Ten questions to ask before you sign with any AI receptionist
1. Does the voice agent disclose that it is an AI at the start of every call?
Wiretapping regulations and consumer protection statutes across US states, the UK, the EU, Canada, and Australia require clear disclosure and two-party recording consent. Never deploy an agent that impersonates a human.
2. Who owns my phone number and customer call recordings?
Demand written confirmation that your phone number is fully portable and that your business retains exclusive ownership over all audio recordings, transcripts, and customer contact data with rapid export rights.
3. Does the agent book appointments directly into my existing calendar or CRM?
Answering a call without creating a job ticket or booking a time slot provides minimal value. Verify whether the agent writes two-way appointments into ServiceTitan, Jobber, Housecall Pro, or Google Calendar.
4. How many calls can the system handle at the exact same moment?
Clarify your concurrency capacity. If two customers call at the same moment, does the second caller encounter a busy signal or a voicemail? Talkera Desk provides dedicated concurrent channels by plan (1 on Pay As You Go, 3 on Growth, 5 on Pro, and 8 on Expansion).
5. Are there burst penalties or surcharge fees during weather rushes?
Many vendors penalize sudden call rushes with steep fees. Ensure your provider charges zero burst fees and handles capacity overflows with courteous automated text holding.
6. What exact protocol does the agent follow during a life-safety emergency?
If a homeowner reports electrical sparks near standing water or smelling natural gas, the agent must instruct the caller to dial 911 immediately and simultaneously alert your on-call supervisor.
7. How long are audio recordings and customer transcripts stored?
Indefinite storage of customer voice data violates GDPR and modern privacy standards. High-trust providers establish fixed 15 to 60 day retention schedules followed by permanent automated deletion.
8. Do you use my customer calls to train public AI models?
Verify that your contract forbids the vendor and its underlying infrastructure providers from using your private customer phone calls and transcripts to train general commercial language models.
9. Who configures, tests, and tunes the prompt logic?
Determine whether you are purchasing raw self-serve software that requires you to engineer prompts, or hiring a managed technical team that builds, tunes, tests, and monitors your agent on an ongoing basis.
10. Is the plan month-to-month, or am I locked into an annual contract?
Never sign an annual lock-in before testing an AI phone agent on your real call volume. Insist on transparent month-to-month billing with the freedom to cancel or pause anytime.
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