What is the most important question to ask an AI receptionist company?

Ask what happens when the AI can’t help: when it doesn’t know an answer, when a caller asks for a person, and when nobody answers the transfer. A demo shows the easy calls. These questions show whether your hardest callers end up with a message and a callback, or with silence. Ask to hear it on your own business, not a sample.

Can I keep my phone number if I switch?

Usually yes. Most AI receptionist services let you forward your existing number, so it stays with your phone company and you can undo it any time. Some also let you port the number to them. Before signing, ask how you would move the number out again if you leave, and how long they hold it after cancellation.

How do I test an AI receptionist before buying?

Use a free trial or test call set up with your own business details, then call it as five different customers: a simple question, a booking, an angry caller, someone asking for a person, and a question it can’t know. Read the summaries afterward. Then forward only your after-hours calls for a week before trusting it with business hours.

What should an AI receptionist never do?

It should never pretend to be a person, invent prices or policies, promise refunds, discounts or arrival times you haven’t approved, or give medical, legal or safety advice beyond telling someone in danger to call 911. It also shouldn’t trap a caller who wants a person. Ask each vendor how these limits are enforced and whether you can add your own.

21 questions to ask an AI receptionist vendor before you sign

By Antony Boguslavskiy · 2026-10-09 · 9 min read

The short answer

The most useful questions to ask an AI receptionist vendor are about the bad moments, not the demo: what it does when it doesn’t know, who it transfers to and what happens if nobody answers, whether you keep your number if you leave, what a minute past your plan costs, and what happens to recordings. Good vendors answer these plainly.

Every AI receptionist sounds good in a sales demo. The demo caller asks a clean question, the AI gives a clean answer, and everyone nods. Your real callers will mumble, interrupt, ask about something you never mentioned, and occasionally be furious. The questions to ask an AI receptionist vendor are the ones that show what happens then.

Below are 21 questions, grouped by the risk they cover. Each one says what a good answer sounds like and what a dodge sounds like. Print it, take it into your calls with two or three vendors, and write their answers in the margin. At the end, we answer the same questions about Vocenya, including where it is not the right fit.

Questions about how it handles real callers

These questions test what a caller actually experiences on a bad day. A good vendor will describe specific behavior and let you hear it on your own business before you pay.

What does it say when it doesn’t know the answer? Good answer: it says so and promises a follow-up from your team, and it only answers from information you gave it. Dodge: “It knows everything about your business.” Nothing does.
Can I hear it answer as my business before I pay? Good answer: yes, with a test call or trial using your own website or details. Dodge: only a recorded demo for a made-up business.
What does it do with an emergency? Good answer: a life-threatening emergency gets told to call 911; your urgent calls follow rules you set and go to a number you choose. Dodge: “It handles emergencies,” with no detail on how.
Does it tell callers it is AI? Good answer: yes, it identifies as a virtual assistant, and it never claims to be a person if asked. Our guide on whether customers will know it’s AI covers the options. Dodge: “Callers can’t tell the difference,” offered as a feature.
What languages does it speak, and what happens when a caller speaks another? Good answer: a specific list, and a clear fallback such as offering a callback. Dodge: “All languages.”
What will it never do? Good answer: it won’t agree to refunds, discounts or arrival times you haven’t approved, and you can add your own “never say” rules. Dodge: a pause, then “What would you want it not to do?”
How does it handle spam and robocalls, and can I undo a mistake? Good answer: it ends obvious sales pitches and robocalls, never marks a real customer as spam when unsure, and lets you reverse a wrong call. Dodge: “We block all spam.” That usually means some real callers get blocked too.

Questions about handoff to a person

The handoff is where most AI receptionist setups succeed or fail. You need to know who gets the call, what they hear, and what the caller hears if nobody picks up. For the bigger picture, read when AI should hand off to a human.

Who can it transfer callers to, and in what order? Good answer: named options (your team’s mobiles, an app, a transfer number, a staffed team) tried in an order you control. Dodge: “It can transfer anywhere,” with no detail on the order or on what happens out of hours.
What does the person picking up hear first? Good answer: a short briefing on who is calling and why, before the caller is connected. Dodge: a cold transfer, where your staff start from zero.
What happens if nobody answers the transfer? Good answer: the AI comes back to the caller, apologizes, takes a message, and you get an alert. Dodge: voicemail, or silence.
Are real people available when my team can’t answer, and what does that cost? Good answer: a clear yes or no, and if yes, who they are and how they are priced. Dodge: “Our AI is so good you won’t need people.”

Questions about your number and switching away

Your phone number is one of your most valuable business assets. Before you sign, make sure you can keep it, and that you can leave with it. Every one of these questions has a simple factual answer.

