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AI Receptionist for Business: Answer Customers 24/7 by Message

By · Fleetco

You are on the floor, in the kitchen, or with a customer. A message lands, a text goes unanswered, a website question goes unread. By the time you look, the lead has moved on. That missed message is a missed booking, a missed quote, a missed sale.

An AI receptionist for business fixes that. It answers your customers the moment they write to you, day or night, in your own words. No lead slipping away because you were busy running the place.

What is an AI receptionist for business?

Think of it as a front-desk employee that never sleeps. It picks up your messages, answers the common questions (hours, prices, availability, directions), and hands off to you when something needs a human. The difference from an old-school chatbot: it speaks like you, it only answers from the facts you give it, and it never makes things up.

For a small business, this is the cheapest way to stop leaking customers. Most people who message a business expect a fast reply. If they wait hours, they call the next name on the list. A word of honesty before you read on: Fleetco's receptionist works on written channels (website chat, SMS, WhatsApp and email). It does not answer phone calls today, and the section on how Fleetco does it explains what that means for you.

What a good AI receptionist actually does

  • Answers website, SMS and WhatsApp questions 24/7, in your voice, from your real info
  • Triages your inbox so the important stuff surfaces first
  • Drafts replies for you to approve, instead of firing off answers on its own
  • Books appointments and follows up with leads before they cool off
  • Never invents an answer: if it does not know, it hands the conversation to you

Why owners choose one over hiring

A human receptionist works set hours, needs training, and costs a salary. An AI receptionist covers evenings, weekends, and the after-hours rush when most people actually message you. It scales with your volume without a new hire, and it is running in days, not weeks.

The catch with a lot of AI tools is trust. You do not want a bot promising a customer something you cannot deliver. The answer is simple: keep a human in the loop. Every reply to a customer should wait for your one-click approval until you trust it. That way you get the speed without the risk.

How Fleetco does it

Fleetco gives your business AI agents that you choose one by one. Four of them make up your written front desk today:

  • Website chat: Sacha answers your website visitors 24/7 from your own information, and passes the leads on to you.
  • SMS and WhatsApp: Sam answers your customers by text and on WhatsApp, following your rules.
  • Email: Nora reads your inbox, sorts what matters and drafts every reply for your approval.
  • Bookings and follow-ups: Léa turns interested contacts into appointments on your booking page and follows up until they book.

Each one works in your own words, and only from the facts you provide. It proposes, you approve. Nothing reaches a customer without your say-so. Dave, the manager, is included with every team: a morning recap, an alert if an agent gets stuck, and answers to your questions about the team.

What Fleetco does not do today is answer phone calls. Hugo, the phone desk, is coming soon, but he is not available yet. If live phone answering is what you need right now, you will need another solution for that part for the time being, and Fleetco can cover everything written around it.

Your first result arrives within 48 hours. We build each agent with your real information, then test 10 real cases with you so you can see exactly how it answers before it ever goes live. It connects to your website, SMS and WhatsApp through official, revocable permissions (WhatsApp opens once Meta has verified your business, which takes 1 to 3 days). Never your passwords. Your data runs in its own isolated space, so it is never mixed with another business.

What does an AI receptionist cost?

Fleetco is sold agent by agent, month to month, with no commitment: you add, swap or remove an agent any month. For the written front desk, the monthly prices are:

  • Sacha, website chat: from $45/mo. Includes 300 website conversations a month, then +$22 per 300.
  • Sam, SMS and WhatsApp: from $45/mo. Includes 100 WhatsApp or text conversations a month, then +$35 per 100. Meta and SMS fees stay on your own account.
  • Nora, inbox: from $45/mo. Includes 300 emails handled a month, then +$22 per 300.
  • Léa, bookings and follow-ups: $45/mo. Includes 1 booking page and up to 150 contacts followed a month, then +$22 per 150.

Taken together, these four are the Communication pack, from $165/mo instead of $180 one by one.

There is also a one-time setup: $399 for up to 3 agents, then $89 per additional agent. It covers connecting your tools, configuring each agent with your information and testing 10 real cases together. For the four agents above, that is $488 once ($399 plus $89).

If you do not see a first result within 48 hours, we stop and refund your agents in full, setup included.

How to get started

  1. Book a free 30-minute diagnostic. We pinpoint the messages and questions eating your day.
  2. We build your agents with your real info and test 10 real cases with you.
  3. You see a first result within 48 hours. Every customer reply waits for your one-click approval until you are ready to loosen the reins.

You do not need to be technical. We set it all up. You only ever click approve. Book your free diagnostic and stop losing customers to a missed message.

Ready to hire your first agent?

First result within 48 hours. You approve every action.

Book my free diagnostic