How to Set Up an AI Receptionist in the UK: A Step-by-Step Guide

Setting up an AI receptionist is an afternoon's work, not a project. The technology takes minutes; the decisions take longer, because the receptionist can only be as good as the instructions you give it. This guide walks a UK small business through the whole job in eight steps, from choosing which calls the AI answers to reading the transcripts after a week on your real line. We use Ringmere's setup process as the worked example because it is the one we know best. Disclosure: CXassist and Ringmere are built by the same founder. The steps apply to any provider, and our comparison of eight UK AI receptionists covers the alternatives.

Before you start, make three decisions:

• Which calls should the AI answer? Every call, or only the ones you miss.
• What is it allowed to say? The services, prices, opening hours and policies you are happy to have quoted to a stranger.
• Who gets the urgent calls? One named person and one phone number, with a plan for when they do not pick up.

Write the answers on one page. Everything below is that page being typed into a settings screen.

Step 1: Choose how the AI answers your line

There are four common ways to run an AI receptionist, and you can change between them later. As a safety net, your own phone rings first and the AI takes only the calls you miss, which suits a cautious owner or a business with a receptionist it wants to keep. As the front desk, every call goes straight to the AI, which answers on the first ring around the clock and passes on what matters. On a separate line, the AI gets a new number that you put on adverts or your Google Business Profile, leaving your main line untouched. And text-first turns a missed call into a text conversation instead of a spoken one. Ringmere describes all four in its guide to the four ways to run an AI receptionist. If you are unsure, start as a safety net: nothing changes for the callers you already answer.

Step 2: Keep your number and set up call forwarding

You do not need a new number. You forward the one your customers already know. On most UK mobile networks, dialling **21* followed by the receptionist's number and # forwards every call, and **61*number# forwards only the calls you do not answer; ##002# cancels all forwarding. Divert-on-no-answer lets you choose how long your own phone rings first, typically between 5 and 30 seconds. Landlines and internet phone systems use their own codes or a setting in the provider's app, and some charge for call diversion, so confirm the exact steps with your phone provider and with the receptionist service before you rely on them. If you would rather not touch your main line yet, use the UK number included with the plan and forward later.

Step 3: Give it your services, prices and opening hours

This is the step that decides whether the receptionist is useful. List each service with its duration and price, your opening hours, and the handful of questions callers ask every week: parking, cancellation policy, whether you take new patients or walk-ins. With Ringmere you can import this from your website, a PDF, a spreadsheet or a photo of your price list, then approve exactly what the AI may say. The rule to look for in any provider is that it quotes only approved information and takes a message when the answer is missing, rather than improvising a price. It is the same principle we apply to email: see how to train an AI assistant on your own material.

Step 4: Connect the diary

A receptionist that cannot see your diary can only take messages. Connect the calendar you actually work from, so the AI checks live availability, confirms the slot with the caller and never hands the same slot to two people. Ringmere books, reschedules and cancels in Google Calendar, Outlook or its own built-in diary, and texts the caller a confirmation; its integrations page lists the calendars and booking tools it works with. Set the buffers between appointments and, if several people take bookings, which services each of them does. Then check one thing before going further: if your diary lives inside practice or salon software the provider does not connect to, booking on the call will not work, and you should know that now rather than after a week.

Step 5: Set the escalation rules

Decide which calls must always reach a person: emergencies, complaints, anything clinical, legal or financial, and callers who are confused or distressed. Then give the receptionist a number to put those callers through to, and decide what happens when nobody picks up, usually a message taken and an immediate alert. Ringmere includes live call transfer on every plan and sends the reason for the call with a short summary, so whoever answers is not starting cold. This is the phone version of a rule we hold for the inbox: automation should never trap someone who needs a person. See when to escalate to a human.

Step 6: Turn on disclosure and check the data paperwork

Callers should be told at the start of the call that they are speaking to an automated assistant, and that the call may be recorded if recording is on. Check that the setting is on, then listen to the first sentence yourself. Next, find out four things from the provider: where customer records are stored, which sub-processors handle the call audio and where they are, whether a data processing agreement is included, and how long recordings are kept. Ringmere stores customer records in the UK, names its sub-processors in its privacy policy and includes a data processing agreement with every account; its plain-English guide to GDPR and AI phone systems explains what a UK business needs to have in place. Add a line about the phone service to your own privacy notice while you are there.

Step 7: Test it on a real call before customers hear it

Ring it before anyone else does. Ringmere lets a new account talk to its own receptionist on a real call in the browser before a card is added. Make five test calls: a straightforward booking, a reschedule, a question that is not in your list, a complaint, and an emergency. A good receptionist books the first two, takes a message on the third, and puts the last two through to a person. A bad one makes something up. Fix what you find in the settings, not by hoping it will not come up.

Step 8: Run a one-week trial and read every transcript

Forward your real line for a week and read every transcript. You are checking three things: did callers who wanted to book get booked, did anything sensitive reach a person, and would you be comfortable if a customer read the call log? Ringmere's trial lasts 7 days; a card is added when the trial starts and nothing is charged for seven days, so put the end date in your diary on day one. At the end of the week, widen what the AI handles or switch the forwarding off. Either is a good result, because you decided on evidence.

What it costs to run

• Entry price: Ringmere's Starter plan is £49 a month excluding VAT, with 150 call minutes and a UK number included. At two minutes a call, that is about 75 calls.
• Going over: extra minutes are £0.25 each, with an account safety ceiling so a busy month cannot run away.
• No setup fee and month-to-month terms, so the cost of a failed trial is nothing.

Other providers bill per call or sell unlimited minutes on a fair-use policy, so compare on your real call volume. Ringmere publishes worked examples at 50, 100 and 200 calls a month in its guide to what an AI receptionist costs in the UK.

Common setup mistakes

• Forwarding every call on day one. Start as a safety net, read a week of transcripts, then widen.
• Leaving prices out. The most common caller question is "how much?". If the answer is not approved, every one of those calls becomes a message.
• No fallback for transfers. A transfer that rings out is worse than a message taken properly.
• Forgetting the forwarding is on. Tell your team, and note the cancel code somewhere obvious.
• Never reading the transcripts. They are the cheapest customer research you will ever get.

FAQ

How long does it take to set up an AI receptionist?

An afternoon for most small businesses. The slow part is not the technology: it is deciding which calls the AI answers, writing down the services and prices it may quote, and choosing who gets urgent calls. Ringmere says a business can connect its number and be live the same day, and lets you hear your own receptionist on a browser call before a card is added.

Can I keep my existing business phone number?

Yes. You keep the number your customers already know and forward its calls to the AI receptionist, either every call or only the ones you do not answer. You can switch back at any time by cancelling the forwarding. Ringmere also includes a new UK number on every plan if you would rather run a separate line.

What is the call forwarding code for a UK mobile?

On most UK mobile networks, **21*number# forwards every call and **61*number# forwards only the calls you do not answer; ##002# cancels all forwarding. Landline and internet phone providers use their own codes or an app setting, so confirm the exact steps with your phone provider and with the receptionist service before you rely on them.

Do I have to tell callers they are speaking to an AI?

You should. A caller who is speaking to an automated system, and who may be recorded, should be told at the start of the call. Ringmere tells callers they are speaking to an automated assistant by default, and that the call may be recorded when recording is on.

Bottom line: pick an answering mode, forward the number you already have, approve what the AI may say, connect the diary, decide who gets the urgent calls, and test it yourself before a customer does. If you want to try the steps on a real product, Ringmere's AI receptionist for UK businesses has a 7-day trial; if you want to compare first, start with our UK AI receptionist comparison.