Product / AI Receptionist
The Always-On AI Receptionist for Calls, Website Enquiries and Live Chat
An AI receptionist for UK service businesses. It handles consented website enquiries and live-chat contacts — and calls, where you switch that channel on — asks your qualifying questions, and moves suitable contacts towards a booking. Anything it cannot answer safely goes to a person.
That number is the receptionist itself. Ask it something one of your customers would ask.
001 / What it handles
One receptionist behind every way an enquiry arrives.
Website enquiry forms, live chat and calls reach the same place and are written to the same contact record. Which channels are switched on is decided during setup, around how your customers already reach you.
002 / How it works
Respond, qualify, then book or hand over.
The same four beats every time, running to rules you set rather than to a script we decided on.
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It responds
A reply goes back in seconds, while the person is still in the conversation and in the tone you set, rather than whenever somebody next opens the inbox.
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It qualifies
It asks what the job is, where, when and how urgent — the questions you would ask — and writes the answers to the contact record.
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It books
Where the contact fits your criteria and a slot works, it offers real availability from your calendar instead of promising a call back.
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It escalates
Uncertain, sensitive or unrecognised cases stop the automation and go to a named person, with everything gathered so far attached.
FAQ / AI receptionists
Questions people ask before buying one.
What is an AI receptionist?
- An AI receptionist answers enquiries on behalf of a business and gathers the detail a person would ask for. TabTrickle's receptionist handles consented website enquiries, live-chat contacts and calls, asks your qualifying questions, and either moves the contact towards a booking or hands the conversation to a person.
How does an AI receptionist work?
- An enquiry arrives and is written to a contact record straight away, from whichever channel it came in on. The receptionist replies using the questions and the tone you set, writes the answers back to that record, then follows your rules: offer the calendar, mark the enquiry as not a fit, or escalate it to a named person.
Is an AI receptionist the same as a chatbot?
- No. A chatbot answers questions on a web page and usually stops there. A receptionist takes the enquiry somewhere: it asks your qualifying questions, writes the answers to the contact record, offers your calendar to contacts who fit, and hands anything uncertain or sensitive to a named person.
What is the difference between an AI receptionist and an answering service?
- An answering service is staffed by people who take a message and pass it on. An AI receptionist handles the enquiry itself — asking your questions, recording the answers and offering availability — including outside office hours. The trade-off is judgement: a person copes better with the unusual, which is why anything uncertain is handed over rather than guessed at.
How much does an AI receptionist cost in the UK?
- TabTrickle starts from £495 setup and £495 per month. The final scope depends on which channels are switched on, how calls and enquiries should route, and what needs connecting. We agree that scope with you before anything is charged.
Is an AI receptionist worth it for a small business?
- It is worth it if enquiries are arriving when nobody can answer them, and you can point at that happening. If your enquiries are already answered quickly and nothing is going quiet, it is not — and we would rather say so on the call than sell you one.
Can an AI receptionist qualify leads and book appointments?
- Yes. Qualifying means asking the questions you would ask and writing the answers to the contact record rather than leaving them in a chat log. Booking means offering real availability from your calendar inside the conversation. Which contacts are allowed to reach the booking step is a rule you set.
What happens when the AI cannot answer safely?
- It stops rather than guesses. Qualification can only end in one of six states, and the uncertain, unrecognised, sensitive and unanswered ones halt the automation and hand the conversation to a named person, with the reason and everything gathered so far attached.
Does TabTrickle answer incoming phone calls?
- Yes. Calls are one of the channels the receptionist can handle, alongside website enquiries and live chat. Which channels are switched on is decided during setup, around how your customers already reach you, and your existing number stays yours.
Pricing / What it costs
Transparent entry price. Scope agreed with you.
A managed receptionist, configured around your enquiries and run for you.
From £495 setup + £495/month
What that covers
- Managed configuration and onboarding
- AI voice, website enquiry and live-chat handling
- Qualification, booking and human handoff
What sits outside it
- SMS and email usage, funded through your account wallet where used
- Extra locations, unusual integrations and materially different workflows
The entry price covers configuration and managed operation of the agreed receptionist channels. Your existing number can remain yours. SMS and email usage is funded through your account wallet where used. Extra locations, unusual integrations and materially different workflows are scoped separately before purchase.
Final scope is agreed with you before anything is charged.
See how your enquiries are answered today.
No pitch deck. We look at how enquiries reach you now, where they stop moving, and whether a receptionist would change anything.
Rather talk it through first? Every enquiry starts with a free 30-minute discovery call. If it is not a fit, we will say so.