Autessa AI Receptionist
Every call answered. Every message on your desk.
Autessa AI Receptionist is an AI receptionist and answering service for your main line. It answers every call and text, takes a clear message with the reason for the call, screens before putting anyone through to your team, hangs up on robocalls, and alerts the right person the moment something is urgent. It works the day you turn it on, and you shape it to how your company runs inside Autessa.
- AI receptionist
- AI answering service
- Virtual receptionist
- Call screening
- Screened transfers
- Message taking
- Spam call blocking
- Urgent call alerts
- 24/7 answering
The short answer
What is Autessa AI Receptionist?
Autessa AI Receptionist is an AI phone receptionist that answers your main line around the clock. It finds out who is calling and why, writes it down, sorts the call, puts real issues through to the teammate who covers them, and keeps robocalls, pitches and name-fishing away from your team.
It behaves like a careful front desk, not a phone tree. It asks one short question at a time. It never assumes a remembered name; it asks. It never tells a caller who works at your company. It only calls something urgent when it really needs someone today. And it always finishes the call itself, so nobody is left on a line that went quiet.
Your team works from one inbox of calls and messages, a team directory where each person says which calls are theirs, and one email each morning. It runs on Autessa Phone & Texting, so your teammates answer transfers in the browser or on their cell.
Everything, by area
The whole front desk, area by area
Each area has its own page and every capability has a deep-dive. Filled diamonds go beyond a typical answering service.
Call answering →
A call, start to finish
What happens when someone calls your main line?
Most of the work happens before your team ever hears about the call.
- 1
Looks the number up
Before saying a word: blocked? a returning caller? a teammate testing? agreed to texts?
- 2
Greets and asks
A short greeting that says it is an AI receptionist, then name, company and reason, one question at a time.
- 3
Writes it down
The message is saved the moment the reason is known, in case the caller hangs up.
- 4
Sorts it
Important, Routine, Vendor or Spam, with a one-line reason.
- 5
Puts through, or not
A separate screener checks for a specific reason and a matching teammate before anyone is rung.
- 6
Alerts if urgent
A real security incident, outage or legal matter emails the right people right away.
- 7
Reviews after the call
A second AI pass re-reads the transcript and files the final message, category and summary.
- 8
Sums up the morning
Important calls first, then spam, in one weekday email.
What makes it different
A receptionist that screens, not a switchboard
This is where it goes beyond a typical AI answering service. These are the things teams notice first.
Screened transfers
Only real reasons reach a real person
Team privacy
It never tells a caller who works with you
Call categories and review
Sorted during the call, checked again after it
In-app self-test
Test the desk before a caller does
Returning caller memory
Before it says a word, the receptionist looks up the number, and if it knows the caller it asks "Am I speaking with…?" instead of assuming, because phones get shared.
Booking link texts
When a caller wants to talk with your team, the receptionist offers to text them a booking link, asks for texting consent in your registered wording, and reads the link aloud if they say no.
Urgent call alerts
When a call really needs someone today, the receptionist tells the caller the team has been alerted and emails, and optionally texts, the people you chose and the teammate it is for.
Team directory
Each teammate writes one or two sentences on which calls are theirs, and chooses whether the receptionist can put calls through and where to ring them.
Test numbers
Teammates can call the main line to try things out: test calls stay out of the stats and summaries, are never blocked, and urgent alerts go only to the person testing.
Setup check
Setup checks everything the receptionist depends on each time you open it, from call routing to who covers which calls, and company admins fix anything that is off in one click.
Product tour
Every page your team uses
One calm workspace for the front desk, with a page for each call and each caller.
Calls and messages
Every call and text, with tiles for important and not handled, search, category and status filters, and a "Show test calls" switch.
Call page
What they wanted, the caller, what the receptionist did, who it is for, the transfer screening log, the category and the transcript.
Callers
One row per number with name, company, number of calls, last call and badges for Blocked, Test number and Confirmed.
Caller page
Who calls from this number, private notes, the test-number switch, block or unblock, and every call from it.
Team directory
Your own card (Call me for, Take calls, Ring my browser phone, Ring my cell) and everyone else in the directory.
Blocked numbers
Every blocked number with why, who blocked it, when, a link to the call and Unblock.
Setup
A health check with one-click fixes, the morning summary schedule, urgent alert recipients and the self-test.
Who is told what
Who hears about a call, and how?
