What to tell your AI receptionist before it answers your phone

It is a quiet Tuesday afternoon and you are setting up an AI receptionist between customers. You paste in your website, and the facts come back for you to check: your address, your services, and the Christmas opening hours from two years ago that you forgot were still on the contact page.

That is the whole job in one moment. An AI receptionist repeats what you approve, so the facts you give it matter more than its voice. People know this: in the government's 2025/2026 public engagement survey of more than 30,000 UK adults, 74% said they were concerned that information produced by AI might be inaccurate (DSIT, July 2026).

A wrong answer is not only awkward. Under consumer protection rules in force since April 2025, giving consumers false information is a misleading action where it is likely to change their decision, and the CMA and the courts can now fine traders up to 10% of worldwide turnover (CMA guidance). A made up price or an offer you never ran reflects on your business, whoever said it. This is general information, not legal advice.

Which questions do callers really ask?

Your website was written to persuade. Your callers ask practical things it often never mentions: is there parking, do you deliver to my street, can I bring the dog, do you take cards only, are you open on the bank holiday.

Before you set anything up, keep a note by the phone for a week, or ask whoever answers, and write down every question. Look for the questions that come round again and again. Those are the answers your receptionist needs first, and any your website does not cover are worth adding to the site as well.

What should go on the set-up sheet?

Bank holidays catch people out every year. In 2026, Boxing Day falls on a Saturday, so the bank holiday in England, Wales and Northern Ireland is Monday 28 December, and Scotland also has St Andrew's Day on Monday 30 November (GOV.UK bank holidays). Decide your hours for those days now and approve them before callers start asking.

What should it never answer on its own?

Item 8 on the sheet is the most important. Decide in advance which questions always go to a person, whatever the receptionist has been told:

• Allergen safety. Trading standards guidance says staff asked about allergens must never answer from memory or guess, and if they cannot reach the allergen information, the answer to "is it safe?" must always be no (Business Companion). Hold any receptionist to the same standard.
• Prices and offers you have not approved. If it is not on the approved list, it should not be said.
• Complaints, refunds and disputes. These need a person with authority to fix them.
• Anything clinical, legal or financial. A clinic's receptionist can take a message; it should not give advice.

A receptionist that says "I don't know, I'll pass that to the team" is doing its job. One that guesses is not.

VolaVoice works this way by design. It answers only from the facts you approve, and when it does not know something it does not guess: it takes the caller's name, number and question, and the message is emailed to you.

What happens after it takes a request?

The receptionist takes booking and order requests; it does not confirm them. With VolaVoice, a request is passed on and awaiting confirmation, and your team confirms it. So the set-up has a second half: who reads the emails, how quickly, and what callers are told. "The team will call you back to confirm" is honest. "You're booked in" is not, until someone has checked.

You also get a written transcript and summary of every call; calls are not recorded. The ICO says that when you use an AI tool, you must check that its outputs are accurate and correct anything that is not (ICO innovation advice), so read the transcript, not just the summary, whenever a detail matters.

What does a finished set-up look like?

These are example inputs, not a real business. An example café takes table bookings and orders for whole cakes.

• Approved facts: open 8am to 4pm, Tuesday to Sunday; closed 25 and 28 December; tables for up to eight; whole cakes need 48 hours' notice; free parking behind the building.
• Never answer: whether a cake is safe for someone with an allergy; anything about refunds.
• Booking requests: take name, number, date, time, number of people and any notes, then tell the caller the team will call back to confirm.
• Messages: emailed to the owner, who checks at 9am, midday and 3pm.

A caller asks for a table for ten on Saturday. The receptionist cannot confirm it, and the approved facts say eight is the limit, so it takes the request with the note "party of ten", and the owner rings back to work something out. Nothing was promised that the café could not deliver.

How should you test it before customers call?

Ring it yourself, or ask a friend, and check the transcript after each call:

1. Opening hours on the next bank holiday.
2. A question your website does not answer. It should say it does not know and take a message.
3. A booking request. It should take the details, not confirm.
4. "Is this safe for a nut allergy?" It should pass it to your team.
5. A price you have not approved.
6. A complaint.
7. "Am I talking to a real person?" It should say it is an AI.
8. A caller who gives their number quickly. Check the read back.
9. A call outside opening hours.
10. "Can I speak to someone?" Check that a message reaches you.

Fix the facts, not the caller. Most bad answers trace back to a fact that was missing or out of date.

What can the receptionist not do?

Being clear about limits is part of setting it up well. VolaVoice does not take payments, does not quote prices from your menu, does not confirm bookings or orders, does not make outbound calls or send texts, and does not connect to calendars or tills yet; those connections are marked coming soon. It cannot fix an out of date website either. That part is yours.

When your sheet is ready, forwarding your calls usually takes a short code on your phone; our guide to UK call forwarding codes lists them. Plans are on the pricing page, and you can start a free trial: 14 days, up to 150 minutes, beginning when your number is live. A card is taken when you choose a plan and charged on day 14 unless you cancel.

Try the free demo with your own website to see which facts it finds, and which gaps you need to fill, before anything goes live.