A virtual receptionist
that never clocks off.
Traditional virtual receptionist services put a human in a call centre and bill you per call, during office hours. fonea answers your phone with AI: 24/7, in five languages, booking appointments directly in your calendar — for a flat monthly price.
What is a virtual receptionist?
A virtual receptionist answers your business calls remotely so you never miss a customer. Traditional services use call-centre staff; an AI virtual receptionist like fonea uses a natural voice assistant that answers instantly, around the clock.
The category, honestly compared
Where traditional virtual receptionist services fall short
Per-call pricing punishes growth
Most human answering services charge a base fee plus a price per call or per minute. The month your marketing finally works is the month your phone bill spikes. A flat rate removes the conflict between growth and cost.
Base fee + per-call charges add up fast
Office hours only — exactly when you’re also reachable
Many virtual receptionist plans cover business hours; evenings, weekends, and holidays cost extra or aren’t offered at all. But out-of-hours is precisely where the most calls go unanswered.
Out-of-hours coverage costs extra — or doesn’t exist
Generic agents, shallow answers
A call-centre agent juggling dozens of client accounts can take a message — but rarely answer your pricing question, check your calendar, or book the appointment. The caller still has to wait for a call back.
Message-taking ≠ problem solved
The AI alternative
What an AI virtual receptionist does differently
24/7 included, not an add-on
Nights, weekends, bank holidays — same flat price. The AI doesn’t do shifts, so out-of-hours coverage isn’t a premium tier, it’s the default.
Answers and books, not just messages
fonea knows your services, prices, and opening hours, sees your live calendar, and books the appointment during the call. The caller hangs up with a confirmed slot, not a “someone will call you back”.
Five languages, one receptionist
English, Spanish, French, German, Italian — detected automatically. A multilingual human reception team at this price point does not exist.
Flat £90/month, cancel monthly
One predictable line on your P&L. 120 minutes included, no per-call fees, no setup fee, no minimum term — and a 30-day money-back guarantee.
Live in hours
Switching is simpler than you think
Tell fonea about your business
Services, prices, opening hours, FAQs, and what counts as urgent. This becomes your receptionist’s script — yours, not a generic one.
Connect your calendar
Google Calendar or Microsoft 365. fonea sees availability in real time and books without double-bookings.
Divert your existing number
Standard call forwarding — always, when busy, or when unanswered. No porting, no number change, reversible any time.
Test call, then go live
Call your own number, try your scenarios, adjust the answers. Most businesses are live the same day.
Typical call scenarios
A receptionist that actually resolves calls
Price question that becomes a booking
A message-taking service would log “caller asked about prices”. fonea answers the question and converts the call.
Existing customer rescheduling
Reschedules happen at all hours. Handled instantly, calendar updated, slot freed for someone else.
Caller who wants a human
Transparent escalation: callers who want a human get one, with full context handed over.
GDPR and data protection
Professional on the phone, compliant behind it
UK GDPR & EU GDPR compliant
Data processing agreement, encryption in transit and at rest, configurable retention. Your callers’ data is processed lawfully and stays under your control.
European infrastructure
AI processing on European infrastructure; persistent data stored in Switzerland under an EU adequacy decision. No opaque third-country routing.
Transparent AI disclosure
Callers are told at the start of every call that they are speaking with a digital assistant. The disclosure cannot be disabled.
No voice profiles, no biometrics
No voiceprints are created. Audio is transcribed in real time and discarded; transcripts are encrypted and deleted on your schedule.
Pricing
Transparent pricing
Included
- 120 minutes AI talk time included
- EN, ES, FR, DE, IT
- Calendar integration & appointment booking
- AI answering machine 24/7
- Interactive AI for customer service
- Email & SMS notifications
- Cancel monthly, no commitment
Included
- 500 minutes AI talk time
- 3 concurrent calls
- 3 phone numbers
- Unlimited assistants
- Unlimited users
Features
- Everything in Basic
- Outbound calls
Included
- From 2,000 minutes
- Custom concurrent calls
- Custom phone numbers
- Unlimited assistants
- Unlimited users
Features
- Everything in Professional
- Custom voice
- Custom SLA
Frequently asked
Virtual receptionist — AI vs traditional, answered
What is the difference between an AI virtual receptionist and a traditional one?
A traditional virtual receptionist service routes your calls to human agents in a call centre, usually during office hours, billed per call or per minute on top of a base fee. An AI virtual receptionist answers instantly with a natural voice, works 24/7 at a flat price, answers questions from your own script, and books appointments directly in your calendar. Humans excel at complex, sensitive conversations — which is why fonea transfers those to you instead of handling them itself.
How much does a virtual receptionist cost for a small business?
Traditional human services typically cost £100–400 per month depending on call volume, often with per-call charges on top. fonea costs a flat £90 per month with 120 minutes of call time included, no per-call fees, and no minimum term — with a 30-day money-back guarantee.
Will callers know they are talking to an AI?
Yes — deliberately. fonea introduces itself as a digital assistant at the start of every call, and this disclosure cannot be switched off. In practice, callers care most that their call is answered immediately and their issue resolved; an AI that books their appointment in one call beats a voicemail or a hold queue.
Can the AI handle calls a message-taking service can’t?
In many routine cases, yes. Because fonea is configured with your services, prices, opening hours, and live calendar, it can answer the question or book the appointment during the call instead of just logging a message. Anything outside its brief — complex, sensitive, or explicitly urgent topics — is transferred to you or captured as a prioritised callback with full context.
Do I keep my phone number?
Yes. fonea works through standard call forwarding on your existing line. There is no porting and no number change, and you can route calls to fonea always, only when busy, or only when you don’t answer.
Is it GDPR compliant?
Yes. fonea operates under the UK GDPR and EU GDPR with a data processing agreement, encryption in transit and at rest, and configurable retention. AI processing runs on European infrastructure and no voice profiles are created.
Further reading
AI Receptionist vs Answering Service: Which Is Right for You?
AI receptionist, human answering service, or in-house reception? An honest, vendor-neutral comparison of cost, availability, and fit.
What Is an AI Phone Assistant? The Complete Guide for Businesses
What an AI phone assistant is, how it works, what it costs, and how it helps businesses stop losing customers to missed calls — in plain language.
How Much Do Missed Calls Cost Your Business? (With Calculator)
What every missed call really costs you. The maths, step by step, with a worked example and a simple calculator for your own business.
Upgrade your front desk — without hiring one.
Flat £90/month, live in hours, cancel monthly. 30-day money-back guarantee.
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