Most calls are simply filed in the inbox. These are the moments the receptionist reaches out.
| Moment | Who | How |
|---|---|---|
| Urgent call | Your alert list (or the summary list) plus the teammate it is for | Email right away; optional text to their cell |
| Morning summary | Up to four people you choose | Weekday email at the time and days you set |
| Screened transfer | The teammate who covers the topic | Rings their browser phone and/or cell with a whisper; press 1 to take it |
| Booking link | The caller, after they agree to texts | Text message, or read aloud if they decline |
| Texting consent confirmation | The caller | Text message |
7:12
Lock screen · SAMPLE
Urgent call: Alex Kim, Brightline Clinic, (206) 555-0163. Staff locked out of their accounts since 6:30 PM. [Open the call]
Also emailed to you and the support lead.
Use cases
Founders, sales, support, security and office teams
How each role uses the receptionist, and the industries it suits.
Integrations
Phone & Texting, Homebase and email
The numbers, people and channels the receptionist actually uses.
Security
Privacy for your team and your callers
Encrypted cell numbers, limited transcripts, admin-only setup and consent.
Built on Autessa Phone & Texting
The phone system underneath
The receptionist runs on an Autessa Phone & Texting number. Your teammates take transfers in the Autessa browser phone or on their cell, and the same number can text, with carrier registration and consent built in.
2:07
Incoming transfer · SAMPLE
Dana Whitfield · Northwind Dental: charged twice for October. Press 1 to take the call.
Ringing your browser phone and cell, 20 seconds.
Comparing options
How does Autessa compare to other AI receptionists and answering services?
Fair, factual comparisons of how Autessa does each job, for teams evaluating these services.
Questions
Questions about Autessa AI Receptionist
What is Autessa AI Receptionist?
Autessa AI Receptionist is an AI phone receptionist for your main line. It answers every call and text, takes a message with the reason for the call, sorts calls as Important, Routine, Vendor or Spam, screens before putting anyone through to your team, blocks robocalls, and alerts the right person when something is urgent.
Does it work out of the box?
Yes. Connect your main line and the receptionist starts answering, taking messages and screening transfers from day one. Then shape it to your company inside Autessa: what it says about you, who covers which calls in the team directory, who gets urgent alerts, when the morning summary goes out and which numbers are blocked.
Is it an AI answering service or a live receptionist?
It is fully AI. There is no live human answering team behind it. Your own teammates are the humans: the receptionist puts calls through to them when it should, and takes a message when it should not.
How does it decide who to put a call through to?
A separate screener decides. It needs the caller's name, their company unless they are calling for themselves, a specific reason, and a teammate in your directory who covers that topic and is taking calls. If the reason is vague it asks one question first; vendors, recruiters and vague demands for the CEO get a message instead.
What happens if the person does not answer?
The receptionist comes back on the line, tells the caller the person is not available, and takes a message. Teammates press 1 to take a call, so their voicemail never answers it by mistake.
How does it handle spam and robocalls?
It hangs up on robocalls, recorded messages, harassment and trolling that continues after a warning, and blocks those numbers. Blocked numbers are hung up on as soon as they call again. Silence, bad connections and confused callers are never blocked, and anyone on your team can unblock a number.
How do urgent alerts work?
When a caller describes something that needs someone today, such as a security incident, an outage, a legal matter or a hard deadline, the receptionist marks the call urgent and emails your alert list and the teammate it is for. You can also have it text their cell numbers. Saying "it's urgent" alone does not count.
Does it answer texts?
Yes. Texts to your main line get the same receptionist in one to three sentences, and each text conversation is filed as a message. Spam texts are recorded and get no reply.
Can it book appointments?
It texts a booking link rather than picking a time itself. Callers who want to talk with your team are offered a link by text, after agreeing to texts in your registered wording, or the link is read aloud if they decline.
Can I test it before customers call?
Yes. Company admins can run the in-app self-test, which plays ten scripted callers against the live receptionist or your unpublished changes and shows every check. Teammates can also call from a test number; those calls stay out of your stats and summaries.
Does it work in other languages?
Today the receptionist answers in US English.
Who on my team can see calls and transcripts?
Everyone the app is shared with can see calls and messages. Transcripts only appear for people allowed to read your phone calls, and setup, fixes and the self-test are for company admins.
100% customizable, code and all
Make Autessa AI Receptionist fully your own.
Use it out of the box, then change anything. Ask Autobot, Autessa’s AI builder, for a new field, screen, report, workflow or agent and it builds it into your copy of the app. Or open the code and edit it yourself. Nothing is locked: the app, its data and its code are yours.
Start free and make it yours