---
title: "AI receptionist your own AI agent answers"
url: https://conecto.chat/solutions/ai-receptionist
description: "A phone number for your business that your AI agent answers. $0.25 a started minute, numbers from $2.00 a month, a transcript of every call."
updated: 2026-10-27
---

# AI receptionist

A phone number in the US or Canada for your business, answered by your own AI agent. Every call ends with a transcript and a short summary.

Give this to your agent: `Set up Conecto from https://conecto.chat/SKILL.md, then rent us a phone number and answer it.`

## Example: `phone_get_call`

Request: "What exactly did the caller from Beaverton say about the squeaky brakes?"

The documented reply of `phone_get_call` (free), for Halverson Cycle & Repair, a bike shop with a repair workshop in Portland, Oregon (https://conecto.chat/tools/phone/phone_get_call.md):

```json
{
 "call": {
  "call_id": "a3f5c2d1-9b8e-4f70-8c6d-2e1b0a9f8c7d",
  "direction": "inbound",
  "from": "+15035550187",
  "to": "+15035550123",
  "at": "2026-10-13T16:42:10+00:00",
  "status": "ended",
  "answered": true,
  "duration_seconds": 146,
  "cost_usd": "$0.75",
  "summary": "The brakes on a bike from last week's tune-up squeak; the caller wants them looked at.",
  "ended_at": "2026-10-13T16:44:36+00:00",
  "transcript": [
   {
    "speaker": "assistant",
    "text": "Hi, you've reached Halverson Cycle & Repair. This is our automated line: how can we help?",
    "at_second": 0
   },
   {
    "speaker": "caller",
    "text": "Hi, I had my bike tuned up last week and the front brake squeaks every time I stop.",
    "at_second": 6
   }
  ]
 }
}
```

## How it works

1. **Find a number** (`phone_search_numbers`, free): Your agent looks up numbers in the US and Canada and rents the one you pick. For example: "Find us a Portland number, area code 503, to forward the shop's line to."
2. **Choose how it answers** (`phone_setup_assistant`, $0.001): Live through your agent, or the line takes a message. For example: "Answer our number yourself during shop hours, Monday to Saturday, and tell callers right away that they're talking to an AI."
3. **Read every call** (`phone_get_call`, free): The whole transcript, with what the call cost. For example: "What exactly did the caller from Beaverton say about the squeaky brakes?"

## What it costs

Your agent pays per call from one prepaid balance, with no plan or seat fee.

| What | Price |
| --- | --- |
| A phone number | $2.00 to $25.00 a month, quoted before you rent it |
| An answered call | $0.25 a started minute |
| A call nobody answered | Free |
| Transcripts and the call list | Free |
| Changing how the line answers | $0.001 |

Reading is free up to 1,000,000 reads a month for the whole account, then $0.50 per 10,000. Your agent starts with $1.00 of credit. Top-ups start at $5.00, plus a 7% + $0.35 fee, and the first one is doubled, up to $20.00 extra.

## Tools

- [`phone_search_numbers`](https://conecto.chat/tools/phone/phone_search_numbers.md) (free): Phone numbers the business can rent right now, each with the monthly price and a quote to rent it.
- [`phone_rent_number`](https://conecto.chat/tools/phone/phone_rent_number.md) (quoted, up to $25.00): Rents a number found by phone_search_numbers; this call pays the first month.
- [`phone_setup_assistant`](https://conecto.chat/tools/phone/phone_setup_assistant.md) ($0.001): Sets how the business's numbers answer (the agent's webhook or taking messages), the greeting, voice and hours, and whether messages become tickets.
- [`phone_get_assistant`](https://conecto.chat/tools/phone/phone_get_assistant.md) (free): How the business's numbers answer, whether they answer right now (and why not), and the voices to choose from.
- [`phone_list_calls`](https://conecto.chat/tools/phone/phone_list_calls.md) (free): Calls to and from the business's numbers, newest first: who, when, how long and what it cost, missed ones included.
- [`phone_get_call`](https://conecto.chat/tools/phone/phone_get_call.md) (free): One call with its whole transcript: who said what, and when.
- [`calendar_find_times`](https://conecto.chat/tools/calendar/calendar_find_times.md) (free): Free start times for a meeting type between two dates, in the time zone you ask for.
- [`ticket_create`](https://conecto.chat/tools/helpdesk/ticket_create.md) ($0.01): Opens a support ticket for a customer request; the customer is emailed only if you ask.

All 581 tools: https://conecto.chat/tools.md

## Good to know

- The greeting tells every caller they reached an AI.
- Each thing a caller says reaches your agent, and the line speaks its answer.
- Callers can book, move or cancel a meeting once your calendar is set up.
- Conecto places no sales calls. The one call going out checks that a booked meeting still stands.
- Numbers are in the US and Canada for now. For other countries, the search says why not.

## Questions

### How do AI receptionists work?

The phone line greets the caller and turns what they say into text. On Conecto each of those turns goes to your agent, which answers, and the line reads the answer aloud. When the call ends, your agent gets the whole transcript and a short summary.

### What does an AI receptionist cost?

On Conecto a number costs $2.00 to $25.00 a month, quoted per number before you rent it, and an answered call costs $0.25 a started minute. A call nobody answered costs nothing, and there is no plan or seat fee.

### What is the difference between an AI receptionist and a virtual receptionist?

A virtual receptionist is a person who answers from somewhere else. An AI receptionist is software that can answer several calls at once, in the hours you choose. Conecto's line is the AI kind, and its greeting says so.

### Can the receptionist book appointments?

Yes. Once your calendar is set up, callers can book, move or cancel a meeting on the call, and they get a confirmation call before it unless they decline.

### Who hosts it?

Conecto hosts the servers, the database, the phone lines, the mail, the file store and the MCP servers. Your agent only needs the address.

## For agents

- Start here: https://conecto.chat/SKILL.md
- This page in Markdown: https://conecto.chat/solutions/ai-receptionist.md
- Sign up: POST https://api.conecto.chat/v1/signup
- Skills index: https://conecto.chat/.well-known/agent-skills/index.json
- MCP (Phone): https://api.conecto.chat/mcp/phone
- MCP (Calendar): https://api.conecto.chat/mcp/calendar
- MCP (Help desk): https://api.conecto.chat/mcp/helpdesk
- Connector for ChatGPT, Claude or Grok, one for every area: https://api.conecto.chat/v1/mcp
- Tools (Phone): https://conecto.chat/tools/phone.md
- Tools (Calendar): https://conecto.chat/tools/calendar.md
- Tools (Help desk): https://conecto.chat/tools/helpdesk.md
- Every reply carries `cost_usd` and `balance_usd`.

A `phone_get_call` call:

```bash
curl -X POST https://api.conecto.chat/v1/tools/phone_get_call \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $CONECTO_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"call_id":"a3f5c2d1-9b8e-4f70-8c6d-2e1b0a9f8c7d"}'
```

## Related

- [AI answering service](https://conecto.chat/solutions/ai-answering-service.md): Your business number answers when nobody can. Your agent sees every call, answered or missed, and follows up by email.
- [AI scheduling assistant](https://conecto.chat/solutions/ai-scheduling-assistant.md): Booking pages and a calendar your own AI agent runs, for the business and for each person on your team. It books around what is already in each person's Google Calendar.
- [AI CRM](https://conecto.chat/solutions/ai-crm.md): Contacts, companies and deals your own AI agent keeps current. One free call shows everything open with a customer.