How to set up an AI receptionist for your small business: a step-by-step checklist
Whether you use PickupWave or another tool, a good AI receptionist depends on good preparation. Here’s the checklist we use with our own clients.
By the PickupWave team
1. Decide which calls it should answer
Common choices: after hours only, overflow (when nobody picks up within a few rings), or all calls. Starting with after-hours and overflow is a low-risk way to begin.
2. Write down what callers ask
List the 10–20 questions you hear most: hours, location, services, prices you’re happy to share, payment options, service area, policies. The receptionist should answer only from information you approve.
3. Decide what “done” looks like for a call
- Which details to collect (name, number, address, reason for calling)
- Whether to book directly or take a request for you to confirm
- Which calls are urgent and who gets alerted
- When to transfer to a person, and to which number
4. Check your booking system
Direct booking only works if your calendar or booking tool can connect. If it can’t, having the receptionist capture the request and send it to you is perfectly fine, and often safer while you get started.
5. Set up call forwarding
You almost never need a new public number. Your receptionist gets its own line, and you forward calls to it from your existing number using your carrier’s call-forwarding settings (unconditional, busy, or no-answer forwarding). Test each type.
6. Handle recording consent and AI disclosure
Recording laws differ by state, and some states generally require every party’s consent (RCFP recording guide). The simplest approach is to announce at the start of the call that it may be recorded, and to have the receptionist say it’s an AI assistant. See our call recording page, and check with a lawyer if you’re in a regulated field.
7. Test with curveballs
Call it yourself. Mumble. Ask something off-script. Ask in Spanish if you serve Spanish speakers. Pretend it’s an emergency. Fix every answer you don’t like before going live.
8. Review the first two weeks closely
Read every call summary. Add missing answers, tighten the script and adjust what counts as urgent. That’s why PickupWave includes a 14-day free trial: cancel anytime during the trial and pay $0.
PickupWave is a done-for-you AI receptionist for small businesses, in English & Spanish, from $149/mo with a 14-day free trial. Start your trial or read more posts.