The Blog

Notes from the front desk

Practical writing on phones, bookings, and the unglamorous work of never missing a customer.

44 posts · page 4 of 4

Hiring

· 6 min

AI Receptionist vs Hiring a Receptionist: Real Costs

A salary buys you judgement and presence; a flat monthly fee buys you every hour of the week. How to compare the two honestly — and when a human hire is the right call.

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AI

· 5 min

Will your customers actually talk to an AI on the phone?

The most common objection to an AI receptionist, taken seriously: what callers actually care about, where AI genuinely falls short, and the comparison that matters.

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Choosing

· 6 min

10 Questions to Ask Before Choosing an AI Receptionist

Does it book or just take messages? Does it know your business or read a script? A practical checklist for cutting through the demos and picking well.

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Phone

· 5 min

Your voicemail greeting is costing you work

Voicemail feels like a safety net, but most callers won’t use it. Why it underperforms, how to write a better greeting if you keep it, and what replacing it looks like.

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Knowledge base

· 6 min

How to write a knowledge base your AI receptionist can actually use

An AI receptionist is only as good as what you tell it. A practical guide to writing services, prices, hours and policies it can answer from — and keeping them current.

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Messaging

· 5 min

Missed-Call Text-Back Explained: Pros and Limits

Missed-call text-back sends an automatic SMS to callers you didn’t answer. Here’s what it does well, why speed matters, and why a text is still not a booking.

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Bookings

· 5 min

Reducing no-shows with SMS confirmations that actually get read

No-shows are rarely malicious — people forget, plans slide, life happens. How confirmation and reminder texts cut them down, and how to write ones that work.

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Analytics

· 6 min

The four phone metrics every service business should watch

Answer rate, booking conversion, escalation rate and after-hours share: what each one tells you, what good looks like directionally, and what to do when it’s off.

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