Your AI Receptionist can automatically answer calls when you're unavailable and make a great impression on your behalf.
Using AI, it captures key details from missed calls, helping you prioritize callbacks and save valuable time.
1️⃣ Enable your AI Call Receptionist
Step 1: Turn it on
Open the Beside app.
Go to the Settings tab.
Tap AI Receptionist under Phone.
Select the Phone Calls tab.
Toggle Answer Missed Calls on.
Step 2: Define the scope
Under Missed from, you can define the scope:
Everyone – answer all missed calls.
Unsaved numbers – only new or unknown callers.
Contacts – only saved numbers
💡 You can also tap Exclude Contacts to prevent specific people from being routed to your AI Receptionist. For example, you might exclude personal contacts while keeping AI handling for leads and clients. 📖 Learn more here.
⚠️ If you don’t pick up and your AI Receptionist isn’t configured to handle that call (for example, the caller is outside your defined scope), the call will automatically be sent to your Beside voicemail, where the caller can leave a recorded message.
This ensures that no call is ever lost: your AI handles eligible calls, and voicemail covers the rest.
2️⃣ Adjust when your AI picks up
By default, calls ring 4 times before being sent to the Receptionist. Depending on your network, your phone may ring slightly fewer times.
You can adjust this from "Direct to Receptionist" to 10 rings, depending on how much time you want to answer manually.
3️⃣ Customize your greeting and ending message
In the Response Style section, you can personalize what callers hear when your AI Receptionist answers or ends a call.
Greeting: The first thing your AI Receptionist says. Keep it warm and professional.
Example: “Hi! You’ve reached Alex's AI Assistant. How can I help today?”
Ending Message: The phrase used to wrap up calls naturally. Use it to thank callers or provide next steps.
Example: “Thanks for calling, we’ll get back to you soon. Have a wonderful day!”
💡 Tip: Use short, friendly sentences that sound like something you’d actually say. It makes your AI feel more human and approachable.
4️⃣ Set up Call Transfer
If you’d like the AI Receptionist to redirect calls automatically to the right person or line:
Tap Transfer Calls.
Enter the recipient’s name and phone number.
Define the scenarios that should trigger a transfer (e.g., “billing questions” → billing line).
Your AI Receptionist will recognize these situations and transfer the call live when conditions are met, helping you quickly connect high‑priority leads or route calls to the right team.
Examples:
High‑value lead (e.g., real‑estate inquiry above a set budget) → transfer immediately.
Billing questions → transfer to billing.
Multiple services or departments → route to the right representative.
🎧 Test your setup
At the bottom of the screen, tap ✨ Try Receptionist → Call Receptionist to simulate a call. You’ll hear how your AI answers, routes, and ends calls, before going live.
You can use this test anytime to check updates to greetings, timing, or transfer logic.
Click here to learn more.
➡️ Set up your AI Receptionist for texts & emails
Now that your Receptionist is set up for calls, you can also:
ℹ️ Want to teach your Receptionist about your business? See the companion guide: How do I train my AI Receptionist?
❓ FAQ
What if call recording is turned off for a contact, but the AI Receptionist is still on?
Even if call recording is disabled for a specific contact, the AI Receptionist will continue to handle their calls as usual - and will still generate a transcript of the voicemail.
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