See it for yourself
A missed call, handled by text.
The shop was on a job and missed the call. This is what the caller got on their phone a few seconds later. It’s an example with a made-up business.
Missed call · 2:14 PM
Maple Street HeatingMaple Street Heating here. Sorry we missed your call! I’m the automated assistant. What can I help you with?
CustomerHi, do you do furnace tune-ups? How much?
Maple Street HeatingYes. A furnace tune-up is $129. We’re open Monday to Friday, 8 to 5. Want me to send the team a booking request?
CustomerYes please. Tuesday afternoon if you can. Maria Lopez.
Maple Street HeatingThanks, Maria. I’ve sent the team your request for a furnace tune-up on Tuesday afternoon. They’ll confirm the time with you.
CustomerIs this a real person?
Maple Street HeatingNo, I’m an AI assistant for Maple Street Heating. The team can see this conversation and step in.
Example conversation with a fictional business. The price and hours come from what the business entered. A booking request is not a booking until the owner confirms it.
Built for businesses that can’t always pick up
You’re with a customer. The caller still gets an answer.
Trades on a job site, salons mid-appointment, shops at closing time. When you can’t pick up, ReplaceReceptionist texts the caller back.
You missed the call. They still got an answer.
Here’s what happens once your missed calls forward to ReplaceReceptionist.
- You don’t pick upYou keep your number. Calls you don’t answer, or that come in while you’re busy, forward to your ReplaceReceptionist number. Known spam and robocall numbers are skipped.
- The caller hears one short lineIt says you can’t get to the phone and that a text is on its way. They can still leave a voicemail, which is transcribed and sent to you.
- A text arrives in secondsIt starts with your business’s name and says it’s an automated assistant.
- The AI answers from your factsHours, services and prices, using only what you entered or approved. If it doesn’t know, it says so and takes a message.
- You confirm, or you take overBooking requests wait for your one tap. Your urgent words text you right away. Reply from the dashboard and the AI steps back.
Why text, not voice
We built the voice version. Then we didn’t launch it.
We built and tested an AI voice receptionist ourselves. In testing it misheard callers and made them repeat themselves, so we never launched it. A voice AI has to hear every caller correctly, in real time. A text doesn’t.
- A text can’t mishear a caller
- No awkward pauses
- The answer is in writing
- They reply when they want
Set up in minutes, no sales call
Three steps. Keep your number.
Add your details
Enter your hours, services, prices and FAQs, or import them from your website. You review everything before the AI uses it.
Forward your missed calls
Turn on “forward when I don’t answer” and “forward when busy” to your ReplaceReceptionist number. Setup shows the code for your carrier.
Pick your urgent words
Choose the words that should text you right away, like “flooding” or “no heat”. Then you’re live.
What it does
What the AI will do. And what it won’t.
Everything here is in ReplaceReceptionist today.
Booking requests, never “booked”
It collects the customer’s name, the service and their preferred day and time. That is a request. You confirm it with one tap. It never tells a customer they are booked. With PreventNoShows, a confirmed request gets reminder texts.
Answers only from your facts
Hours, services and prices come from what you entered or approved. It can import them from your website for you to review. If it doesn’t know, it says so and takes a message.
Says it’s an AI
The first text says it’s an automated assistant. If a customer asks, it says it’s an AI. The first text starts with your business’s name, and every reply comes from the same number and thread.
Urgent words alert you
Pick words like “flooding” or “no heat”. When a customer uses one, you get a text right away.
You can take over
Reply from the dashboard at any time. The AI steps back for that conversation and you carry on yourself.
A monthly report with real counts
Missed calls, texts sent, conversations and booking requests. Real counts, no made-up dollar figures.
Voicemail and landlines
Callers can still leave a voicemail. It is transcribed and sent to you. Landlines can’t receive texts, so those callers get the voicemail option and you are told.
Quiet hours and one follow-up
If the caller never replies, it sends at most one follow-up the next morning. No automated follow-ups before 8 AM or after 9 PM your time. STOP ends the texts.
