LYCORE

AI Answering Service & Receptionist

A 24/7 AI receptionist and answering service that answers every call, screens out wrong numbers and sales calls, qualifies real customers and books them.

What this solves

Between marketers, wrong numbers and one-off questions, most of the calls that break your day are not the customer you want, and the customer you do want tends to call while you are already on a job. Miss that call and they ring the next business on the list. Your receptionist answers every call in your business name, screens out the noise, captures and qualifies the real enquiries, and books them in where your calendar is connected or passes them to you, nights and weekends included, without a vacation or a sick day.

What we build

• A greeting in your business name, with answers to the questions you get asked most
• The intake questions that tell a real job from a time-waster
• Clear rules for when to book, when to put a caller through to a person, and when to take a message
• Call summaries and booking alerts sent to you or your team

How it works

• A customer calls, day or night
• The receptionist answers in your business name and says it is an AI assistant
• It captures the details and qualifies the request
• It books the job where your calendar is connected, or routes a callback request by your rules
• The customer gets a confirmation
• You get the caller and a clear summary

What an AI answering service does when a call comes in

An AI answering service picks up the phone in your business name when you cannot. You might be on a roof, under a sink or with a patient in the chair, or it might be nine at night and the office is dark. Here is what the caller experiences, in order.

Every step below is a rule you approved before launch, not something the receptionist decides on its own. If a caller asks for something outside those rules, it says it will pass the request to your team, takes the details and moves on. It does not make up a price, a diagnosis or a promise.

The receptionist works on the number your customers already ring. How calls reach it, for example when you are busy or after a set number of rings, depends on your phone setup and is checked before the build is agreed. Callers do not download anything or press through a menu.

• It answers with the greeting you approved and says it is an AI assistant acting for your business
• It listens to why the caller is ringing and gives the answers you have approved, such as your service area or opening hours
• It asks your intake questions one at a time and reads the phone number and address back to confirm them
• It follows your rule for that kind of call: book the job, put the caller through to a person, or take a message
• It tells the caller plainly what happens next
• It sends you a summary so you know who called and what needs doing

How the receptionist sounds, and how callers are told it is an AI

The greeting names your business and says the caller has reached an AI assistant. LYCORE does not present the receptionist as a person. A caller who wants a human can ask for one at any point, and the receptionist follows your transfer or callback rule instead of arguing.

The aim is a calm front desk: short sentences, one question at a time, no script read at speed. You can hear how it sounds before you decide anything, because the site has a Test our AI agent voice widget. During setup we test your own version with call scenarios from your trade, and you judge whether it is good enough for your callers.

Some callers will still hang up when they hear it is an AI. That is a real cost, and it is one reason to measure results instead of assuming them. A call about a burst pipe and a call about a quote for next month are different, and your rules can treat them differently.

It also helps to decide what the receptionist does with silence. Some callers hang up before saying a word, and some ring only to check whether you are open. Your rules can cover both, for example by giving your hours and offering a callback.

What the receptionist captures on every call

A missed call is worth little if you do not know who made it. Every call ends with the same core record, so your team can act without ringing the customer back to ask the questions again.

You choose the intake questions. A plumber might want to know whether water is running right now. A dental office might want only a name, a number and whether the caller is an existing patient, with anything clinical going to staff. Keep the list short, because every extra question is another chance for the caller to give up.

Wrong numbers, sales calls and vendor calls are answered too, and handled by the rules you set. They do not pull you off the job, and they do not get a slot in your day.

Accuracy matters more than volume. Reading the number and address back to the caller catches the wrong digit that would otherwise cost you a wasted trip or a callback to nobody. That small habit is worth more than a long list of questions.

