AI receptionist
Get a business number, configure what your AI receptionist can do, recover missed calls with an automatic text, and review every transcript.
The AI receptionist answers your calls, texts, and website chat around the clock. It knows your services, hours, and booking rules, captures caller details, and — when a call is missed — texts the caller back automatically so the lead doesn't go cold. Every conversation is logged with a transcript.
What you'll need
- A few minutes to choose a phone number and write a short greeting.
- For SMS specifically, carrier registration must be approved — see SMS compliance. Voice works immediately.
1. Get your business number
Open Settings → AI receptionist and find the phone-number section.
Search an area code. Enter a 3-digit area code and search. Aaptly shows available local numbers with their Voice/SMS/MMS capabilities.
Buy a number. Click buy on the one you want. It goes live in seconds and becomes your lead- response line for calls and texts.
2. Configure the receptionist
In the behavior section you control exactly how it sounds and what it's allowed to do:
Name and greetings. Set the agent's name and write what callers hear (voice greeting) and what texters see (SMS greeting).
Persona. Add short, private instructions for tone and style (for example, "warm, concise, never pushy"). A live preview shows the system prompt as you edit.
Choose allowed actions. Toggle exactly what it can do:
- Capture visit requests — collect the service, preferred time, and contact info.
- Quote prices — share prices from your service menu.
- Send intake / consent links — text forms before a first visit or treatment.
- Send checkout links — text a payment link for paid offers.
- Capture new leads — record name and interest when someone's still deciding.
- Hand off to your team — escalate when it's unsure, using your escalation phone/email.
- Answer FAQs — answer from a knowledge base you build.
Build a knowledge base. Add question-and-answer pairs (parking, brands you carry, cancellation policy, etc.). The receptionist answers from these.
Set reachable hours. Tell Aaptly when your team is available each day. Outside those hours it takes a message or recovers the lead by text instead of trying to hand off.
Save the configuration. Changes take effect on the next call or text.
3. Recover missed calls automatically
Turn on missed-call text-back so any unanswered call gets an instant text inviting the caller to reply with their name and a good time. You can edit the message template; an opt-out line is appended automatically for compliance.
Outbound texts (including missed-call text-back and review requests) require approved carrier registration. Voice answering and the live transcript work right away. See SMS compliance.
4. Test it and review calls
Place a test call to your new number and confirm the greeting, hours, and capture flow sound right. Then watch everything under Calls:
- Every call with a timestamp, caller, and duration.
- An outcome badge — lead captured, answered, missed, or escalated.
- Audio playback and a word-by-word transcript.
- Filters for captured, answered, missed, escalated, and live-now.
Captured leads and conversations also flow into your unified inbox.