Skips spam and robocalls
Known spam and robocall numbers don’t get a text.
Not available for medical, dental or other healthcare practices yet. Works with US numbers.
Compare
When you can’t pick up.
What happens to the caller with voicemail alone, and with ReplaceReceptionist.
| What happens | Voicemail only | ReplaceReceptionist |
|---|---|---|
| What the caller gets | A beep, then a wait for a callback | A text back in seconds. They can still leave a voicemail |
| Hours, services and prices | Not until you call back | Answered by text, from what you entered |
| Booking | Not until you call back | A request you confirm with one tap |
| Urgent problems | Wait until you check your voicemail | Your urgent words text you right away |
| What you get | A list of voicemails | Conversations, booking requests and a monthly report |
| Monthly cost | Free | $99 per location 14-day free trial |
Swipe to compare →
Your numbers
What are missed calls worth to you?
Your own estimate. Use your real numbers. We don’t promise how many missed calls turn into jobs.
Built right from day one
Six rules it follows.
An AI that texts for your business has to earn trust. These are the rules ReplaceReceptionist is built around.
It says it’s an AI
The first text says it’s an automated assistant. Ask, and it says it’s an AI.
It sticks to your facts
It answers from what you entered or approved. If it doesn’t know, it says so and takes a message.
It never says “booked”
Booking requests wait for your one tap. Nothing is booked until you confirm.
Urgent means you
Your urgent words text you right away, and you can take over the conversation.
It respects quiet hours and STOP
No automated follow-ups before 8 AM or after 9 PM your time. STOP ends the texts.
Real counts only
Your monthly report shows what happened. No made-up dollar figures.
Use cases
How owners use it.
Example setups, not customer results.
HVAC & plumbing
A customer texts “no heat”. That’s one of your urgent words, so you get a text right away and can reply yourself.
Salon & barbershop
Price and hours questions are answered from your own list. Booking requests wait for your one tap. With PreventNoShows, a confirmed request gets reminder texts.
Auto repair
You’re under a car when the phone rings. The caller gets a text, asks their question, and you see the conversation when you’re free.
Legal & professional
A new client calls while you’re in a meeting. They get a text, say what they need, and you follow up.
Home services
Calls you miss during a job turn into text conversations and booking requests you can go through afterwards.
Healthcare: not yet
Not available for medical, dental or other healthcare practices yet.
Pricing
One plan. Try it free for 14 days.
$99 a month per location, with up to 1,000 texts a month included. No tiers and no minutes to count.
ReplaceReceptionist
Up to 1,000 texts a month included
Or $990/year billed annually: 2 months free. Pay yearly →
Our first 50 businesses get the founding price and a setup call with our founder. Ends December 31, 2026 or when the seats are gone. Monthly billing only.
Founding 50 terms
Your founding price stays the same while your subscription stays active on the same or a higher plan. It covers the plan as it is today, including its texts. Canceling, or a lapse of more than 30 days, ends it. Not combined with annual billing. The offer is limited to 50 founding seats and ends December 31, 2026, or sooner when the seats run out.
- No contract, month to month
- No setup fee
- 30-day money-back guarantee
- Cancel online anytime
- A text back for every missed call
- AI replies from your own facts
- Booking requests you confirm
- Urgent-word alerts by text
- Reply yourself and take over
- Voicemail, transcribed and sent to you
- Monthly report with real counts
- Spam and robocall numbers skipped
- Import from your website
- You keep your number
A card is required to start. You won’t be charged until day 15, and you can cancel before then. 30-day money-back guarantee on your first paid month. No setup fees. Securely billed through Stripe. If you go over 1,000 texts in a month, we’ll contact you about a larger plan. Multi-location: 20% off locations 2–5, 30% off 6 and up (email us). Not available for medical, dental or other healthcare practices yet. On the Front Desk or FrontDesk Complete bundle? ReplaceReceptionist is included: sign in.
