Smith.ai
24/7 receptionist service combining AI with real humans, ready out of the box.
- Nothing to build: a staffed service, not a platform
- Humans back up the AI on the calls that need one
- Dedicated Spanish-language line available
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Every call answered. Even the 7pm ones.
Missed calls are missed revenue: the patient books elsewhere, the lead dials your competitor. An AI voice agent answers your phone in a natural voice, handles the routine calls and books the appointment. This guide covers how it works, who the serious providers are, and when to buy versus build.
- 24/7your line never rings out
- Secondsto pick up, every time
- MultilingualSpanish, English and more
- Bookedstraight into your calendar
What an AI voice agent is
An AI voice agent is software that answers your business phone in a natural-sounding voice, understands what the caller wants, and acts on it: it books the appointment, answers the routine question, takes the message or routes the call to the right person. The robotic phone menu is dead; this is a conversation.
01
The phone rings, the agent picks up
Instantly, at 2pm or 2am. No hold music, no voicemail, no lost caller.
02
It understands the request
Spoken naturally, in the caller's language. Booking, question, complaint or emergency, each follows the path you defined.
03
It acts on your systems
Checks the calendar and books the slot, answers from your information, takes structured details for a callback.
04
Humans get the calls that need them
Anything urgent or sensitive transfers to your team with a summary, and every call leaves a transcript.
When this solution makes sense
A good fit if
- Calls go unanswered at lunch, after hours or in season peaks, and each one is worth money
- A person spends hours a day on bookings, confirmations and the same ten questions
- You pay an answering service that only takes messages
- Callers speak more than one language and your front desk covers one
- You want every call logged, transcribed and followed up instead of vanishing
Probably not yet if
- Your calls are long, sensitive conversations where rapport is the product
- Call volume is tiny and whoever is nearest answers comfortably
- There is no calendar or system the agent could act on yet
- Your callers are elderly or vulnerable and your brand depends on a human voice
What changes
Zero missed calls
The number one leak in local business revenue closes: every call is answered in seconds, including the ones that used to hit voicemail.
Bookings without a receptionist's hours
Appointments get made and confirmed around the clock, synced with the calendar your team already uses.
Front desk time back
The repetitive calls disappear from your team's day, leaving the conversations that need judgment.
A record of every call
Transcripts, reasons and outcomes, so you finally see what people call about and follow up on what matters.
What teams use it for
- Clinic and dental appointment lines
- Restaurant reservations by phone
- After-hours answering for trades
- Real estate viewing requests
- Order and delivery status calls
- Overflow when the line is busy
The established platforms
These platforms lead the category. Some are ready-made receptionists a small business can switch on; others are builder platforms that need configuration.
ElevenLabs Agents
The leading AI voice company's conversational agents, with the most natural voices in the market.
- Best-in-class voice quality, Spanish included
- Self-serve plans that start tiny
- Backed by the biggest name in AI voice
Retell AI
A voice agent platform with templates and APIs, among the best reviewed in the category.
- Transparent per-minute pricing, no monthly fee
- Templates get a first agent live fast
- Strong reputation with agencies and builders
Vapi
The developer platform for building voice agents, used at serious enterprise scale.
- Deepest toolkit for custom call logic
- Choose your own speech and language models
- Heavyweight funding and enterprise adoption
Synthflow
Berlin-based no-code voice agent platform aimed at serious deployments.
- No-code builder with a managed launch
- European company for European requirements
- Built for scale rather than experiments
Off the shelf or custom?
When a platform is enough
A ready-made AI receptionist is the right call for a standard front desk: answer, inform, book, take a message. Setup is days, prices are predictable, and for a clinic or a restaurant the templates fit well. If your calls follow a script a new hire could learn in a week, buy first.
When custom wins
Custom wins when the call has to reach into your systems: your patient records, your dispatch board, your stock, your pricing rules. It also wins on voice and tone in Spanish and Catalan, where generic agents still sound generic, and when call volume makes per-minute platform pricing more expensive than owning the agent.
Where Sabemos fits
Custom build
We build voice agents connected to the systems the call really needs: your calendar, your CRM, your booking engine. Natural Spanish, Catalan and English, your rules about what may be said, and transcripts flowing into the tools you already use. Built in Barcelona.
Setup and onboarding
Prefer one of the platforms above? We choose the right one for your call patterns, design the call flows, connect the calendar, record the edge cases and hand your team a phone line that works, measured against the calls you used to miss.
Frequently asked questions
Will callers know they are talking to an AI?
Yes, and they should. Well-designed agents introduce themselves honestly, and most callers care about being helped fast, not about who answers. Deception is bad design and in some contexts illegal.
What happens with an emergency or an angry caller?
The agent recognizes situations outside its role and transfers immediately, passing a summary so the caller does not repeat themselves. Escalation rules are part of the design, not an afterthought.
Can it speak Spanish and Catalan?
Modern voice models handle Spanish and English very well and Catalan increasingly well. If your callers mix languages mid-sentence, that is exactly the kind of requirement to test before choosing a platform.
Does it work with my existing phone number?
Yes. Calls forward from your current number, so nothing changes for your customers. You decide whether the agent answers always, only when busy, or only after hours.
What does it cost to run?
Platforms typically charge a monthly fee plus usage by the minute. A custom agent carries a build cost and then usage. Either way, compare it against the calls you miss today: for most local businesses one recovered booking a week pays for it.