AI Answering Systems That Turn Calls Into Customers

Last Updated on November 18, 2025

When a customer (or prospect) calls your business, what are the two possible outcomes? Either they receive a friendly greeting and get what they called for, or you miss the call and risk either upsetting them or missing out on their business.

The only way to guarantee that no calls get missed is to implement an automated answering system. Some of these are better than others, and some even come with extra features to turn the basic answering of a phone call into a fully self-managed conversation.

We’re going to introduce these artificial intelligence (AI) phone answering systems here, detailing how they work, core use cases, and the key features you must look for when shopping for one.

What Is an AI Phone Answering System?

An AI phone answering system, also referred to as an AI receptionist, is a conversational front desk that answers and routes calls using AI and natural language understanding.

It can perform tasks like:

• Greeting and providing navigation
• Responding to prepopulated frequently asked questions (FAQs)
• Gathering information
• Capturing leads
• Scheduling appointments

What’s more, the AI behind this tool means it’s always learning from transactions and data gathered about how well it’s performed on calls. For example, if a customer has responded positively to a particular phrase, the AI will note the sentiment and bank that as a good conversation.

It works 24/7, handles multiple calls at once, and keeps a consistent tone and script. It’s a lot more than a basic answering service.

How These Systems Work

These automated virtual receptionists use five core AI technologies not just to answer calls and send them to the right place but also to understand the context and help resolve queries without human intervention.

Conversational understanding

Using natural language processing, these systems are able to identify the caller’s intent and respond based on the ask.

After confirming the details to ensure it has the correct understanding, it can ask clarifying questions to complete requests. This two-way conversational AI ensures that there is no guesswork or risk of misunderstanding.

Task execution

Upon fully understanding the requirements of the call, an AI receptionist service can then book appointments, trigger workflows, send confirmations and reminders, and update records.

Depending on which other lines of business apps and systems you integrate, the art of the possible is nearly endless. This is where you can offset the cost of answering services by opting for a smarter alternative that not only answers calls but also performs the corresponding actions.

Typical answering services for small businesses tend to come with high costs for little payback. If you’re using an outsourcing company simply for message taking, there’s a high return on investment when you compare an AI phone answering service.

Smart routing

If it detects an irate or upset customer or if the issue is particularly technical, the system escalates in real time with context and caller history so humans pick up exactly where the AI left off. In this scenario, you’ve asked AI to take care of the basic troubleshooting, freeing up subject-matter experts and product specialists to carry on with their day until they are genuinely needed.

When comparing AI vs. human customer service, there’s only one winner when it comes to efficiency. Let AI take care of the basics, and then involve humans at the right time.

Integrations

You can only ask AI to handle your tasks as well as your calls if you connect it to the systems it needs to perform these tasks. Consider integrating your AI answering system with your:

• Calendar
• CRM
• Help desk and ticketing
• UCaaS solution
• Messaging platform

Once integrated, it can automatically log notes, create tickets, and automate follow-ups. Once again, you’re removing the repetitive and menial tasks from a receptionist or call center agent’s day.

Continuous improvement

To ensure an always optimized customer journey, AI phone answering systems learn from transcripts, outcomes, and feedback loops to improve accuracy and reduce handle time.

In addition to the built-in smart technology, you can make manual adjustments to knowledge bases and any source of information. The combination of conversational AI and tailored responses proves a formidable one when implementing automated phone answering.

Core Use Cases (By Industry)

Here are some key use cases of online virtual receptionists:

Home and field services

You can use AI phone answering systems to book new jobs, confirm window cleaning or repairs, reschedule if customers can no longer make it, and dispatch engineers after hours. This not only helps run your calendar but also reduces the chance of no-shows.

You can also screen emergencies and prioritize by ZIP code, job type, or warranty status if needed.

Pro tip from Nextiva: Pair automated booking with intelligent routing and text message reminders so crews show up with the right info the first time.

Health care and dental

Health care providers can verify office hours and insurance basics, prequalify new patients, and schedule or waitlist existing patients for appointments. This takes place without the need for human intervention or waiting for other parties to cross-reference calendars.

All the while, you continue to respect consent and privacy standards with built-in compliance and identity and verification workflows.

Pro tip from Nextiva: Use HIPAA-compliant workflows with transcripts and summaries that push to patient intake systems without extra data entry.

Law firms and professional services

For new client intake, conflict checks, and consult scheduling with attorney routing, answering systems take care of every step of the process. This lets you protect attorney time and ensure that they’re not the people or system doing the handoff and searching for the right person.

Pro tip from Nextiva: Qualify by case type and urgency; auto-create CRM records and route hot leads to the on-call attorney instantly with your communication software.

Restaurants and hospitality

While in-person team members are busy waiting tables and preparing food, let your AI assistant take care of:

• Reservations
• Waitlist management
• Menu questions
• Directions and opening times
• Group inquiries

Pro tip from Nextiva: Tie phone reservations to a shared calendar and send SMS confirmations to reduce no-shows.

