Answer routine calls
Greet callers, answer approved questions about hours, service area and services, and recognise when a call is outside its limits.
AI receptionist / For service businesses
Answer the calls you miss.
Hand the hard ones to a person.
An AI receptionist answers when your team can't, takes a complete request and passes urgent calls to a person with the details already written down. Hear a sample call, compare it honestly with voicemail and answering services, then decide.
Play a sample callWhat it does
Useful within
agreed limits.
The goal is not a clever conversation. It is a complete request, an honest answer and a reliable handoff when a person is needed.
Collect a usable request
Capture the caller's name, callback number, location, request and preferred contact time in the same structure every time.
Hand off to a person
Route urgent, sensitive or uncertain calls, and anyone who asks for a person, to an approved team member with context and a fallback.
Leave one clear record
Create a request or callback task in an agreed destination, without claiming an appointment or action that has not been confirmed.
Tether / Sample conversation
See how Tether
would answer your call.
A sample conversation, written by us, showing how Tether, the MoxiSync AI receptionist, could handle a call you would otherwise miss and what your team would receive. It is not a recording or a live agent. Tether is offered through guided pilots that are scoped and tested with each business.
Sample conversationWritten by MoxiSync to show how Tether could handle this call. Not a recording, and not a real caller.
Tuesday, 7:40 pm · the office is closed
- Tether · AI receptionist
Thanks for calling. The team is out on jobs right now, so I'm taking calls for them. How can I help?
- Caller
Our air conditioning stopped blowing cold this afternoon. It's really hot upstairs.
- Tether · AI receptionist
Sorry to hear that. Is this your home or a business, and is anyone at the property who's vulnerable to the heat?
- Caller
It's our home. My mom lives with us and she's eighty-two.
- Tether · AI receptionist
Thank you. I'm marking this as urgent and passing it to the on-call technician now. Can I confirm the best number to reach you?
Tether: Thank you. I'm marking this as urgent and passing it to the on-call technician now. Can I confirm the best number to reach you? Outcome: Urgent callback sent to the on-call tech: AC not cooling
OutcomeUrgent callback sent to the on-call tech: AC not cooling
- Urgent
- No cooling
- Elderly occupant
- Callback number confirmed
- Sent to on-call tech
Sample call with AI voices, not a real customer.
Honest comparison
Voicemail, answering service
or AI receptionist?
Each one fits some calls better than others. Many businesses end up using two: people for the hard calls, automation for the routine ones.
| Consideration | Voicemail | Human answering service | AI receptionist |
|---|---|---|---|
| Who answers | Nobody. The caller hears a greeting and a beep. | A trained operator working from your script. | A voice agent working from your approved answers. |
| What you get back | A recording, if the caller leaves one. Some hang up and call someone else. | A message by email, text or portal. Quality varies by operator. | The same structured fields every time, sent where you agree. |
| Urgent calls | Wait until someone checks messages. | An operator can judge tone and patch a call through. | Flags urgency from set questions and hands off. It cannot read nuance the way a person can. |
| Unusual or upset callers | No help. | Strongest option: a person can calm and improvise. | Weak. It should pass these to a person quickly. |
| Busy periods | Unlimited, but nobody answers. | Depends on staffing. Callers may queue. | Can take more than one call at once, within phone-route and provider limits. |
| Changing what is said | Re-record the greeting. | Ask the provider to update the script and brief operators. | Update the approved answers and re-test the affected calls. |
| Typical cost shape | Usually included with your phone plan. | Monthly plan plus per-minute or per-call charges. | One-off setup plus usage: minutes, speech and model processing, number rental, support. |
Where an answering service wins: emotionally charged, high-stakes or unpredictable calls, where a person's judgement matters more than speed. Where an AI receptionist fits: routine calls with a clear, complete outcome, such as a quote or appointment request. Read the full AI receptionist vs answering service guide.
Answering service for contractors
On a roof.
Under a sink. At a panel.
Most contractors don't miss calls because nobody works there. They miss them because the person who would answer is on a ladder, in a crawlspace or next to a live panel. A traditional answering service fixes that with operators who take messages. An AI receptionist does the routine part differently: it asks the same trade-specific questions every time (address, what failed, is water coming in, is anyone at risk) and sends a structured request to you or your office.
What it should not do is handle the emergency on its own. Active leaks, burning smells and no-heat calls with someone vulnerable at home go to a person, every time. That boundary is written down before a pilot starts.
What do missed calls cost you?
The free missed-call calculator starts from sourced industry averages. Swap in your own numbers to see the yearly cost and what answering more calls would keep.
By industry
Same principle.
