AI receptionists in the UK: what they cost and how to choose

An AI receptionist picks up when a customer rings, messages or fills in your form. It understands what they want in plain English, answers from what it knows about your business (services, prices, opening hours, policies), checks your diary and books the appointment, then confirms it by text or email. When it cannot help, it passes the call to you or takes a message.

That last part is the difference from a traditional call answering service, which mostly takes a name and number for you to call back. By then, many customers have moved on. In a YouGov survey of 2,046 UK adults for Answer4u in June 2026, 37% said they would give up on a call within 60 seconds and contact a competitor instead, and just 6% said they would leave a voicemail (survey release).

Prices vary a lot, and so does what you get. Some examples, as each provider published them on 29 September 2026:

To compare like with like, check how many calls or minutes are included, what happens when you go over, whether the plan you are looking at can actually book appointments, and which diary it books into. An AI that only books into one salon app means using that app too.

• Telling callers it is an AI. No UK law specifically requires an AI receptionist to say it is one. But the Competition and Markets Authority's guidance on AI agents (March 2026) says that if the fact people are dealing with AI rather than a person might affect their decisions, you should tell them, and consumer law breaches can now bring fines of up to 10% of turnover (CMA guidance). Providers differ: Fresha's AI Concierge always says it is an AI, while Answer AI confirms it if a caller asks.
• Recording calls. If calls are recorded, the law expects the business to make all reasonable efforts to tell callers (regulation 4, 2018 regulations), and UK GDPR requires privacy information when you collect people's details (ICO).
• Health details. If you run a clinic, callers may share health information, which UK GDPR treats as special category data, with extra conditions for using it (ICO).
• Calling people, not answering them. All of the above is about answering calls. Using AI to make marketing calls is different: the rules on automated calls and the Telephone Preference Service apply (ICO).

This is a summary, not legal advice. If you handle sensitive calls, check with an adviser.

• Does it book into the diary you already use, or only into its own system?
• What is included each month, and what happens when you go over?
• Can it take a deposit, and whose account does the money go to?
• Does it answer website chat and enquiry forms too, or only the phone?
• Can it put callers through to you, and take a message when you are closed?
• Can you keep your own number?
• Are calls recorded, and where is your data kept?
• Is there a free trial, and is there a minimum term?

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