# How to set up the Swashi AI Receptionist for inbound calls

> Set up Swashi's AI Receptionist to answer inbound calls in your language, qualify callers, book meetings, and show callbacks, caller tone and buying signals.

Source: https://swashi.io/docs/voice/ai-receptionist
Section: Voice AI & Chat
Last updated: 2026-10-10

The Swashi AI Receptionist answers your business phone automatically, in the language you choose. It answers questions from your Business Brain, qualifies callers, books meetings and takes messages, then shows you who called, what they needed and who wants a callback.

## Before you start

- **A paid plan.** The AI Receptionist is included in every paid plan. See the [pricing page](https://swashi.io/pricing).
- **A Swashi number.** The receptionist answers the same number you use in Voice Outreach. If you have none, the page shows **NO NUMBER YET**: activate one from [Voice Outreach](https://swashi.io/docs/voice/voice-outreach).
- **Your Business Brain.** The receptionist answers questions from your [Business Brain](https://swashi.io/docs/getting-started/business-brain). The more complete it is, the better its answers.

## What each plan includes

| Plan | Receptionist capabilities |
|---|---|
| Starter | Answers and routes every call, voicemail with transcript, full transcripts and summaries |
| Growth (Pro) | Everything in Starter, plus appointment booking on the call, CRM sync, AI qualification and lead scoring |
| Agency (Business) | Everything in Pro, plus multilingual answering, calendar orchestration and human transfer |
| Enterprise | Everything in Business, plus custom workflows and SLAs |

Each plan has a monthly call allowance, shown on the page as **Calls this month**. Calls after the allowance are declined until your cycle resets, and **unused calls do not roll over**. To raise the ceiling, add the **Receptionist Pack** (more receptionist calls every month) with **Add pack**.

## Open the AI Receptionist

Open **AI Receptionist**. The header shows **INBOUND** and **Agent Active** when it is running: incoming calls are answered automatically, in the language you selected.

![AI Receptionist page header highlighted with the INBOUND badge, Agent Active and a description of what the receptionist does](https://swashi.io/docs/img/ep8-recep-head.webp "The AI Receptionist header shows when it is answering.")

### Choose the answering language

Your calls follow your account language. To run voice calls in a different language from your dashboard, open **User Settings → Advanced language settings** and choose a language for **Voice agent calls**. The receptionist greets callers in that language and follows them if they switch language during the call. See [Languages](https://swashi.io/docs/getting-started/languages).

## Receptionist settings

1. Find **Receptionist settings**.
2. Enter your **Business name**: how the receptionist introduces you.
3. Enter your **Calendly link**: texted to callers who want to book.
4. Click **Save**.

   ![Receptionist settings card highlighted with Business name and Calendly link fields, a Save button and the shared 555 number marked Active](https://swashi.io/docs/img/ep8-recep-settings.webp "Set the business name and booking link, then Save.")

The section also shows your **Number**, marked "shared with Voice Outreach", with a link to **Open Voice Outreach →**.

## Smart FAQs

**Smart FAQs** are approved answers your receptionist and every agent use on real calls.

- Click **Generate** to create answers, or **+ Add manually** to write your own.
- The **Callers asked your receptionist** list shows real questions from calls, so you can add an answer for each one.
- Click **Manage in Settings →** to edit them alongside your Business Brain.

> **Tip:** Add an FAQ for every question you hear more than once.

## Read what your callers said

### Your week at a glance

Counters for **Conversations**, **Qualified**, **Callbacks asked** and **Need you**, with this week's count.

![Weekly counters highlighted: Conversations, Qualified, Callbacks asked, Need you, Calls, Booked, Messages and Last 7d](https://swashi.io/docs/img/ep8-recep-kpis.webp "Your week at a glance.")

### Caller tone

How your callers sounded: **positive**, **neutral** or **negative**, with the number of rated calls. Tone appears after the first answered calls.

### Callbacks & high-intent callers

Everyone who asked to be called back or showed strong interest, with their interest score, what they said and their pain points. Click **Call back** to return the call in one click. These are the same rows shown in **Business → Needs Your Attention**.

![Callbacks and high-intent callers list highlighted with interest scores, pain points and Call back buttons](https://swashi.io/docs/img/ep8-recep-callbacks.webp "Return a call in one click from the callbacks list.")

### What they need and what they push back on

**What they need** summarizes callers' needs from the receptionist's call summaries. **What they push back on** lists objections heard on calls, most frequent first.

![What they need and What they push back on panels highlighted with needs and objections summarized from calls](https://swashi.io/docs/img/ep8-recep-needs.webp "Needs and objections, summarized from real calls.")

### Buying signals & objections

Counts of buying signals detected and top objections, the same counts that **Business → "What your customers are saying"** shows.

### Recent conversations

A transcript excerpt, the caller, their needs, objection and buying signals for every answered call.

### Meetings booked by the receptionist

Every calendar booking made on a call, with this month's count. Bookings also appear in **Settings → Meetings Calendar**. Booking on calls is part of AI Receptionist Pro (Growth plan and above).

![Meetings booked by the receptionist card highlighted with four bookings and a 2 this month badge](https://swashi.io/docs/img/ep8-recep-meetings.webp "Every meeting the receptionist booked.")

## Texts from callers

The receptionist can text callers your booking link and ask them to text back their email, so it is captured exactly. Turn this on with **Texting on incoming calls**. Texts callers send to your number appear under **Inbound messages**. See [Texting](https://swashi.io/docs/voice/texting).

## Get notified

In **User Settings**, under **Notifications**, you can be alerted for **Callback requests**, a call that scored 7/10 or more on buying intent, a caller who booked a slot, and each call your receptionist answered. See [Notifications and digests](https://swashi.io/docs/reports/notifications-and-digests).

## Troubleshooting

- **NO NUMBER YET** — activate a number in Voice Outreach.
- **Callers are being declined** — your monthly allowance is used up. Add a Receptionist Pack or wait for your cycle to reset.
- **No meetings appear** — booking on calls needs the Growth plan or higher, and a Calendly link in Receptionist settings for text bookings.
- **Tone shows nothing** — tone appears after the first answered calls.

## Next steps

- [Texting on calls and the Texts inbox](https://swashi.io/docs/voice/texting)
- [How voice credits work](https://swashi.io/docs/voice/voice-credits)
- Learn more about the [AI Receptionist](https://swashi.io/ai-receptionist)

## Frequently asked questions

**What does the Swashi AI Receptionist do?**

It answers incoming calls to your Swashi number automatically, in the language you selected. It answers questions, qualifies callers, books meetings and takes messages, then shows you what each caller needed.

**Which plans include the AI Receptionist?**

The AI Receptionist is included in every paid plan. Starter covers routing, voicemail and transcripts; Growth adds appointment booking, CRM sync, AI qualification and lead scoring; Agency adds multilingual answering, calendar orchestration and human transfer; Enterprise adds custom workflows and SLAs.

**What happens when I use up my monthly receptionist calls?**

Calls after your monthly allowance are declined until your cycle resets, and unused calls do not roll over. You can add more calls every month with the Receptionist Pack add-on.

**Can the receptionist speak my callers' language?**

Yes. It answers in the language you selected and can switch during the call if the caller changes language, across all 18 Swashi languages.

**Where do meetings booked by the receptionist appear?**

Under Meetings booked by the receptionist on the AI Receptionist page, and in Settings → Meetings Calendar.