A virtual receptionist that knows when to hand off to a person.
AI picks up what your team can’t get to. Your people take the calls that matter. It runs on the phone system you already have, installed and supported by Phonewire.
The calls you’re missing are the ones you never hear about.
Lunch. Two lines lit at once. Ten minutes after close. A busy front desk answers about 70% of calls during peak hours, and the rest go to voicemail. Many of those callers never call back.
A virtual receptionist covers the gap. It answers immediately, books the appointment, takes the message, or gets the caller to the right person, and it does it the same way at 2 PM and 2 AM.
Your people answer first. The AI catches what they can’t.
This is not a bot in front of your business. During business hours the call rings your staff first. The virtual receptionist steps in on overflow, after hours, and for the routine questions your team is tired of answering: hours, directions, “are you open Saturday.”
When a caller needs a person, it transfers, takes a message, or escalates based on rules you set. We’ve written about where AI answering earns its keep and where it doesn’t. This is the version that keeps a person on the other side of the line.
No new phones. No new number. No rip-and-replace.
The virtual receptionist connects at the call-routing level, so it works with on-premises PBX, cloud-hosted VoIP, and carrier lines. Your numbers, your desk phones, and your existing setup stay exactly where they are.
Phonewire configures it, tests it, and supports it. If something needs to change after go-live, you call a person in the U.S. who can change it. That’s how everything we install works.
What Your Virtual Receptionist Handles
One system for the calls your team can’t get to.
Appointment Booking
Books directly into your calendar in real time, using the scheduling rules you set during setup
Overflow & After-Hours Answering
Picks up when every line is busy or the office is closed, with a greeting written for your business
Lead Capture
Asks the questions you’d ask a new caller, records the answers, and gets them to the right person
Routine Questions
Hours, location, services, parking, what to bring: the questions that interrupt your staff all day
Transfer to a Person
Routes to the right extension or department without a phone-tree maze, and escalates on your rules
Messages as Text
Every message and voicemail lands in your inbox as readable text, so nothing sits unheard overnight
How It Works
Start a Free Trial
Tell us how calls come in today, what your team wants off their plate, and what should always reach a person. We’ll set the rules with you, not for you.
We Connect It
Phonewire ties the virtual receptionist into your phone system, calendar, and CRM, writes the greeting and prompts in your voice, and tests it on real calls before go-live.
Go Live, Then Tune
Most businesses are running within a few business days. After that, changing a greeting, a rule, or a schedule is a phone call to us, not a ticket.
Who We Serve
Any business where a missed call is a missed customer.
Hear It Before You Buy It
The demo is free and there’s nothing to install. We’ll show you exactly how the virtual receptionist would work for your business, in your voice, with your hours and scheduling rules, and you can hear it for yourself.
📞 (800) 857-1517Frequently Asked Questions
What is a virtual receptionist?
A virtual receptionist answers your business phone when a person can’t. Some services use remote human operators; Phonewire’s uses AI that understands natural speech, so it can book appointments, answer routine questions, take messages, and transfer calls without a scripted phone tree. It runs as part of your phone system rather than in front of it.
Is this the same as an auto attendant?
No. An auto attendant plays a menu: press 1 for sales, press 2 for service. A virtual receptionist holds a conversation. A caller can say “I need to move my Tuesday appointment to Thursday afternoon” and it handles that. Many businesses run both: the attendant for direct-dial routing, the receptionist for everything else.
Does the AI answer every call, or only some of them?
That’s your call. Most customers ring their staff first during business hours and let the virtual receptionist take overflow and after-hours calls. Others use it as the front door for routine questions and have it transfer anything else. The rules are set during onboarding and can be changed any time by calling us.
What happens when a caller needs a person?
It transfers to the extension or department you’ve designated, takes a detailed message, or escalates according to the rules set during onboarding. Urgent situations, complex questions, and anything outside its configured scope go to a human. Your team is never out of the loop.
How much does the virtual receptionist cost?
The virtual receptionist is an add-on to Phonewire phone service, sold as a prepaid 500-minute block for $349 (see current pricing). Plans are month-to-month with no long-term contract, and a free trial is available before you commit.
Does it work with my existing phone system?
Yes. It integrates at the call-routing level, so it works with on-premises PBX systems, cloud-hosted VoIP, and carrier-provided lines. No hardware changes and no change to your phone numbers are required.
How long does setup take?
Most businesses are live within a few business days of starting onboarding. Phonewire connects it to your phone system, calendar, and website, writes the prompts so it speaks in your business’s voice, and tests it before go-live. No IT involvement from your team is needed.
Can it book appointments into my calendar?
Yes. It connects to your existing calendar and books in real time during the call. Your team sees the booking immediately and the caller gets a confirmation. Availability windows, appointment types, and buffer rules are configured during setup.
Stop losing the calls you never knew you missed.
Schedule a free demo and hear the virtual receptionist in your voice, with your scheduling rules, on your phone number. If it isn’t the right fit for your business, we’ll tell you that too.
📞 (800) 857-1517