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AI Receptionist

What it is​

The AI Receptionist gives you a local phone number to print on your postcards and letters, and an AI receptionist that answers every call to it, day or night. The people who call are responding to your mail, so the receptionist treats each one as a lead: it learns who they are and what they need, tells them you'll call right back, and sends you their details by text and email so you can follow up while they're still interested.

The number is inbound only. It answers calls and never calls anyone, apart from the test calls you ask it to make to your own phone.

Open it from Phone & Calls → AI Receptionist in the sidebar. Every call is listed under Phone & Calls → Call Logs.

What happens on a call​

  1. The receptionist picks up right away with your Greeting, introducing itself by the name of the voice you chose and your company name from Branding.
  2. It tells the caller it's trying to get you on the line. It never actually transfers the call.
  3. While the caller waits, it works through your script's questions to learn who they are and what they need.
  4. It then says you're tied up and will call them right back, and confirms the number to reach them on. It already knows the number they called from, so it never asks for it.
  5. When the call ends, you get a text and an email with the lead, the call is added to Call Logs with an AI summary, and the caller gets a card on the Lead Board. See Call Logs & Lead Reports.

Because every caller is promised a call back, the receptionist is only as good as your follow-up. Call each lead back as soon as you can.

Get a number​

Each account can have one AI Receptionist number, and each sub-account can have its own. The page follows the sub-account switcher at the bottom of the sidebar, so switch to the account you want the number for before you start.

  1. Open Phone & Calls → AI Receptionist. Without a number, the page walks you through setting one up.
  2. Under What's your area code?, enter a three-digit US area code, or click one of the suggested area codes (taken from the phone number on your account). A local number in that area code is assigned when you buy. You can't pick the exact number.
  3. Under Choose AI voice, pick one of the four voices: Susan, Nina, Max, or Steve. Click the play button on a voice to hear a sample. The receptionist introduces itself by the voice's name.
  4. Write the AI Receptionist Script (see Write the script below).
  5. If the area code is in a state that requires every caller's consent to record, a Call recording card appears. Choose how to handle it. See Call Recording & Consent.
  6. Optionally, get a free demo call to hear the receptionist first. See Hear it before you buy.
  7. Check the Configuration Preview and Monthly Cost cards on the right, then click Purchase Number (or Get Number when your plan includes it).
  8. Confirm. The receptionist starts answering as soon as the number is assigned.

Right after you buy, thanks.io offers to add the number to your message templates. See Put the number on your mail.

The number costs $30/month from your credits, and the account's own number is included at no charge on the Professional and Enterprise plans. Buying a charged number needs a payment method on file and a balance that isn't negative. See AI Receptionist Pricing & Billing.

Write the script​

The AI Receptionist Script is the greeting the receptionist opens with and the three questions it asks every caller. AI writes it for you from your goal, and you can then edit every line.

  1. Under Step A - Your goal, answer What are you trying to do? in a sentence or two. For example, describe the offer on your mailer and the kind of lead you want to hear from. The field shows an example for your industry.
  2. Click Write my script (or press Enter). AI writes the Greeting and Question 1, Question 2, and Question 3 under Step B - Your script.
  3. Edit anything you like. The greeting can be up to 1,000 characters and each question up to 200.
  4. To start over, change your goal and click Regenerate. This replaces the greeting and all three questions.

In the greeting, {{agent_name}} stands for the voice's name, so it changes when you pick a different voice. Under the greeting, Callers hear shows the greeting with the name filled in. The greeting names the company from Branding. For a sub-account's number, it's the sub-account's branding.

All three questions are required. Good questions find out what the caller needs and how serious they are, so you can call back with context: for example, the property address, what service they're interested in, and when they'd like to get started.

Hear it before you buy​

Before you buy, the Hear It Before You Buy card gives you a free demo call using the voice and script you have set up, even if nothing is saved yet.

  1. Click Test Your Receptionist in the Hear It Before You Buy card.
  2. In Get a demo call, check the number under Call me at. It starts as the phone number on your account.
  3. Click Call Me Now.

