AI Receptionist for Any Industry
Tell us how your phone works today and we'll build an agent around it — your scripts, your questions, your calendar, your escalation rules.
BotsDontSleep builds a custom AI receptionist for any business with an inbound phone line. We write the call flow from your own scripts, connect your booking tool, and go live in about a week — 24/7, 90+ languages, $0 setup and $0.60 per answered minute in Canada.
Don't see your industry? That's the point.
The twelve industry pages on this site exist because those call flows come up most often — not because they are the only ones we handle. Underneath every deployment is the same engine: your greeting, your qualifying questions, your urgency rules, your calendar. If your phone rings and someone should be picking it up, we can build the agent that does.
How do you tailor an AI receptionist to my business?
In four steps over about seven days. We learn your call types on a 30-minute discovery call, write the call flow for you to edit, connect your phone number and booking tool, then run test calls until you approve the wording. Nothing answers a customer before you have heard it yourself.
- 1
Discovery call (day 1)
A 30-minute call where you walk us through who calls you, what they ask, and what a good outcome looks like. We record the vocabulary your callers actually use and the three or four questions that decide whether a call is worth your time.
- 2
We write the call flow (days 2-4)
We draft the greeting, qualifying questions, urgency rules, transfer conditions, and the exact wording for anything you do not want an AI to improvise. You edit it like a document — nothing goes live that you have not read.
- 3
Connect the number and the tools (day 5)
We forward or port your existing line, wire the calendar, CRM, or ticketing tool you already pay for, and set who receives the SMS or email summary after each call. Existing numbers keep working exactly as they do today.
- 4
Test calls, then launch (day 6-7)
You call the agent yourself and try to break it. We tune the answers you disagree with, then switch it on for after-hours, overflow, or every call — your choice. Transcripts keep feeding refinements for as long as you run it.
What can a custom agent be built to do?
Everything a competent front desk does on the phone: answer instantly, screen the caller, book into a live calendar, take structured intake, escalate genuine emergencies, answer repeat questions from a knowledge base you control, and hand you a written record of every single call.
Answer and screen
Picks up in under a second, gets the caller's name, reason, and callback number, and filters robocalls and cold sales pitches before they reach a human.
Book into your calendar
Reads live availability and writes the appointment into Google Calendar, Outlook, Calendly, Acuity, Square, Jobber, or whatever you already run.
Quote and lead intake
Collects the six or seven details you need to price a job — scope, address, timing, budget range — and sends them to you formatted, not as a voicemail to decipher.
Dispatch and escalate
Applies your urgency rules and rings, texts, or warm-transfers the on-call person when a call meets them. Everything else waits for business hours.
Status and account questions
Answers the repetitive questions — hours, location, parking, pricing, order or job status — from a knowledge base you control and can edit any day.
Overflow and after-hours
Sits behind your existing staff so calls roll over instead of ringing out, or covers only nights, weekends, holidays, and lunch hours.
Multilingual lines
Detects the caller's language and continues in it across 90+ languages, including French, Punjabi, Mandarin, Cantonese, Spanish, Tagalog, Urdu, and Arabic.
Written record of every call
Full transcript, structured summary, and outcome for each call, delivered by email or SMS and searchable later — including the calls nobody would have logged.
Which businesses already run a custom agent?
Accountants, insurance brokers, electricians, movers, tow operators, gyms, clinics, funeral homes, storage yards, and one-person consultancies all run BotsDontSleep agents. Each one was built from that operator's own call script rather than a generic template. A sample of what those deployments cover:
Accountants and bookkeepers
Screens tax-season overflow, books consultations, and takes document questions while you are in a client meeting.
Insurance brokers
Captures quote requests with policy type and renewal date, and flags claim calls for same-day callback.
Electricians
Separates a dead panel from a light-fixture swap, books the routine work, and pages you for anything unsafe.
Landscaping and lawn care
Handles spring signup surges, takes property size and service frequency, and books estimates.
Pest control
Takes pest type, unit count, and access details, then books inspections without a callback loop.
Moving companies
Collects origin, destination, date, and rough volume so every quote request arrives ready to price.
Cleaning and janitorial
Books recurring and one-off jobs, handles reschedules, and routes commercial enquiries separately from residential.
Appliance and electronics repair
Records make, model, and fault description, checks parts questions, and books the service window.
Towing and roadside
Answers instantly at 3am, takes the location and vehicle, and reaches the driver on rotation by call and SMS.
Storage facilities
Answers unit size and pricing questions, books viewings, and takes gate-access issues after hours.
Gyms, yoga and dance studios
Books trials and intro classes, answers membership and class-schedule questions, and handles cancellations.
Chiropractors and physiotherapy
Takes new-patient intake, insurance questions, and rebooking calls without pulling a therapist off the table.
Optometry and hearing clinics
Books eye exams and fittings, answers coverage questions, and handles glasses or device pickup calls.
Med spas and cosmetic clinics
Screens treatment enquiries, books consultations, and answers aftercare questions discreetly.
Funeral homes
Answers with the tone you specify, takes first-call details carefully, and reaches your director immediately.
Trucking and logistics
Takes load enquiries, driver check-ins, and delivery status calls around the clock across time zones.
Security and alarm companies
Verifies account details, escalates live alarm calls, and books service or installation appointments.
Staffing and recruitment
Screens candidate calls against your basic criteria and books interviews straight into the recruiter's calendar.