• The caller's name
• The best callback number, confirmed back to the caller
• The service address, where the job needs one
• The reason for the call, in the caller's own words
• The answers to your intake questions, such as the type of problem or how urgent it feels
• What the receptionist said or did on the call

Urgent calls, and what happens when it cannot answer or nobody picks up

You tell the receptionist what counts as urgent in your business: water coming through a ceiling, no heat in winter, a customer locked out, a backed-up drain. It asks the questions that separate those calls from routine ones, and when a call meets your rule it takes the urgent path instead of the normal one. That path is yours to choose: a live transfer, an immediate alert to you, or a message marked urgent.

Live transfer is included where the phone setup supports it. You approve the transfer rules and what happens if nobody answers the transfer. For example: try you, then a second person, then take a message and tell the caller when to expect a callback.

When the receptionist cannot answer a question reliably, it does not guess. It says it will pass the question to your team, captures the details and hands it over. LYCORE is not an emergency dispatch service and the receptionist does not replace 911. Your rules can tell it to advise anyone describing danger to life to call 911 first.

Urgent means different things in different trades. A plumber's rule might be water running now, an HVAC company's might be no heat in winter, and a locksmith's might be a person locked out at night. The receptionist asks the questions you wrote and takes the path you chose. It does not decide on its own what counts as an emergency.

AI receptionist versus voicemail, a human answering service and a shared receptionist

Voicemail waits for the caller to do the work. Invoca, a call analytics company, reports that fewer than 3% of callers sent to voicemail leave a message. The receptionist talks to the caller while they are still on the line and still willing to give you their details.

A human answering service puts a trained person on the phone, which is the better choice when a caller needs warmth or unusual judgment. Both work from rules you give them.

The difference is that the receptionist behaves the same on the 3 a.m. call as on the 3 p.m. one, and it has no shift change.

A shared receptionist answers for several businesses and greets each in its name. That suits an office where most calls need a human read. You can also mix them: keep a person for daytime and use the receptionist for after hours, lunch and the moments when the line is busy.

What you receive, and how setup and testing work

After each call you get a summary: who called, the number, the address, the reason, what the receptionist did and what it needs from you. Where your calendar or booking tool can be connected, the receptionist can offer times and record the booking. Where it cannot, it captures a booking or callback request for your team to confirm. What can be connected is checked before the build is agreed.

Setup starts with your rules written down: the greeting, the intake questions, what counts as urgent, the transfer numbers and what the receptionist must never do. Then it is built and tested with real call scenarios before launch: an emergency at night, a wrong number, a caller who wants a person, a transfer nobody answers. Routing, coverage and fallback are all tested, and call recording and consent requirements are reviewed during setup.

How calls reach the receptionist depends on your phone setup, and that is checked before the build is agreed. After launch, read the first week of summaries yourself and change the wording where a call went sideways.

The rules stay yours. If a call goes badly, you say so, and the wording or the rule changes. The receptionist is a set of decisions you made in advance, and you can revise any of them.

How to measure it, and who it is not right for

Before launch, write down how many calls you miss and when. Then look at four numbers each month: calls answered against calls missed, calls that ended in a booking or a callback request, how long a real inquiry waits before a person responds, and how many calls were handed over to you. Read a sample of the summaries too, because a number cannot tell you whether a call sounded right.

ServiceTitan's 2022 call data found smaller shops booked about 26% of calls at peak times and about 9% after 6 p.m. That is industry data, not a promise of what you will book.

It is not the right fit if your callers insist on speaking to you or to one particular person, if most of your calls need professional judgment, or if you rarely miss calls at all. It does not give legal, medical, dental or financial advice. For law firms, dental offices and med spas it handles non-clinical calls, and your staff decide whether to take a case or answer a clinical question.

If that sounds like your business, say so on the free review. It looks at how your calls are handled today, with no pressure and no obligation.

What stays under your control

Your team keeps control of business rules, escalation decisions, approvals, customer data, and the tools it chooses to keep. LYCORE configures and documents the workflow around those rules.

Common Questions

What does an AI receptionist sound like on the phone?

