about 40 calls. Overages are off by default, so when credits run out, calls go to your fallback, which is voicemail unless you change it. ([Quo](https://support.quo.com/core-concepts/ai-automations/sona/sona-pricing.md)) Quo's older add-on page still describes a 7-day unlimited trial that turns into a paid subscription unless you cancel under **Settings → Plan & Billing**, so check your plan and billing before you turn Sona on. ([Quo](https://support.quo.com/core-concepts/ai-automations/sona-ai-agent.md)) ### Steps 1. **Add Sona to a call flow:** click **Sona** in the left sidebar, then **Set up** on an inbox. Drag the **Sona step** into the call flow, for example after the ring-users step (missed calls only), after a business-hours step (after hours), or first (every call). 2. **Write the greeting:** in the Sona step's **Greeting** section. Quo says to include your business name, say that Sona is an AI or virtual assistant, and mention that calls are recorded. 3. **Pick a personality:** click **Personality**, then choose **Tone**, **Voice** and **Language** (Spanish and French are in beta). ([Quo](https://support.quo.com/core-concepts/ai-automations/sona/overview.md)) 4. **Teach it your business:** in the step's **Knowledge** section, click **Add knowledge** and type, paste, import from your website, or upload a document (PDF, CSV, text and others, up to 10 MB). ([Quo](https://support.quo.com/core-concepts/ai-automations/sona/knowledge.md)) 5. **Give it jobs:** in the **Jobs** section, click **Add job**. Templates include message taking and lead qualification. You can attach up to 10 jobs. ([Quo](https://support.quo.com/core-concepts/ai-automations/sona/jobs-configuration.md)) 6. **Add actions to a job:** type **/** in the job's instructions to add **Send SMS** (texts the caller only; your number must first be registered for business texting, A2P 10DLC or toll-free), **Transfer call** (Sona confirms with the caller first, then leaves the call for good), or **Create Jobber request**. ([Quo](https://support.quo.com/core-concepts/ai-automations/sona/actions.md)) 7. **Test and publish:** click **Test Sona** for practice calls, then **Publish** the call flow. Nothing goes live until you publish. ([Quo](https://support.quo.com/core-concepts/ai-automations/sona/overview.md)) Quo's docs describe booking by texting the caller a booking link, not directly into a calendar, and describe alerts only through call summaries and the inbox. To keep your number, Quo documents porting it in, or keeping it and forwarding to a Quo number, without carrier codes. ([Quo](https://support.quo.com/getting-started/porting/overview.md)) ## Option 4: Goodcall (if you want to keep your number) Goodcall's FAQ gives the clearest forwarding instructions of the three. Its plans are Starter at $79 a month, Growth at $129 and Scale at $299, billed by unique callers rather than minutes. Numbers are local US numbers only. You can try a free demo agent and pay when you add a phone number. ([Goodcall pricing](https://www.goodcall.com/pricing), [Goodcall FAQ](https://www.goodcall.com/faq)) 1. **Brief the agent.** Goodcall's builder is called Gabi. Tell it what you do, what you charge, and what you need from callers, and add your website or price list, hours and holidays. Nothing changes for callers until you **Publish**. ([Goodcall](https://www.goodcall.com/how-it-works)) 2. **Get your Goodcall number and call it yourself to hear how it answers.** ([Goodcall FAQ](https://www.goodcall.com/faq)) 3. **Choose routing:** **Ring my phone first** (it only takes calls you miss) or **Send every call**. 4. **Turn on forwarding from your current phone.** Goodcall's FAQ lists, for example: - Verizon, UScellular, Xfinity Mobile: dial `*71` plus your Goodcall number to forward unanswered calls, `*72` plus the number for every call, `*73` to turn off. - AT\&T, T-Mobile and others on iPhone: **Settings**, **Phone**, **Call Forwarding** for all calls; for unanswered only, dial `**61*`, your Goodcall number, then `#`, and `##61#` to turn it off. - On Android with these carriers: **Phone** app, **Settings**, **Calls**, **Call forwarding**, then **Always forward** or **When unanswered**. - Google Voice and Ooma can only forward every call, so "ring my phone first" isn't an option with them. ([Goodcall FAQ](https://www.goodcall.com/faq)) Carriers can change these codes, so confirm with yours. Goodcall says the agent texts and emails you the lead while the caller is still on the line, every call is recorded and transcribed, and callers are told they're speaking with an AI assistant. ([Goodcall](https://www.goodcall.com/how-it-works), [Goodcall FAQ](https://www.goodcall.com/faq)) ## Which one to use | | RingCentral AI Receptionist | Quo Sona | Goodcall | | ------------------------ | ----------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------- | --------------------------- | | Learns from your website | Yes, or Google Business Profile | Yes, website import | Yes, website or price list | | Books into your calendar | Yes, Google or Outlook | Texts a booking link | Google Calendar, per FAQ | | Takes messages | Lead capture questionnaire | Message-taking job | Yes | | Transfers to a person | Yes, by rule or on request | Yes, one-way | Yes, up to three contacts | | Alerts you | Lead emails | Not stated | Text and email | | Keep your number | Forwarding or SIP (no simple steps cited) | Port or forward | Forward, with carrier codes | | Starting price | From $39 to $49/mo, 100 minutes | \~10 calls/mo free, tiers from $25/mo | From $79/mo | | Where | US, Canada, Australia, UK, Europe | Not stated | US numbers | (Sources linked above) Start with OpenAssistant if you want one assistant with its own number that also handles your calendar, email and follow-ups. If you need appointments booked into a real calendar on a dedicated business line, RingCentral is the most complete on paper. If you already use Quo for your business number, Sona is the shortest path, and its free tier lets you try it on a few calls. If you want to keep your existing mobile number and only send missed calls to AI, Goodcall publishes forwarding instructions to consider. ## Check it yourself This section is advice for you. We have not run these checks. Before you point real customers at it, call it five times as five different customers: 1. "What time do you close on Saturday?" Good sign: the answer matches your hours. 2. "Can I leave a message for the owner?" Good sign: you get the message, with name and number, within 5 minutes. 3. "I'd like to book for next Tuesday." Good sign: it books correctly or sends a working booking link. 4. "I need to talk to a real person." Good sign: it transfers. 5. A question it can't know. Good sign: it says so instead of making up an answer. ## Related reading - [AI assistants that make phone calls: who does it, and the legal points](https://bestaipersonalassistants.com/ai-assistant-phone-calls/): who documents making calls for you, the no-phone routes and the legal points. - [Best AI assistants for a 10-person team (7 compared)](https://bestaipersonalassistants.com/best-ai-assistant-ten-person-team/): seven products compared on cost, admin controls and shared jobs. - [How to Get an AI Assistant to Make a Phone Call for You](https://bestaipersonalassistants.com/ai-make-phone-call-for-you/): steps for OpenAssistant, Gemini Call for me and Google Search calls. - [How to Run a Shared Inbox With AI](https://bestaipersonalassistants.com/shared-inbox-ai/): steps for OpenAssistant, Help Scout and Front. ## FAQ ### What does an AI receptionist do? It answers your business line when you cannot: it greets the caller, answers common questions, takes a message or books an appointment, and passes urgent calls to a person. ### Can I keep my existing phone number? Yes, in some products. Goodcall documents forwarding with carrier codes, Quo documents porting a number in or forwarding to a Quo number, and RingCentral's product page says you can use call forwarding or a SIP connection. ### Do I have to tell callers it is an AI? Several vendors recommend it, and in some places it is required. RingCentral accounts in the EU must disclose that callers are talking to an AI, and Goodcall says callers are told they are speaking with an AI assistant. Check the rules where you and your callers are. ### How much does it cost? RingCentral AI Receptionist is from $49 a month on its own, or from $39 as a RingEX add-on, with 100 minutes included. Quo Sona gives about 10 calls a month free with paid tiers from $25 a month. Goodcall plans start at $79 a month. OpenAssistant has a free Starter plan with 1,000 credits at signup. ### Can it book appointments? RingCentral books into Google or Outlook calendars, Quo texts the caller a booking link, and Goodcall books into Google Calendar per its FAQ. ## Try OpenAssistant If you want an assistant with its own phone number that also runs your calendar and email, [Try OpenAssistant](https://openassistant.us/?utm_source=bestaipersonalassistants\&utm_medium=content\&utm_campaign=ai-receptionist-small-business). Plans and credits are on the [pricing page](https://openassistant.us/pricing?utm_source=bestaipersonalassistants\&utm_medium=content\&utm_campaign=ai-receptionist-small-business). ## Sources - RingCentral, Setting up your AI Receptionist: - RingCentral, Managing AI Receptionist skills: - RingCentral, Calendars and appointments: - RingCentral, Connecting your AI Receptionist: - RingCentral, Lead capture: - RingCentral, Automatic recording: - RingCentral, AI Receptionist product page and pricing: , - Quo, Sona setup, knowledge, jobs, actions, pricing, add-on overview, porting (links in text) - Goodcall, FAQ, How it works, Pricing: , , - OpenAssistant homepage: ## Disclosure and Method Disclosure: 3Gen Internet Corporation publishes this site and makes OpenAssistant, Skej and AGNT. We publish these comparisons to explain our products alongside documented alternatives. Method: We have not run hands-on tests. This article rests on public information (vendor pages, documentation, pricing and published terms), with sources linked. Ranking basis: public information only, not hands-on use. Published by 3Gen Internet Corporation, the company behind OpenAssistant, Skej and AGNT. We review our own products alongside competitors. [How We Research](https://bestaipersonalassistants.com/how-we-research/) Canonical: https://bestaipersonalassistants.com/ai-receptionist-small-business/