Different boundaries.
Each trade has calls that suit automation and calls that must reach a person. Each page below lists both, with real scenarios and the matching sample call.
For HVAC companies ↗
Tune-ups and replacement enquiries in peak season; no-cool calls with someone vulnerable go to the on-call tech.
For plumbing companies ↗
Routine jobs while you are on site; active leaks get shut-off advice and go straight to a plumber.
For roofing companies ↗
Storm-week inspection requests with leak and insurance questions asked; active leaks go to a person.
For electricians ↗
Small jobs, EV chargers and builder bookings; burning smells get safety advice and reach the electrician.
For dental practices ↗
New-patient and reschedule requests at lunch; pain, swelling and treatment questions go to staff.
For med spas ↗
Evening price and consultation calls within approved answers; any reaction goes to a provider.
Clinics ↗
Appointment-request intake and general information only. Clinical questions and anything urgent go to a person under an approved boundary.
Honest status
In development.
Piloted with care.
Tether, our receptionist product, is not a public self-service tool. Each pilot is scoped, prepared, tested and approved with the business before any live calls.
Step 01
Choose one call flow
Pick a routine enquiry your team knows well, such as an inspection request, and define what a complete request looks like.
Step 02
Agree answers and handoff
Write the approved facts the receptionist may use, the calls it must pass on, who receives them and what happens if nobody answers.
Step 03
Test before it goes live
Run authorized test calls with interruptions, unknown questions and failed transfers while your existing answering route stays in place.
Step 04
Review real calls together
Compare completed requests, corrections and handoffs with your current process, then decide whether to adjust, pause or expand.
Guided early-access pilots only · No public live calling · Availability depends on region and phone routing · Website sample calls are scripted and do not place real calls.
What it costs
Setup and usage,
quoted separately.
No fixed public price yet. Every pilot gets a written scope before anything is connected. If you want to check your enquiry path first, the $249 Website & Lead-Flow Audit covers how calls reach you, including after hours.
Free first call
A 20-minute conversation about which calls slip through and whether a pilot makes sense. No obligation.
Setup
Configuring the call flow, approved answers, handoff and any tested connection to your systems. Quoted in a written scope.
Voice usage
Telephone minutes, speech and model processing and number rental, billed by actual use and priced separately from our work.
Support and exit
Updating answers and reviewing calls as you change. Number ownership and a way back to your old route are agreed up front.
Book the free 20-minute call · See the $249 audit · How missed-call recovery works
Learn more
Compare before
you decide.
Common questions.
What an AI receptionist can do today, and what needs agreeing first.
What is an AI receptionist?
An AI receptionist is a voice agent that answers calls for a business, responds using approved information, collects the details the team needs and hands calls to a person when it should. It is most useful for routine, repeatable calls such as quote or appointment requests.
Is an AI receptionist better than an answering service?
Not across the board. A human answering service is better at upset, unusual or high-stakes callers. An AI receptionist is more consistent on routine calls, can take more than one at a time and can put a structured request straight where your team works. Many businesses use both for different calls.
Is it better than voicemail?
For most service businesses, yes, for the calls it is set up to take: the caller gets a response and a next step instead of a beep, and your team gets the same complete details every time. Voicemail costs nothing extra, so the question is whether the calls you miss are worth more than the setup and usage.
What about an answering service for contractors?
Contractors usually miss calls because they are on a job, not because nobody works there. An AI receptionist can take routine job and quote requests while you work, and send leaks, outages and safety calls to you or your on-call person. If your calls are mostly emergencies that need a calm human voice, a staffed answering service may still suit you better.
Is the MoxiSync AI receptionist available now?
Tether, the MoxiSync receptionist, is in development. It is offered through guided early-access pilots that are scoped, tested and approved with each business. There is no public live calling or self-service signup.
Are the sample calls real?
No. They are conversations we wrote, read by synthetic AI voices so you can hear the pace of a call. They are not recordings of customers and not live agents.
Can it book appointments into my calendar?
Only through a connection that has been built and tested for your pilot. Without that, it records an appointment request and tells the caller someone will confirm, rather than claiming a booking.
How much does an AI receptionist cost?
Costs are quoted per pilot. They separate one-off setup and configuration from ongoing usage such as telephone minutes, speech and model processing and number rental, plus any support. Voice usage depends on call volume and length, so we measure it during the pilot.
Can we keep our existing phone number?
Usually that depends on your phone provider, region and routing. We review these before agreeing a pilot; nothing is forwarded or activated from this website.
Which calls slip through today?
Bring one routine call type. In a free 20-minute call we will discuss whether a pilot makes sense and what it would need.