General contractors and renovators
Qualifies project type, timeline, and budget so you only call back the jobs worth quoting.
E-commerce and product support
Handles order status, returns, and shipping questions by phone for brands whose customers still dial.
Non-profits and community services
Answers program and eligibility questions, takes intake calls, and routes urgent situations to staff.
Solo practitioners and consultants
Gives a one-person business a professional front desk without hiring, at a fraction of a part-time wage.
How does a custom AI agent compare to voicemail, an answering service, or hiring?
Businesses outside a standard category usually run one of four setups: voicemail, a live answering service billing by the minute, a receptionist on payroll, or nobody at all. Here is how a custom-built AI agent stacks up when your call types do not fit anyone's template.
| Feature | BotsDontSleep custom agent | Voicemail | Live answering service | In-house receptionist |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Handles call types unique to you | Built from your own scripts and vocabulary | Nothing — the caller talks to a recording | Generic script; niche questions get a message taken | Yes, once trained over weeks or months |
| Speed to answer | Under one second, every call | Rings out first | Queued behind other clients' calls | Only when at the desk and free |
| Cost to start | $0 setup, no contract | Included with your line | Setup fee plus monthly minimum on most plans | Recruiting, training, and onboarding time |
| Ongoing cost | $0.60 per answered minute | Free, but callers hang up | Roughly $1.50 to $3.00 per minute | $40,000+ a year plus benefits and coverage gaps |
| Coverage | 24/7/365 including holidays | 24/7 but nobody answers | Often after-hours only, or extra for full coverage | Business hours minus breaks, sick days, and vacation |
| Languages | 90+, detected mid-call | One outgoing message | Usually English and French, sometimes surcharged | Whoever you hired speaks |
| Books appointments directly | Writes into your live calendar | No | Takes a message; you call back to book | Yes |
| Record of the call | Transcript and structured summary every time | Audio only, if the caller speaks | Typed message of varying detail | Whatever gets written down |
| Time to go live | About one week | Immediate | One to three weeks | One to three months to hire and train |
What does a custom build cost?
$0 to set up and $0.60 per answered minute in Canadian dollars, whatever your industry. Custom scripting, integrations, and tuning are part of the build, not a line item. A business answering 100 calls a month at an average of two minutes pays about $120 — roughly what a single lost job costs most trades.
There is no contract, no monthly minimum, and no per-seat licence, so a quiet month simply bills less. See the full pricing breakdown or the answering service cost comparison for how that lands against per-call and per-month plans.
Industries with a dedicated page
Questions about custom AI receptionist builds.
- My industry is not one of the twelve listed — can you still build it?
- Yes, and it is a large share of what we deploy. The industry pages are examples of tuned call flows, not a menu. Any business with an inbound phone line can be built, on the same one-week timeline and the same pricing.
- How do you learn what my callers actually ask about?
- From a discovery call, your existing phone scripts or FAQ page, and — if you have them — recordings or notes from real calls. We turn that into a written call flow you approve before anything answers a live caller.
- What if the software I use is obscure?
- If it has an API, a Zapier or Make connector, or an email or webhook hook, we integrate it. If it has none of those, the agent still books to a shared calendar and sends structured summaries your team can paste in.
- How long does a fully custom build take?
- About one week from discovery to live calls. Complex routing across many locations or departments can add a few days, and we tell you that on the first call rather than after you sign anything.
- What happens when a caller asks something the agent was never taught?
- It says it does not have that answer, offers to take a message or transfer to a person, and logs the gap. You see the unanswered questions in your call summaries and we add them to the knowledge base.
- Is there a minimum number of calls?
- No. There is no monthly minimum, no per-seat fee, and no contract. A business taking thirty calls a month pays for thirty calls' worth of minutes and nothing else.
- My call volume is seasonal — does that work?
- It suits seasonal businesses better than staffing does. Per-minute billing means a quiet February costs almost nothing, while a storm week or a spring rush is absorbed without you hiring, and no caller waits in a queue.
- Can one agent cover several locations or brands?
- Yes. Calls route by the number dialled, the caller's stated location, service type, or language, and each site keeps its own hours, time zone, calendar, and escalation contact.
- I am a one-person business — is this overkill?
- It is the most common starting point. A solo operator on a job site or with a client cannot answer, and a custom agent costs a fraction of a part-time receptionist while making the business sound established.
- Can callers still reach a real person?
- Yes. You define the conditions — a keyword, an urgent situation, a named existing customer, or a simple request to speak to someone — and the agent warm-transfers or rings your mobile immediately.
- Which languages can a custom build handle?
- More than 90, detected during the call rather than through a press-one menu. Canadian deployments most often add French, Punjabi, Mandarin, Cantonese, Spanish, Tagalog, Urdu, and Arabic to the English flow.
- What happens to recordings and caller information?
- Transcripts and summaries belong to you, are stored in Canada, and are never sold or used to train public models. You can set a retention window or ask for deletion at any point.
- What does it cost for a low-volume business?
- $0 to set up and $0.60 per answered minute in Canadian dollars. Forty calls a month averaging two minutes works out to roughly $48 — less than a single job most of these businesses would have lost to voicemail.
- How do I cancel if it does not suit us?
- Tell us and we stop. There is no term, no cancellation fee, and no notice period, and your phone number reverts to ringing where it did before within the same business day.
Last reviewed: August 2026. Pricing and capability details verified against our current service.