Build your bundle
Tick the tools you want. Two tools save 15%, three save 20%, four save 25%, and five or six save 30%. Same 14-day free trial, one bill and one login.
14-day free trial, card required, no charge until day 15. No contract. 30-day money-back guarantee on your first paid month.
FAQ
Questions owners ask first.
Does it answer my phone?
No. ReplaceReceptionist does not answer calls by voice. When you miss a call, the caller hears one short line and gets a text within seconds. An AI assistant holds the conversation by text. The caller can still leave a voicemail after the tone.
What does the caller hear?
One short line: “Thanks for calling [your business]. We can’t get to the phone right now, so we’re sending you a text to help. You can also leave a voicemail after the tone.” If they leave a voicemail, it is transcribed and sent to you.
What number does the text come from?
A FrontDesk Global texting number that we send from on your behalf. The first text starts with your business’s name, so the customer knows who it is from, and they reply in that same thread.
Do I keep my number?
Yes. Customers keep calling the number they know. You turn on forwarding for calls you don’t answer and calls that come in when you’re busy, and those go to your ReplaceReceptionist number. Setup shows the forwarding codes for your carrier.
What if the caller is on a landline?
Landlines can’t receive texts. Those callers get the voicemail option, and you are told.
Will it say it’s an AI?
Yes. The first text says it’s an automated assistant. If the customer asks, it says it’s an AI.
What can it answer?
Questions about your hours, services and prices, using only what you entered or approved. It can import your hours, services, prices and FAQs from your website for you to review first. If it doesn’t know, it says so and takes a message.
Can it book appointments?
It takes booking requests: the customer’s name, the service and their preferred day and time. You confirm each one with one tap. It never tells a customer they are booked. With PreventNoShows, a confirmed request gets reminder texts.
Can I reply myself?
Yes. Reply from your dashboard at any time and you take over that conversation. The AI steps back for that conversation.
What happens when something is urgent?
You choose urgent words, for example “flooding” or “no heat”. When a customer uses one, you get a text right away. ReplaceReceptionist is not an emergency service.
When does it text, and who doesn’t it text?
The first text goes out within seconds of the missed call. If the caller never replies, it sends at most one follow-up the next morning. It does not send automated follow-ups before 8 AM or after 9 PM your time. It skips known spam and robocall numbers, and it stops when someone replies STOP.
What does it cost, and what’s included?
One plan: $99 per month per location, or $990 a year (2 months free). Up to 1,000 texts a month are included. It starts with a 14-day free trial; a card is required, you won’t be charged until day 15, and you can cancel online anytime in two clicks. No setup fees, no contract, and a 30-day money-back guarantee on your first paid month. More than one location? 20% off locations 2–5 and 30% off 6 and up: email hello@frontdeskglobal.com.
What if I go over 1,000 texts in a month?
We’ll contact you about a larger plan.
What is in the monthly report?
Missed calls, texts sent, conversations and booking requests. They are real counts. We don’t add made-up dollar figures.
Why text instead of a voice AI?
We built and tested an AI voice receptionist ourselves. On real calls it misheard people and made them repeat themselves, so we never launched it. A text can’t mishear a caller, there is no awkward pause, and the customer has the answer in writing.
Can healthcare practices use it?
Not yet. ReplaceReceptionist is not available for medical, dental or other healthcare practices yet.
Does it work outside the US?
Not yet. It works with US numbers.
Can I cancel?
Yes. There is no contract. Cancel online anytime in two clicks, and it ends at the close of your billing period. If you cancel during the 14-day trial you are not charged.
What is the Founding 50?
Our first 50 businesses pay $79 a month instead of $99 and get a setup call with our founder. The offer ends December 31, 2026 or when the 50 seats are taken, whichever comes first. Your founding price stays the same while your subscription stays active on the same or a higher plan. It covers the plan as it is today, including its texts. Canceling, or a lapse of more than 30 days, ends it. Not combined with annual billing.
Missed the call? They already got a text.
14-day free trial. Card required; no charge until day 15. Cancel online anytime.
Start your free trial →