After Hours Virtual Receptionist for Booking and Messages
Our after hours virtual receptionist handles appointment requests, business questions and messages when your calls forward to it. Speak with the browser demo to hear the intake process, then request a free trial to set your business rules.
Virtual Receptionist and Answering Service Work After Hours
Our virtual receptionist answers forwarded calls, asks intake questions, books appointments and handles urgent routing under your rules. Look at those tasks when deciding what you need from an answering service outside office hours.
- Business answersExplain your services, service area and hours from the information you supply.
- Reception workBook into Google Calendar or collect appointment details for your callback.
- Urgent routingFollow your contact order when a caller's situation meets your urgency rules.
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Our service handles the conversation and the next step you have authorized: take a message, book an appointment or contact the on-call person. You teach the receptionist through onboarding answers and your website, including the work you accept and the work you do not offer.
A live receptionist brings a person's judgment to an unfamiliar conversation. Our AI receptionist relies on the business information and instructions you provide, and you should review its call summaries for mistakes. If you want a 24 hour virtual receptionist, forward calls throughout the day as well as after closing. Use a receptionist demo conversation to hear whether its approach fits the routine questions your business receives.
Book Appointments While Your Office Is Closed
Your receptionist can book appointments into Google Calendar after hours or take the details for your callback. Choose whether callers should leave the conversation with a booking or wait for your team to arrange it.
- Calendar bookingPut appointments into Google Calendar as part of the caller's conversation.
- Callback optionCollect appointment requests when you prefer your team to arrange the time.
- Service contextAsk the questions you set about the requested work and caller's location.
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Booking after closing gives a caller a way to take the next step while your desk is unattended. Tell the receptionist which services you offer and the intake details you need, then choose Google Calendar booking or message-taking for a callback. A caller asking about a service visit can explain the work during the same conversation.
Use the callback option for requests you want to review before arranging an appointment. The receptionist captures the details, and your call summary gives your team a starting point for that conversation. Appointment booking does not mean work has been dispatched or that an arrival time has been confirmed; keep those business policies clear in the instructions you supply.
Take Messages for People and Route Urgent Calls
Your receptionist can ask whom a message is for and follow your on-call order for urgent requests. Define the intended recipient in your intake questions and specify which situations should trigger a transfer or page.
- Named messagesAsk which person or department the caller wants included in the message.
- On-call orderSet who gets urgent calls and the sequence for contacting them.
- Transfer contextGive the receiving person a short summary before they accept the call.
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A routine caller can leave a message for the owner, office manager or another person named in your instructions. Include the intended recipient as an intake question so your team has that context in the call record. Email and app push notifications give you the summary and supporting transcript for review.
Urgent routing follows the on-call rules you set, using a warm transfer or page. It does not imply a general phone directory that transfers any caller to any department. Tell the receptionist which situations justify escalation, who should be contacted and in what order. Review the triage planning guide if your business needs to agree on those decisions before setup.
Cover Lunch Breaks and Meetings With Forwarding
Your receptionist can answer during lunch breaks and meetings when calls forward to it. Use busy or no-answer forwarding for interruptions during office hours, or choose the forwarding arrangement that fits your daily schedule.
- Lunch coverageAnswer forwarded calls while your usual phone handler is away from the desk.
- Busy-line supportLet your receptionist handle calls that your occupied line forwards to it.
- Meeting messagesCollect the request and callback details while your team is unavailable.
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The same receptionist can take a lunchtime message and handle an evening appointment inquiry. Your forwarding choice determines when it receives calls, while your onboarding information tells it how to answer as your business. Busy or no-answer forwarding can help when your staff are already speaking with customers or attending a meeting.
Give the receptionist your opening hours and instructions for routine callbacks so it can explain what you have authorized. A caller should not be promised a specific response time unless that is your stated policy. Try the fictional lunch-hour overflow scenario in the demo, then use a test call to check how your own number behaves when nobody picks up.
Set Your Greeting, Intake Questions and Call Rules
Your receptionist learns how to answer as your business from your onboarding chat and website. You supply services, hours, price policy and urgent-call instructions, while the virtual-assistant disclosure and recording notice remain in the greeting.
- Business knowledgeProvide services, exclusions, operating hours and the areas where you work.
- Call instructionsSet intake questions, callback preferences and the situations that require urgent contact.
- Plain-word changesTell the AI which settings to change when your business instructions need updating.
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Onboarding uses a chat with 10 to 15 questions and the business website you supply. Describe your service area, price policy, operating hours and what you consider urgent. Include exclusions, such as a type of work you do not accept, so the receptionist can explain your actual offering.
Your greeting answers as your business and always says the caller has reached a virtual assistant and that the call is recorded. Those notices cannot be switched off. After setup, tell the AI in plain words when you need to change a setting, then make a test call to hear the result. Our setup walkthrough explains the path from onboarding to forwarding your business calls.
How a Week of After-Hours Calls Could Work
A hypothetical week could include appointment inquiries, messages for the owner and questions about a holiday closure. Your receptionist handles those requests using your business information, with urgent routing reserved for the situations you define.
- Monday eveningA caller asks about your services and leaves details for a callback.
- Midweek appointmentA customer requests a booking while your office is closed for the night.
- Weekend questionSomeone checks holiday hours and explains a request for your team.
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These are imagined calls to show the receptionist's work, rather than results from a customer business. On Monday evening, a caller outside your service area could ask about a visit; the receptionist explains the area you serve. On Wednesday night, another caller could request an appointment, using your choice of Google Calendar booking or callback intake.
During the weekend, someone might want the hours for a holiday closure or leave a message for the owner. An urgent request follows a different path when it meets your escalation rules. When trials are open, review the summaries, transcripts and recordings as part of your own trial to see where an intake question or business instruction needs more detail.
Common questions
How does an AI receptionist learn my business?
It learns from your website and an onboarding chat covering services, service area, hours, price policy and urgent-call rules. You also provide the intake questions your callers should answer. After setup, you can change settings by telling the AI what you want in plain words.
Can it book appointments after hours?
Yes. Your receptionist can book appointments into Google Calendar while speaking with a caller. If your team needs to review requests first, choose message-taking for a callback instead. Give it your service details and intake questions so the conversation captures what you need to arrange the work.
Can it take messages for several people?
Yes. Put the intended person or department into your intake questions so a message records whom the caller wants. You receive call information through email, app push and the dashboard. For urgent requests, set an on-call contact order for the receptionist to follow by warm transfer or page.
What if the AI does not know an answer?
The receptionist can take the caller's details for your callback when the answer is outside the business information you supplied. Review the summary and transcript to understand the question. You can then update your instructions in plain words if it is something future callers are likely to ask.
Can I keep my current business phone number?
Yes. You keep your business number and forward the calls you choose to the local number we provide. Options include all calls or only no-answer, busy or after-hours calls. Follow the guide for your carrier or phone system, then test a call before making forwarding live.
Will my callers hear that it is a virtual assistant?
Yes. At the beginning of a call, your receptionist states that it is a virtual assistant and that the call is recorded. You cannot disable those notices. The browser demo lets you hear that opening and try an ordinary business request before requesting your free trial.
How can I test it, and can I cancel online?
Start with the browser demo without signing up, then request the 14-day free trial capped at 100 minutes. A card is required before forwarding goes live. The subscription is month to month, and you can cancel online in one click, effective at the end of the paid month.
Try a Booking or Message in the Browser Demo
Ask the fictional demo receptionist about an appointment or leave a message for the owner. Then request a free trial to teach it your services, hours and call instructions.