Multilocation retail and franchises

If you look after multiple locations, the local stores don’t need to field each incoming call. You can use your virtual receptionist software to respond to queries like store hours, inventory questions, service appointments, and warranty intake.

Pro tip from Nextiva: Enforce a single brand voice and capture location-level analytics to spot after-hours demand.

Key Capabilities You Should Look For

Look for the following features in your online virtual receptionist:

Natural language and clarification

• Feature: Understands free-form speech, confirms details, and gracefully recovers from ambiguity.
• Benefit: Allows conversations to flow in a human-like way without the need for constant human escalation.

Smart scheduling

• Feature: Offers two-way calendar sync, buffer rules, resource assignment, and automated reminders.
• Benefit: Completes scheduling tasks without needing mutual availability discussions or waiting for responses from either party.

Lead capture and qualification

• Feature: Collects contact info, intent, budget, and timeline; scores and routes based on criteria.
• Benefit: Prepares sales personnel with all the information needed to focus on a call rather than losing time on information intake and admin.

Omnichannel follow-through

• Feature: Sends SMS links, directions, forms, and payment prompts; continues conversations across phone, text, and chat.
• Benefit: Creates an omnichannel customer experience so you can carry on conversations with context and without having to repeat instructions or recall information from disparate systems.

Real-time handoffs

• Feature: Transfers calls with full context, including reason, disposition, and caller summary.
• Benefit: Supplies humans with everything they need without having to deep dive for information and background, making the entire process more efficient.

Knowledge management

• Feature: Answers store-specific FAQs with easy updates for hours, services, pricing, and promos.
• Benefit: Frees up contact center agents, receptionists, and specialized staff to spend more time on more quality and comprehensive tasks.

Security and compliance

• Feature: Provides role-based access, encryption, call recording, audit logs, and support for regulated workflows.
• Benefit: Gives admins and security managers everything they need to streamline the security and success of business and contact center compliance operations.

Analytics and summaries

• Feature: Reports on per-location volumes, conversion, booking rate, after-hours revenue, and missed-call recovery.
• Benefit: Enables you to make business decisions based on data-backed summaries and reports without the need for complex data interpretation.

Best AI Answering Services

Below are the best answering services offering online virtual receptionists:

1. Nextiva with XBert AI receptionist

Best overall for small and midsize businesses.

Nextiva’s XBert AI receptionist combines advanced voice AI with unified communications.

It answers calls, books appointments, routes inquiries, and sends SMS follow-ups — all in one platform. With two-way calendar sync, CRM integration, and real-time call summaries, it ensures no call goes unanswered or untracked.

Key Features:

• Unified phone, chat, and SMS system
• Automated callback scheduling service
• 24/7 coverage with smart call flows and routing
• Measurable ROI through missed-call recovery and reduced no-shows

Ideal for: Service businesses, franchises, and teams ready to modernize their front desk.

2. Smith.ai

Best for lead qualification and human backup use cases.

Smith.ai blends AI call handling with optional live customer support. It’s strong in lead screening, intake, and sales-focused conversations.

If you wish to use an AI phone answering system for some queries and humans for others, there’s a hybrid option for a best-of-both-worlds approach.

Key Features:

• 24/7 AI agent with live fallback
• Strong lead qualification tools
• Local or toll-free phone numbers

Ideal for: Legal, home services, and sales teams that value human backup for complex calls.

3. Slang.ai

Best for hospitality and reservations businesses.

Slang.ai is tuned for restaurants and hospitality businesses. It answers customer calls within seconds, takes reservations, manages waitlists, and integrates with popular booking platforms.

Claiming to save 200+ hours per month, it’s a good option for busy restaurants that often lose potential covers due to missed calls.

Key Features:

• Friendly, natural-sounding AI voice
• Seamless reservation and menu handling
• Easy setup for multilocation venues

Ideal for: Restaurants, cafes, and event spaces managing high call volumes.

Nextiva: More Than Just a Voice Bot

An AI phone answering system should do more than pick up the phone or take voicemails. The right solution greets callers in natural language, understands intent, books appointments, and escalates seamlessly with complete context. We’re talking about completing the entire call and satisfying your caller’s reason for calling — without human intervention, where possible.

When integrated with your calendar and CRM, it becomes a measurable growth lever that captures missed opportunities, reduces manual work, and delivers a consistent brand voice in every customer interaction.

If you’re missing calls, you don’t know the potential loss (or lack of gain). Making one simple change could uncover revenue opportunities, improve customer satisfaction, and free up staff.

Growing businesses should consider XBert with Nextiva’s UC platform to answer calls instantly, follow through across phone and text, and show tangible gains in booking rate, after-hours revenue, and customer satisfaction without adding headcount.

Stirring to answer every phone call? Check out XBert AI Receptionist here.