TL;DR
An AI receptionist is software that answers customers for you, around the clock, and completes tasks such as answering questions, booking appointments and passing tricky cases to a person. There are two kinds: voice agents that answer phone calls, and messaging receptionists that answer WhatsApp and other chats. Arlay is a WhatsApp AI receptionist: it replies in seconds in the customer's language, quotes your real catalog, sends photos, takes deposits and books into Google Calendar. If most of your customers phone, choose a phone-based AI receptionist; if they write, choose a WhatsApp one; many businesses need both.
What is an AI receptionist?
An AI receptionist does the front-desk job of answering new customers without a person on duty. It greets them, answers the common questions, works out what they need, books them in and passes anything unusual to a member of staff. Unlike an answering machine or a phone menu, it holds a real conversation.
Most products sold as AI receptionists answer the telephone. A growing number answer messages instead, because that is where many customers now start. In Kantar's survey for Meta of 11,056 consumers in 22 markets, 73.3% said they prefer messaging when they contact a business, and 69% said waiting on hold is a waste of time.
A WhatsApp AI receptionist is the messaging version. It sits on the business's WhatsApp number, reads each message as a receptionist would, and answers in writing: the price, a photo, two free times, a payment link to hold the booking. Because the conversation is written, the customer can reply at midnight, go quiet, and pick it up at breakfast without starting again, and the business keeps a record of exactly what was said.
Phone AI receptionist or WhatsApp AI receptionist?
They solve different leaks. A phone AI receptionist stops calls going to voicemail. A WhatsApp AI receptionist stops messages going unanswered. Before comparing products, look at where your new customers actually come from.
| Phone AI receptionist (voice agent) | WhatsApp AI receptionist (e.g. Arlay) | |
|---|---|---|
| Answers | Phone calls | WhatsApp messages, including from Instagram and click-to-WhatsApp ads |
| Best when | Customers call, older clientele, urgent same-day requests | Customers write, evening and weekend enquiries, international clienteles |
| Shows prices and photos | Says them | Writes the price and sends photos of the service in the chat |
| Takes a deposit | Usually by sending a link afterwards | Payment link or your own Stripe, in the chat, before confirming |
| Customer can come back later | Calls again | Scrolls up and replies in the same thread |
| Languages | Depends on the product | Detects the language and switches mid-conversation |
| Hands over to a person | Transfers the call | Flags the conversation in the inbox or pauses the AI |
| Typical pricing unit | Minutes of calls | Varies by vendor; Meta also charges per template message |
Phone-based services are good products for the phone. RingCentral's AI Receptionist, for example, answers calls, collects caller details, schedules appointments from connected calendars and transfers calls to the right person, and can switch language during a call. If your phone rings all day and your WhatsApp is quiet, that is the category to look at, and Arlay is not a replacement.
Arlay does not answer phone calls
Arlay is WhatsApp and text only. It has no voice, it does not pick up calls, and it does not transcribe voice notes. If you need calls answered, pair a phone service with Arlay, one per channel.
What a WhatsApp AI receptionist does for a small business
- Replies to every message in seconds, 24 hours a day, on the WhatsApp Business number you already have.
- Detects the customer's language and replies in it: English, Spanish, Arabic, Russian, French, German, Ukrainian, Tajik and more. It reads Moroccan Darija written in Arabic script or in Latin letters.
- Quotes only your real services and prices, and checks each reply against your catalog before sending, so it does not invent a price or a promise.
- Sends photos of the treatment, the room or the boat inside the chat.
- Asks your qualifying questions, offers real free times from Google Calendar and books. It never offers a time that is already taken.
- Takes a deposit before confirming, if you want one.
- Sends reminders 24 hours and 1 hour before, and fills cancellations from a waitlist.
- Hands clinical, sensitive or unknown questions to your team, with the conversation summarised.
Try it on your real enquiries
Arlay runs a free live demo on your own WhatsApp number. No credit card. If your customers mostly call, we will tell you.
Start the 7-day trialIs an AI receptionist right for a small business?
For an appointment business with a few staff, the maths is usually about timing. Square's data on its appointment businesses shows 48% of bookings are made outside business hours. A clinic owner treating patients all day, or a charter operator on the water, cannot answer those messages as they arrive, and the customer who writes to three businesses books with the first that replies.
An AI receptionist earns its place when enquiries arrive outside working hours or while everyone is busy, when the same questions are answered by hand all day, and when each missed booking is worth real money: treatments, procedures, charters, experiences. It is less useful for a business with a handful of regulars who book the next visit at the counter.
AI receptionist, human receptionist or answering service
An AI receptionist is not the only way to cover the front desk. Here is how the options compare for the messaging side of the job.
| Human receptionist | Outsourced answering service | WhatsApp AI receptionist | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hours covered | Opening hours, one conversation at a time | Depends on the contract | 24/7, many conversations at once |
| Knows your services and prices | Yes, once trained | From a script | From the catalog you configure |
| Books into your calendar | Yes | Often takes a message instead | Yes |
| Languages | The ones they speak | Depends on the provider | Detects and replies in the customer's language |
| Judgement on sensitive questions | Best | Limited, follows the script | Hands over to your team |
| Also does other work | Yes: welcomes, payments, phone | No | No, messages only |
For most small businesses the answer is not either-or. The person at the desk looks after the people in the room and the phone; the AI receptionist takes the WhatsApp enquiries that arrive at the same time, and all of those that arrive after closing.
Questions to ask any AI receptionist provider
- Which channel does it answer: calls, WhatsApp, or both? Match it to where your customers come from.
- Does it work on my existing number, or do customers have to use a new one?
- Does it read my real calendar and book, or only take a message?
- Where do its answers come from, and what stops it inventing a price?
- What happens with a question it should not answer, and how fast can my team take over?
- Which languages does it detect and reply in?
- Can I see it working on my own enquiries before paying?
What it should not do
A receptionist, human or AI, should not give medical advice, invent prices or promise what the business cannot deliver. Arlay's replies are grounded in the catalog you configure; if the answer is not there, it says a colleague will reply and flags the conversation. In the inbox you can take over any chat, and hand it back when you are done.
How to set up a WhatsApp AI receptionist
- Connect your WhatsApp Business number through Meta's Cloud API or Twilio. Customers keep the number they know.
- Connect Google Calendar so availability and bookings are shared with your team.
- Add your services, durations, prices, photos, opening hours and policies.
- Set your qualifying questions, deposit rule and what always goes to a person.
- Watch the first conversations in the inbox, adjust, then let it run.
Arlay books it, you do nothing
Request a free live demo on your business's WhatsApp number. No credit card.
Start the 7-day trial