AI receptionist checklist: questions, setup brief and test call

Rules last re-checked 8 November 2026. Each rule in the tables shows its own check date.

Before you pay an AI answering company, put ten questions to it, hand it a written brief and ring it five ways. This page gives you the questions, the brief and the test call. It also shows what official sources in seven countries say about recording calls, each with its link and check date.

We compare what each company publishes. We have not trialled them. How we check prices and rules is on the method page. No company pays us to be listed or for its place.

The short checklist

Ten questions to settle before you sign. Each line links to the section with the detail.

1. Price. What does the plan cost after the included minutes or calls run out? See money.
2. Contract. What is the minimum term, and how much notice does cancelling need? See money.
3. Setup fee. Is there a one-off fee, and is it in the first bill? See money.
4. After hours. Does it answer all night, and what does it say about call-out fees? See calls.
5. Emergencies. How does it pass a gas smell or a flood to a person, and how fast? See calls.
6. The text summary. What does it contain, and how soon does it arrive? See after the call.
7. Job details. Does it capture name, address, job type, urgency and call-back time every time? See your setup brief.
8. Booking. Does it write into your calendar or job software, or only send a message? See after the call.
9. Recording. Does it record or transcribe calls, and how are callers told? See the recording table.
10. The test. Have you rung it five ways before the first payment? See the test call.

Questions to ask any AI answering company

These questions are our suggested practice. No law or regulator we checked requires them. They come from what trade calls need: a name, an address, an urgency and a person when it matters.

Money

• What is the monthly price, and what does it include? Plans count minutes or calls in different ways. A busy week can cost more than the headline price.
• What does each extra minute or call cost? A burst-pipe week is the week you most need the answer.
• Is there a setup fee? Some companies print it only in a footnote.
• What is the minimum term, and how much notice does cancelling need? A month-to-month plan costs less to leave than a yearly one.
• Which currency is the price in, and does it include tax? Prices can leave out sales tax or GST.

To work out the monthly bill at your own call volume, use the cost calculator.

Calls

• Does it answer 24 hours a day, or only in set hours? After-hours calls are often the ones that win work.
• How does it hand an emergency to a person, and how fast? Ask for the steps, not only a yes.
• What happens if your mobile does not answer? A forwarded call that rings out can leave a caller with nothing.
• Can a caller ask for a person at any point? Some callers will not talk to a machine.

After the call

• What does the text or email summary contain, and how soon does it arrive? A summary with a wrong address costs a wasted trip.
• Does it write into your calendar or job software? Ask about the one you use, such as Jobber, ServiceM8 or Housecall Pro. Ask the company; do not assume.
• Can it book a time, or does it only take a message? The answer decides who does the booking.

Recording and data

• Does it record the call, write a transcript, or both? These are two different things.
• How long does it keep them, and where? Storage in another country can matter for privacy law.
• How are callers told? The table below shows what official sources say about telling callers.
• Does it say it is an AI, and can you set what it says? Ask the company how it handles this.

Your setup brief and test call

You can print this section on its own. It has no form to fill in on screen, and the page collects nothing. Use your browser's print command, then write on the paper.

Setup brief

Give this to any company. It lets the AI answer the way you would.

1. What it says when it answers. Your business name and greeting. Whether it says it is an AI. Write it here:
2. Calls it passes to a person. For example a gas smell, flooding, no power, or a customer already on site. List each one, the number to ring, and the hours. Write it here:
3. What it texts you after each call. The format, the number or email, and how soon. Write it here:
4. Your hours and after-hours rules. Include the call-out fee message. State what it may promise and what it must not promise, such as a price or an arrival time. Write it here:
5. Job details to capture on every call. Name, address, job type, urgency and best call-back time. Add anything else your trade needs. Write it here:

Test-call script

Run these five steps before the first payment. Each step has a pass test.

1. Ring your own number after hours. Pass: it answers, uses the greeting from your brief and says whatever you set about being an AI.
2. Ask for a quote. Pass: it does not give a price or time you did not give it, and it still takes your details.
3. Give a messy address. Use a unit number, a street name it may mishear, and a suburb or town with two spellings. Pass: it reads the address back, or the summary shows the address exactly right.
4. Ask to speak to a person. On a second call, say you can smell gas. Pass: it does what your brief says, and does not loop or stall. Tell whoever receives forwarded calls that a test is coming. Never ring an emergency number as a test. That step is our suggested practice.
5. Check the summary text. Pass: every job detail from your brief is there and correct. Note how long it took to arrive after you hung up.

If a step fails, you can send the failure to the company in writing and ask what it will change. If any step involves a recording, see the table below.

Is it legal to record the call? Consent in seven countries

Most rules we found are about recording calls, not about AI. The one rule we found written for AI talking to people is the EU AI Act, which applies in Ireland: it makes the AI company make sure callers are told they are talking to an AI, unless that is obvious. The other AI rules we confirmed cover calls an AI makes, not calls it answers. For the other six countries, we have not confirmed at an official source any rule written for an AI answering inbound calls. That is not the same as saying none exists.

The table lists places in this order: Australia, New Zealand, United Kingdom, Ireland, Canada, United States, Singapore. "What the official source says to do" is filled only where that row's source says it. Elsewhere it reads "The source does not say."

"Older date" means the Rules Researcher found the page on 6 November 2026 but could not read it, or it showed no date. The earlier check date stands.

"Not yet checked" means we have not yet confirmed the rule at an official source. It does not mean there is no rule.

This table records what the official source linked in each row said on the date shown. It is general information, not legal advice, and it is not a complete statement of the law anywhere. Other laws, such as privacy law, can also apply to recording and keeping calls. Laws change: check the source, and if you are unsure how the rules apply to your business, ask a lawyer where you work.

Rules we found for AI voices

Every rule below except the EU AI Act is about outbound calls, where a business or an AI rings a person. Each source says what it applies to.

When a person is still the better choice

Some calls need a person: a customer who is upset, a job that is hard to describe, or an emergency with no clear next step. Our cost calculator covers when an AI receptionist can cost you jobs. For human, AI or both by business size, see answering services for contractors. To compare services, see every AI answering service compared.

Questions

Is it legal to record phone calls in the UK?

The UK rules we checked say that intercepting a call without lawful authority is an offence (Investigatory Powers Act 2016 s 3). The 2018 Regulations allow business recording for listed purposes. They also say the business must make all reasonable efforts to inform every person who may use the system that calls may be intercepted. We checked these at legislation.gov.uk on 6 November 2026. This is general information, not legal advice.

Do I have to tell callers the call is recorded?

The table above shows what each official source says, place by place. Where the source says to tell the people on the call, the row says so. The UK Regulations, the Privacy Commissioners of Canada and New Zealand, and the ICO are examples. Where the table says "Not yet checked", we do not know. We cannot say what applies to your business.

How do I test an AI receptionist before I pay?

Ring it five ways: after hours, for a quote, with a messy address, asking for a person, and then check the summary text. The test-call script above gives a pass test for each step. Write your setup brief first, so you know what the answer should have been.

How does an answering service work?

Practice differs by company, so ask. Two set-ups are common: you forward your business number to the service, or the service gives you a new number. The service then answers, takes the details and sends them to you. The contractors page shows what companies publish about this.

About this page: written by Trades AI Guide from the official sources linked in the tables and checked against them. Each rule shows the date we checked it.