AI Receptionist

An AI Receptionist is an intelligent call answering service that handles your incoming business calls automatically, 24/7. It uses a natural-sounding AI voice to answer enquiries, take messages, book appointments and capture leads.

The Fasthosts AI Receptionist works as a complete AI answering service for business owners across the UK, picking up calls when you're with a customer, out on a job, or simply outside business hours – so every caller gets a professional response and you never miss an opportunity.

For most UK small businesses, yes. A single missed call can mean a lost booking, a lost lead or a lost customer – and busy business owners can't always pick up while they're with a client, on a job or after hours.

An AI Receptionist makes sure every call gets answered around the clock, captures the details that matter, and gives you a full summary of the conversation. It pays for itself the moment it captures a call you would have missed.

The Fasthosts AI Receptionist comes in 3 packages to match different call volumes – Lite, Plus and Unlimited – all on pay-as-you-go monthly billing with no long-term contract. Lite suits sole traders and quiet businesses, Plus is built for growing teams, and Unlimited covers high-volume operations with no per-call charges.

You can see the full package breakdown and per-call rates in the package table above. Plus, every new customer gets 1 month free on their chosen plan.

Yes. You don't need to change provider or port your number. The AI Receptionist works through simple call forwarding – you keep your existing business number and forward calls to your AI Receptionist whenever you want it to answer. You can route everything 24/7, or only after hours and weekends. Setup takes a few minutes from your phone settings, with no technical knowledge required.

No technical skills are needed. The AI Receptionist is built for business owners, not developers. You can be up and running in under 15 minutes from the dashboard – forward your existing number, pick a voice and persona, and tell the AI a few things about your business.

You could easily complete the setup on your phone during a coffee break! And as a fully UK-based AI Receptionist service, Fasthosts offers expert support by phone or chat whenever you need it.

Yes. The AI uses advanced voice technology to hold natural, conversational phone calls – not robotic menus or "press 1 to continue" prompts. Callers speak normally, and the AI answers in full sentences with the voice and persona you choose. You can pick from a range of voices to match your brand, and customise how the AI greets callers, describes your services and handles common questions. You can even choose what language the AI Receptionist speaks in and can understand.

If the AI can't confidently answer a question, it won't make something up. Depending on your package, it can either forward the call to a contact you've nominated, or take a detailed message and send you a summary by email so you can follow up.

You control which topics trigger a forward and which get captured as a message – so urgent enquiries reach you instantly, while routine questions get handled in the background.

Yes. As a UK AI call answering service, the Fasthosts AI Receptionist is fully GDPR-compliant and your call data is hosted in our EU-based data centres. All calls are handled securely, and you stay in full control of how long call summaries are retained.

As a long-standing UK hosting provider, Fasthosts has been trusted with business data for over 25 years, and the AI Receptionist is built to the same standard.

No, your calls are never recorded. The audio is only held briefly in memory while the conversation happens and is immediately deleted once the caller hangs up. While the audio is never retained, a written summary and any contact details the caller provides are securely stored so you have exactly what you need to follow up.

As soon as the caller hangs up, you'll be sent a quick summary straight to your inbox. You'll get the key details, any messages, and the caller's contact info, so you can easily follow up when you're ready.

Yes, it can. You can link your AI answering service to scheduling systems like Calendly. If a customer calls up wanting to book a slot, the AI will check your availability and schedule the appointment right there on the call.

Not at all. We know flexibility is key for small businesses, so all our AI Receptionist packages are Pay As You Go (PAYG). Plus, you can start with a 1 month free trial to see exactly how it works for you.

It's entirely up to you. You can use it as your main front-of-house to answer every call 24/7, or simply use it as a smart backup for when you're busy on a job, out of the office, or closed for the night.

It's far more cost-effective and much easier to set up than standard IVR systems (those clunky "press 1 for sales" menus). Instead of forcing customers through a frustrating maze of options, the AI Receptionist provides a smooth, natural conversation from the second they pick up, keeping your running costs low and your customer satisfaction high.