AI answering service for Indian businesses
An answering service that finishes the booking instead of taking a message.
An answering service exists because somebody has to pick up when you cannot. The traditional version puts a person on your line who notes the caller down and passes it to you; voicemail does not even do that. An AI answering service closes the loop: it holds the conversation, checks your live calendar and writes the appointment in before the caller hangs up.
At a glance
| FrontivaAI | Message-taking service or voicemail | |
|---|---|---|
| Outcome of the call | Appointment booked, moved or answered | A message you still have to action |
| Caller waits for a callback | No | Yes |
| Hours | 24x7, same price at 2 am | Plan-dependent; nights often cost more |
| Cost basis | Rs 7,000/month including 1,000 minutes | Per call or per minute, or free and useless |
| Knows your prices and services | Yes, from your own list | No |
| Written record | Full transcript and summary of every call | A short note, or nothing |
| Calls at the same time | Up to 4 | One, or none |
What it actually does with a call
The sequence is the same every time, which is the point.
- Answers in under a second on your existing number, forwarded
- Works out what the caller wants, one question at a time
- Checks your live hours and staff availability
- Books, moves or cancels in the calendar your team shares
- Sends a WhatsApp confirmation with your Google Maps pin
- Leaves you a transcript, a summary and the outcome
The gap message-taking leaves
A message means the caller is still waiting and you still owe them a call. A share of those callbacks never happen, and by the time they do the caller has often booked somewhere else. Everything an answering service is bought to prevent happens anyway, just later.
Answering service, virtual receptionist, AI receptionist: the vocabulary
The words get used interchangeably and they should not be. An answering service is a person, usually in a call centre, who picks up in your name and takes a message. A virtual receptionist is the same person with a slightly longer script - they may book into a calendar you share, at a per-call or per-minute rate. An AI receptionist is software on the line: it holds the conversation itself, books into your live calendar, quotes your prices and confirms on WhatsApp, at a flat monthly fee. The right one depends on what your calls need: if they need judgement on every call, a person; if they mostly need a booking or an answer, software finishes the job the person would have passed to you.
Compared with a human receptionist · Compared with a traditional answering service
What the AI answers on its own, and what it hands over
On a typical small-business line the split is roughly this, and you will see your own figures in the dashboard after the first week.
- Answers itself: bookings, reschedules and cancellations; opening hours, location and parking; the prices and services you publish; whether a particular staff member is in today; 'is my order or report ready' when you keep that status current
- Transfers to a person: anyone who asks for one; anything urgent or distressed; anything clinical, legal or financial that would be advice; insurance settlements and bills; a language it does not speak
- Either, as you configure it: calls after closing (answer, or take a message for the morning); calls while every line is busy; calls from numbers you have blocked
Pricing compared with per-call services
Answering services in India are usually priced per call or per minute, with nights and Sundays at a premium, and a monthly minimum. That makes the bill unpredictable exactly when the phone is busiest. FrontivaAI is Rs 7,000 a month including 1,000 connected minutes, then Rs 7 a minute, at 2 am the same as at 2 pm. For most clinics, salons and offices the included minutes cover the month; a business that uses more is a business whose phone is paying for itself. There is no setup fee.
What it costs in detail · Plans
Setting it up for after-hours only
Many businesses start here, because the after-hours calls are the ones they know they are losing. Your operator's conditional forwarding lets you send calls to the agent only when your line rings out, or only outside a schedule, so the desk carries the day and the agent carries the night, Sunday and lunch. You can widen it later - most do, once the dashboard shows how many daytime calls were going unanswered while the desk was on another one.
24/7 answering service · How call forwarding works
For clinics, salons, agents and institutes
The service is the same; the facts loaded into it are not. Each of these pages shows what the agent says and books for that kind of business.
Medical answering service for clinics · Small business answering service · Hospitals and clinics · Salons and spas · Real estate agents · Coaching institutes
What it cannot do
It cannot speak Gujarati or Punjabi. It cannot give advice of any kind - it schedules the consultation, it does not hold it. It cannot route to departmental extensions; it transfers to one number you nominate. It cannot relay between two people speaking different languages. It cannot read a room the way a person can, and if your calls are mostly difficult conversations, keep the person.
Where a human service is still better
If your calls need judgement on every one - distressed callers, complex negotiation, a language we do not speak - a trained person on the line is worth more than software. This handles English, Hindi, Telugu, Tamil, Kannada, Malayalam, Marathi and Bengali.
The short answer
If your calls are mostly appointments and enquiries, booking beats messaging. If they mostly need a human decision, keep a human.
Frequently asked questions
Is this the same as a virtual receptionist service?
The job is the same; the difference is that it books into your calendar during the call rather than passing you a message, and it costs a flat monthly fee rather than a rate per call.
Do I get a new number?
You get one, but you keep advertising your existing number and forward it - dial *21* then the new number then #. #21# turns it off.
What happens if it cannot handle a call?
It transfers to your phone, and you can also pull a live call to a human from the dashboard.
Is there a per-call charge?
No. Rs 7,000 a month includes 1,000 connected minutes; beyond that it is Rs 7 a minute.
Which languages?
English, Hindi, Telugu, Tamil, Kannada, Malayalam, Marathi and Bengali, including switching between them mid-call.
Can it take a message instead of booking?
Yes. If you prefer, after-hours calls can be captured as a message with the caller's number and reason, and you ring back in the morning. Most businesses let it book.
Does it work for a business with no calendar?
Yes. Enquiries are answered from your knowledge base and anything that needs a person is transferred or logged with a transcript.
How quickly is it live?
About three days from the details being shared, on your existing number.
Is my data kept in India?
AWS Mumbai, encrypted; calls are transcribed rather than stored as audio.
Ask for a test number, or book a demo.
If this sounds familiar
- We keep missing calls - what is that costing?
- Customers ring after we close
- The line is engaged all morning
- Should I hire a receptionist?
- People book and then do not turn up
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Common questions: what it costs in India · does it speak Hindi · does it speak Telugu · does it speak Tamil · does it speak Kannada · does it speak Malayalam · does it speak Bengali · does it work with call forwarding · does it send a WhatsApp confirmation · can it transfer to a person · what if it does not understand
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