Can I keep my current number? Good answer: yes, by forwarding it, and here are the steps for your phone company. Dodge: “You’ll get a new number,” with no way to keep yours.
Can I move (port) my number to you, and how long does it take? Good answer: yes, with a realistic timeline and a list of what your current carrier will need. Here is how porting works for comparison. Dodge: “A day or two.” US ports often take longer.
If I leave, can I take my number with me? Good answer: yes, here is how you get a port-out PIN. Dodge: hesitation, or fees that only appear when you ask.
What happens to my number the day my plan ends? Good answer: a specific hold period and reminders before it is released. Dodge: “We’ll figure it out.”

Questions about price, minutes and contracts

AI receptionist pricing usually combines a monthly fee with included minutes or calls. The surprises live in the details: how a minute is counted and what happens past your plan. Our breakdown of what an AI receptionist costs has worked examples.

What exactly counts as a minute or a call? Good answer: a precise rule, for example “only the AI’s part of a call, each call rounded up to the next minute.” Dodge: “It’s based on usage.”
What happens when I go past my included minutes? Good answer: calls keep being answered and extra minutes are billed at a published rate. Dodge: “We’ll reach out,” which can mean calls stop being answered or a surprise bill arrives.
How long is the contract, and how do I cancel? Good answer: month to month, cancel in the account, with clear terms on refunds for the current month. Dodge: an annual term “for the best price,” with cancellation by letter.
Which features cost extra? Good answer: a written list: booking, transfers, recordings, chat, extra numbers, human backup. Dodge: “Everything’s included,” until you ask for booking.

Questions about data, recordings and privacy

You are letting a company listen to your customers. Ask what it keeps, who sees it, and whether it is used for anything else. If you are in healthcare, ask about a business associate agreement (BAA) before anything else.

What is recorded, who can access it, and can I delete it? Good answer: a specific answer on recordings and transcripts, access limited to your account and named staff, and a way to delete your data. Dodge: “Everything’s secure.”
Are my callers’ conversations used to train AI models, and will you sign a BAA if I need one? Good answer: a direct yes or no that matches their privacy policy, and a BAA offer for healthcare. Dodge: “We take privacy seriously,” with no yes or no.

How to use these questions to ask an AI receptionist vendor

Ask the same questions of every vendor, in the same order, and write the answers down.
Make them show you, not tell you. For questions 1 to 10, ask for a test call on your business.
Check the answer against the written terms. If a salesperson says “month to month” and the terms say 12 months, the terms win.
Compare tools side by side. Our AI receptionist directory lists services with sourced, dated details, and the methodology page explains how they are checked.

How Vocenya answers these, including where it is not the right fit

Here are our own answers, as of October 2026. Check the linked pages for the current details, since plans and features change.

#	Question	Vocenya’s answer
1	When it doesn’t know	Answers only from what you taught it; otherwise says your team will follow up
2	Hear it first	Yes: enter your website and it calls you as your business
3	Emergencies	Life-threatening: tells caller to call 911. Urgent: your rules and transfer number
4	Says it is AI	Yes, as a virtual assistant, upfront by default or when asked. Never claims to be a person
6	Never does	No refunds, discounts or arrival times you haven’t given it; you add your own “never say” list
8	Transfers	A GH Live agent (if you have the add-on), then your team list, then your transfer number
9	Briefing	Whoever picks up hears who is calling and why first
10	Nobody answers	Comes back to the caller, takes a message, you get an alert
11	Real people	GH Live agents: an add-on with a per-call rate, not available during the free trial
12 to 14	Your number	Keep it by forwarding, or port it to us; port-out PIN by email if you leave
16	Minutes	Only the AI’s part of a call counts, each call rounded up to the next minute
17	Over the plan	Calls keep being answered; extra minutes are added to your next invoice
18	Contract	Month to month, cancel any time; no partial refund for the month already paid
20	Recordings	Only the AI’s part is recorded; recordings play on plans that include them
21	Training and BAA	Our privacy policy says we don’t use your call recordings, transcripts or messages to train third-party AI models; HIPAA mode includes a BAA

Where Vocenya is not the right fit, honestly:

You need texting. Vocenya does not send or receive text messages today.
You need it to book straight into dental or medical practice software. Booking works with Google Calendar, Outlook, Acuity, Calendly, Cal.com, Jobber and Housecall Pro, not practice management systems.
You want a toll-free number at signup. Vocenya numbers are local US numbers.
You need human backup during your trial. GH Live starts on a paid plan; during the trial, calls that need a person go to your own team.
In HIPAA mode you need languages beyond English and Spanish. HIPAA mode uses voices covered by our BAA, which answer in those two.

If those don’t rule us out, ask us the 21 questions like you would anyone else. Plans, minutes and add-on prices are on the pricing page, and every plan starts with a 14-day free trial.