Questions to ask before choosing an AI receptionist in the UK

It is 2.15pm on a Thursday. A hairdresser has colour on one client's head and foils in her other hand. A plumber is flat on his back under a sink. A physio is halfway through a treatment. All three phones ring, and all three owners have the same browser tab open: a sales page promising an AI receptionist that "handles every call".

No product handles every call. So the useful question is not what a receptionist does on a good day. It is what it does on a bad one, when it does not know the answer, the minutes have gone or the caller wants a person.

AI is no longer unusual for small firms. The Office for National Statistics reported that 28% of UK businesses with 0 to 9 employees were using at least one AI technology in its June 2026 survey [1]. Ofcom found that 53% of UK adult internet users had used a generative AI tool or an AI customer service chatbot in the past 12 months, while views on speaking to a person were mixed, especially for complicated problems [2]. Your callers are curious, not converted. Whatever you choose has to earn their trust call by call.

Here are the questions I would ask before paying anyone, including us. Where VolaVoice has a limit, I say so.

What does it do when it does not know the answer?

It should say so, then take a message or pass the call on. It should not guess. A receptionist that improvises can quote the wrong price or promise a slot that does not exist, and the customer will hold you to it.

Ask how the answers are controlled. VolaVoice answers only from information you approve, takes a message or transfers the call when it does not know, and says it is an AI when a caller asks. Put the same question to every provider and expect a plain answer.

Ask about bookings too. VolaVoice takes a booking request and your team confirms it. It does not put anything in your diary for you. If a provider says it books appointments, ask what happens when the slot is already taken.

What will it cost when you are busy?

Ask for every charge in writing: the monthly price, the minutes included, setup fees, per-minute charges and what happens to unused minutes. The headline price matters less than the edges.

On VolaVoice there is no setup fee, no per-minute charge and no VAT added. Plans are rolling monthly, with no fixed term and no price guarantee. We promise at least 30 days' notice before a price changes, and you can cancel before it applies.

Then ask about the day the minutes run out. This is where a cheap plan turns into a bad month.

• You get an email and a dashboard notice at 80% of your minutes.
• When they are gone, the receptionist stops answering and forwards calls to your own transfer number. If you have not set one, callers hear a short message saying you cannot take calls right now.
• To switch answering back on, upgrade (it takes effect straight away) or wait for the monthly reset.
• Calls under 10 seconds and spam do not use minutes.

One limit to be clear about: unused minutes do not roll over. They reset at each renewal. If your volume swings from month to month, pick the plan for your busy months, or accept that a quiet month is paid for anyway.

Any provider can tell you what its receptionist does well. The useful question is what it does when it is wrong, out of minutes or out of its depth.

What does it record, and what must you tell callers?

Ask whether it keeps audio, transcripts or both, for how long and who can see them. You stay responsible for your callers' data, even when software handles the call.

The Information Commissioner's Office says you must tell people why you use their personal data, how long you keep it and who you share it with [3], and you must do that at the time you collect it [4]. A phone call is a collection point. A name and number given to a receptionist is personal data, whether a person or a machine took it down.

VolaVoice keeps no audio recordings. Each call is transcribed and summarised on your dashboard, and the outcome is emailed to you. A transcript still holds a caller's name and number, so the duty above still applies. Ask how long transcripts are kept, and read the privacy policy before you sign up. Any provider that cannot answer in a sentence is not ready for your callers.

What can it not do, and do you keep your number?

You keep the number your customers already know. VolaVoice gives you a UK mobile number, and your own phone forwards calls to it. You choose which calls: all of them, only when you are busy or do not answer, or only out of hours. Forwarding codes are on your numbers page after you sign in.

Moving an existing number across is a different question. Ofcom describes number portability as a regulated facility that lets customers keep their number when they change provider [5], but our pricing page does not describe moving an existing number onto VolaVoice, so do not assume it. Ask us before you rely on it, and ask the same of anyone else.

Then ask what the product cannot do. Here is our list. VolaVoice does not send text messages, make outbound calls, use WhatsApp or take payment over the phone. Google Calendar is listed as coming soon, so do not count on it today. If you need deposits taken during the call, or reminder texts, you will need another way to do that.

A clinic that handles sensitive conversations all day, or a business whose calls mostly need judgement, may be better served by trained people. We compare the two in AI phone answering vs a traditional answering service.

How do you test it, and how do you leave?

Test it on real questions before you pay, and make sure you can leave without a fight.

Start with your own website. The VolaVoice demo lets you hear a receptionist answer from what your site already says. Then, in a trial, ring it yourself and ask five awkward things: something that is not on your website, a price you have not given it, a request for a person, a request to change a booking and a mumbled surname. Get friends with different accents to try too. Note what it says when it cannot help.

The trial on every plan is 14 days with up to 150 minutes. It starts when your phone number is live. A card is needed, and nothing is charged until the trial ends. After that you pay for your plan unless you cancel before the 14 days finish. Upgrading mid-trial ends the trial and starts the new plan at full price, so test on the plan you expect to keep.

After the trial, cancel any time before your next renewal to avoid another charge. Upgrades take effect straight away. Downgrades wait until your next renewal. Ask every provider for the same detail: how do I leave, and what does it cost me on the way out?

So what is the honest takeaway?

A good answer to every question above fits in a sentence. If a provider has to be chased for the cost of running out of minutes, how long transcripts are kept or what it cannot do, treat that as your answer.

VolaVoice is a fit if you want calls answered from information you control, with your team one transfer away and a monthly plan you can leave. It is not a fit if you need texts, outbound calls or payment over the phone today. Put these questions to everyone you are considering, us included, then check the plans on the pricing page.