It sounds like a calm front desk: short sentences, one question at a time, and your business name in the greeting. It says it is an AI assistant, so nobody is fooled. You can hear it yourself with the Test our AI agent voice widget on the site, and your own version is tested with call scenarios from your trade before launch.

What if the caller is upset or asks for a real person?

The receptionist follows your rule for that case. Depending on your phone setup and your rules, that means a live transfer to you or a colleague, or a callback with the caller's details captured. It does not argue with someone who asks for a human, and it does not try to talk a frustrated caller round.

How does the receptionist handle emergencies?

You define what counts as urgent for your business and what should happen: a live transfer, an immediate alert or a message marked urgent. LYCORE is not an emergency dispatch service and does not replace 911. Your rules can tell the receptionist to advise callers who describe danger to life to call 911 first.

What if nobody picks up the transfer?

You approve that path in advance. A common pattern is to try you, then a second person, then take a message and tell the caller when to expect a callback. That path is tested with real call scenarios before launch, so you see it work before a customer does.

What do I get after each call?

A summary with the caller's name, number, address, reason for calling, what the receptionist did and what it needs from you. Where your calendar or booking tool can be connected, a booking is recorded. Otherwise you get a callback request to confirm. Who receives the summary and how quickly is agreed in setup.

How long does setup take, and what do I need to do?

You need to decide your greeting, your intake questions, what counts as urgent and where transfers should go. LYCORE builds the receptionist around those rules, checks how calls will reach it on your phone setup, and tests with real call scenarios before launch. The timing depends on your phone setup and how many rules you want, so it is agreed on the call rather than promised in advance.

Are calls recorded?

Call recording and consent requirements are reviewed during setup, because the rules depend on your state and on the callers you serve. Confirm the requirements for your own business with your advisor, and decide with LYCORE what, if anything, is recorded before launch.

Will callers know they are talking to an AI?

Yes. The greeting identifies the assistant as an AI acting for your business, and callers can ask for a person at any point. A transfer or callback path follows your rules and your staff availability. LYCORE does not present the receptionist as a human.

What happens when the AI receptionist cannot answer a question?

It is set up to hand over rather than guess. When it cannot answer reliably, or the caller needs a person, it follows your transfer or callback rules, captures the caller's details and sends you a summary so nobody is left wondering what was said. These handover paths are tested with real call scenarios before launch.

Can an AI receptionist stop routine and unwanted calls from interrupting me?

It answers every call, so routine questions, wrong numbers and sales calls are handled by the receptionist instead of pulling you off the job. Real enquiries are captured with the caller's details and sent to you, and you decide who gets put through.

Can it book appointments for me?

Where your calendar or booking tool can be connected, it can offer times and record the booking. Where it cannot, it captures a booking or callback request for your team to confirm. LYCORE checks what can be connected before the build is agreed, so you know which one you are getting.

Does an AI receptionist replace my staff?

No. It covers calls your team cannot take, such as after hours and busy periods, and it captures the details your staff need. Your team handles exceptions, pricing decisions and anything that needs professional judgment.

How is an AI receptionist different from a traditional answering service?

A traditional answering service uses human agents. An AI receptionist follows your configured intake, routing and booking rules at any hour. A person may suit you better when a live voice or complex judgment matters. LYCORE's comparison guide sets out the trade-offs.

Do I have to sign a long-term contract?

No. LYCORE does not require long-term contracts.

How much does an AI receptionist cost?

It depends on your call volume and what you want it to do. A free review looks at how your calls are handled today and tells you plainly what would help and what it costs, with no pressure and no obligation.

Does LYCORE replace the software we already use?

No. LYCORE starts with the tools and operating rules your team already uses, then evaluates practical ways to connect the work around them.

Are outcomes guaranteed?

No. A system can improve the speed and consistency of a process, but LYCORE does not guarantee rankings, reply rates, booked appointments, revenue, or any other business outcome.