Buying guide
Questions to Ask Any AI Receptionist Vendor Before You Sign
A demo will show you the best case. These questions show you what happens when something goes wrong.
A vendor demo is designed to show you a clean, best-case call. What you actually need to know is how the system behaves when a caller is confused, a transfer fails, or you need to change an answer at 6 a.m. before you open. Ask these questions before signing anything.
Data handling
- How long are call recordings and transcripts retained, and can I choose to keep or delete them sooner?
- Who at your company can access my call data, and is it used to train models shared across other customers?
- How are contacts de-duplicated — by phone number, name, or something else?
- Can I export my call history and transcripts if I switch providers later?
Call transfers and failure modes
- How many transfer destinations does my plan include, and can they be set by role rather than just a phone number?
- What happens if the transfer destination does not answer — does the caller get dropped, or does the receptionist take a message?
- What happens during an outage or a technical failure — does the call route to voicemail, ring through, or fail silently?
- Can I set different transfer rules for different times of day or types of calls?
Editing and control
Ask to actually make a change during the demo — add an answer, adjust hours, update pricing language — rather than being told it is easy. See how long it takes and whether it requires the vendor's support team or something you can do yourself.
- Can I edit answers myself, and how quickly do changes take effect?
- Is there a limit on how many custom answers or FAQs I can configure?
- Can I set different instructions for after-hours versus business hours?
- Does the system book directly into my calendar, or does it capture requests for me to confirm?
Pricing and commitment
Confirm the trial terms — is a card required, how long does it last, and how do you cancel. Ask what a realistic overage bill looks like for a busy month, not just the base price advertised.
Finally, ask what a realistic first month looks like for a business similar to yours — not a best-case example, but the ordinary experience of setup time, tuning, and the kinds of calls that come up unexpectedly. A vendor who can answer this specifically has likely onboarded businesses like yours before.
Test these questions on a real trial, not just a demo
Every plan includes a 7-day free trial, so you can check editing, transfers and transcripts yourself before deciding.
Use the evaluation scorecard to score vendors side by side, or read about security and privacy before sharing customer call data with any provider.