frontdesqAI receptionist
The AI receptionist built for Australian businesses
What an AI receptionist actually does
An AI receptionist answers your business phone when you can't. It greets the caller, works out what they need, answers the common questions, and takes the next step: booking the appointment, taking down the details, or putting an urgent call straight through to you.
The good ones don't sound like a phone menu. frontdesq holds a natural conversation, asks what the caller needs and how soon they need it, then locks it into your calendar and texts you a tidy summary. The caller gets a confirmation before they've put the phone down.
Why Australian businesses use one
Every business has hours when nobody can pick up. You might be with a customer, in an appointment, driving, already on another call, or finally finished for the day. A clinic's front desk is flat out first thing. A restaurant can't answer through a dinner rush. A sole operator has both hands full.
The caller doesn't see any of that. They only know nobody answered, and most won't leave a voicemail. They ring the next business in the search results instead.
An AI receptionist exists for exactly those moments. It picks up instantly, every time, whether it's 2 pm on a Tuesday or 10 pm on a Sunday. It isn't there to replace how you answer calls now: you still pick up when you can. frontdesq catches the ones you can't, which means missed calls, overflow when two ring at once, and everything after closing. The overnight half of that job has enough to it that our after hours answering page covers it separately.
How frontdesq works
- A customer rings your number. Nothing changes for them, and there's nothing new for you to install.
- No answer? The call forwards itself. Busy, driving or closed for the day, it diverts on its own.
- It answers like a professional. Warm and straight to the point: what do they need, and how soon.
- The appointment goes in your calendar. Time locked in, caller sent a confirmation.
- You get the summary. Who called, what they need and what happens next, on your phone in seconds.
Built and tuned in Brisbane
AI receptionist services vary a lot in how much is actually tuned to your business. We're based in Brisbane, and we build and tune the assistant ourselves rather than handing you a generic off-the-shelf bot. Setup is done with you, and you can change how it answers in plain English. It's an Australian company answering Australian phones, in Australian hours, priced in Australian dollars.
What it costs
Flat monthly plans in AUD. No per-call fees, no per-message fees and no after-hours surcharge, so a busy month costs the same as a quiet one and you can work the number out before you sign up. Your first week is free, and the founder's promise stands: catch a paying job in your first week, or you don't pay a cent. Current plans and prices are on the pricing page.
The phone receptionist, reinvented
A receptionist used to mean a person at a desk; a phone receptionist for a small business increasingly means software. Whether you write that down as an AI phone receptionist or an AI telephone receptionist, the idea is the same: something that answers your business line the way a good front desk would. What separates AI receptionist services in practice is whether the call ends in an outcome. frontdesq books the appointment, texts you the summary and puts urgent callers straight through, rather than just noting that someone rang. And if it is an AI virtual receptionist you are weighing against the human-operated kind, our virtual receptionist page compares the two properly.
If you're in the trades
Trades are where frontdesq started, and they have their own page with the full detail: the questions it asks about a job, how urgent call-outs get transferred, and what the summary looks like when you're back in the ute. See frontdesq for tradespeople.
Common questions
Do I need a new phone number?
No. Customers keep calling the number they already know. We set up call forwarding so the calls you miss divert to frontdesq automatically, and you can switch it off any time.
Will it sound like a robot?
Judge with your own ears: the demo on our homepage rings your phone within 30 seconds. The voice is warm, professional and straight to the point, and it asks about the enquiry the way you would.
Does it work after hours and on weekends?
Yes. It answers 24/7, including nights, weekends and public holidays. Plenty of good enquiries arrive once everyone has gone home, and those are exactly the calls it is there to catch.
What happens with urgent calls?
Urgent calls get transferred straight through to you or your team on the spot. If no one can take it, the enquiry is flagged urgent so you know exactly who to call back first.
Is it built for my kind of business?
It answers the phone for small businesses of every kind, from clinics and salons to trades and professional services. You set the greeting, the questions it asks and the rules it follows, so it asks what matters for your work rather than reading a generic script.
How long does setup take?
Usually within a day. Setup is white glove: we connect your number, tune the assistant to your business and test it with you before it takes a single real call. Your first week is free.
Is an AI phone receptionist different from an AI receptionist?
No, they are different names for the same thing: software that answers your business line. Whether you search for an AI call receptionist or an AI telephone receptionist, the test to apply is the same. Does the caller get looked after, and does the job land in your calendar?
Is there a free trial?
Your first week is free, with the founder's promise on top: catch a paying job in your first week, or you don't pay a cent. Setup is done with you before any billing starts, so you hear it working on real calls before you pay anything.
Does it work with my existing phone system?
Yes. The connection is simple call forwarding from the number you already have, so there is no new hardware and nothing to install. Mobile, landline or VoIP: if your service can forward a call, frontdesq can answer it.
Can it answer in languages other than English?
frontdesq answers in English, with a natural Australian voice. If a lot of your callers prefer another language, mention it when you get in touch and we will tell you honestly whether it fits before you start.