The receptionist calls you from the thanks.io demo line and treats you like a caller. Your own number arrives when you buy. Nothing is saved or charged, and you can place up to 5 demo calls an hour.

Change the receptionist after you buy​

Once you have a number, the AI Receptionist page shows it at the top with its status (Active, Paused, or Payment failed), how many calls it has taken, and its next charge. Below it are the same Choose AI voice, AI Receptionist Script, and Call recording settings.

  1. Change the voice, goal, greeting, or questions.
  2. Click Save Changes. The receptionist uses the new settings from the next call.

Test call​

The Test Your Receptionist card has the receptionist call you on your number, exactly as a caller would hear it.

  1. Under Call this number, pick the number to call. It's the phone number on your account.
  2. Click Call Me Now.

The test call uses your saved settings, so click Save Changes first if you want to hear an edit. It shows up in Call Logs marked Test call when it ends, but it doesn't send you a lead report or add a Lead Board card. You can place up to 10 test calls an hour, and only while the number is active. If the card says Add your phone number in Settings to get a test call, add a Phone Number under Settings → Profile.

The Recent Calls card under it lists the latest calls to your number. Click View All to open Call Logs.

Put the number on your mail​

The number only brings in leads if it's on your mail. There are three ways to add it:

  • The replacement variable. Type %YOUR_AI_PHONE% in a message, or pick Your AI phone number from Personalize in the message editor. It prints your AI Receptionist number on every piece. In a front design's Street View fields or a QR code URL, use ~YOUR_AI_PHONE~. See Replacement Variables.
  • Add AI call to action in the message editor ends the message you are writing with a line carrying the number.
  • Add to message templates on the number's card adds a call to action to every saved message template at once. See below.

Add the number to all your message templates​

  1. On the AI Receptionist page, click Add to message templates on your number's card. (The same dialog opens right after you buy a number.)
  2. Edit the Call to action if you like. It must include %YOUR_AI_PHONE%, and Prints as shows how it will read with your number filled in. The default is "Have a question? Give us a call anytime at %YOUR_AI_PHONE%."
  3. Read the count of templates it will change. Templates that already show your AI number, that have no message, or that would run past the length limit are left as they are.
  4. Tick I understand this permanently edits my existing message templates and can't be undone.
  5. Click Edit with the number of templates (for example, Edit 12 message templates).

The call to action is added to the end of each message template in the account (or the active sub-account) right away. There is no undo: to take it out later, you have to edit each template by hand. Creatives and campaigns that use those templates print it on everything they send from then on.

tip

When you run Check my message on a promotional message that gives the reader no number to call, the result suggests getting an AI phone number. See Check My Message.

Sub-accounts​

  • Each sub-account can have its own AI Receptionist number, separate from the main account's. Switch to the sub-account to buy or manage it.
  • A sub-account's receptionist greets callers with the sub-account's company name from its branding.
  • Lead reports for a sub-account's number go to the sub-account's own email and phone, set under Settings → Sub Accounts.
  • %YOUR_AI_PHONE% on a sub-account's mail prints that sub-account's number. It doesn't fall back to the main account's number.
  • Sub-account numbers are always $30/month, charged to the main account's credits. See AI Receptionist Pricing & Billing.

Tips & best practices​

  • Get the demo call before you buy and listen as if you were a customer. Adjust the greeting until it sounds like your front desk.
  • Keep the greeting tied to your mailer ("Are you calling about the postcard we mailed you?"), so callers know they reached the right place.
  • Ask questions that help you close: what they need, where, and how soon.
  • Turn on Text on QR Scan under Settings → Profile so lead reports also reach you by text, and call back the same day.
  • Work your callers on the Lead Board alongside the people who scanned your QR codes.

Limits & gotchas​

  • One number per account and one per sub-account. To get a different number, release the current one first.
  • US area codes only. If no number is available in an area code, try a nearby one.
  • The receptionist never transfers a call or rings your team. Every caller is told you'll call back.
  • The receptionist is AI. It can mishear names or details, so check the summary, and the transcript when there is one, before you call back.
  • Releasing a number stops it working right away, including on mail already sent, and it can't be bought back. See AI Receptionist Pricing & Billing.