FIELD GUIDE 03
Plan the human handoff
Choose what happens when someone calls your business.
Start with your call flows: new enquiries, appointment changes, existing customers and urgent transfers. An effective answering service needs a reliable escalation path as much as a natural voice.
Define after-hours exceptions.
Write down the current process, the expected output and the person responsible for approving it. For customer operations, make after-hours exceptions an explicit part of the brief rather than an assumption hidden in a demo.
Give each provider the same task.
- Call routing and transfer: state the requirement, ask for evidence and record any limitation before the pilot.
- Appointments and CRM actions: state the requirement, ask for evidence and record any limitation before the pilot.
- After-hours exceptions: state the requirement, ask for evidence and record any limitation before the pilot.
- Numbers, minutes and support: state the requirement, ask for evidence and record any limitation before the pilot.
Questions for the shortlist.
Phonely: Starter overage is $0.35/min on annual billing vs $0.25 monthly. Post-transfer minutes can bill at $0.02/min. Read the official product description ↗
My AI Front Desk: Outbound calls are hard-capped at 20 a day. API access is Partner/Enterprise only. Read the official product description ↗
Rosie: Its Feb 2026 terms round minutes up per call and keep an upgrade for at least the next two billing periods. Read the official product description ↗
Goodcall: Starter allows 1 external tool and 30 days of call history. Each extra caller is 79¢. Read the official product description ↗
Smith.ai AI Receptionist: Short calls cost the same as long ones. Custom prompting and integrations are on Enterprise ($500/month) only. Read the official product description ↗
Slang.ai: Prices are 'starting at' and quote-based. The 97-language Superhost needs Premium, from $599 per location. Read the official product description ↗
Check the exception path.
Include missing inputs, ambiguous requests and a failed integration in the evaluation. Record the result and the recovery steps. A system that works for the routine case still needs an accountable route for the rest of the work.
Decide what would justify proceeding.
Agree an acceptance threshold for numbers, minutes and support with the people who operate the process. Keep the input set, result notes and unresolved questions so the decision can be revisited when the product or requirements change.