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Quickstart

Set up your AI receptionist and start receiving calls in under 5 minutes.

This guide covers onboarding, from account creation to a live AI receptionist answering calls.

Prerequisites

Setup

Go to app.reception.ai and create an account. After signing up, the onboarding wizard asks how you want to set up your business.

Best for businesses with a website that describes their services.

1

Enter your website

Choose Scan my website and enter your website URL (HTTPS required). Accept the Terms of Service and Privacy Policy if prompted.

2

Wait for the quick scan

Reception.ai reads up to 15 key pages of your site and extracts services, pricing, durations, staff, hours, locations, and contact details. The scan usually takes under a minute, and a countdown shows the estimated time remaining.

Booking platforms and social profiles (for example Facebook, Yelp, Vagaro, Booksy, or Calendly links) are read as a single page.

If the scan fails, select Change link to try a different URL or Continue and enter details manually.

Onboarding runs a quick scan only. After setup, you can read the rest of your site from the dashboard. See Website scraping.

3

Fill in anything the scan missed

If your country, language, or industry could not be detected, the wizard asks for them.

4

Pick your phone number

US and Canadian businesses enter a preferred 3-digit area code (for example 415 or 604). Reception.ai assigns a local number from its pool. Toll-free numbers are not available.

This step is skipped if your website already listed a phone number with a supported area code.

5

Meet your receptionist

Customize the Agent name, Choose a voice, and First message, then talk to your receptionist in the browser. Speak as a customer would: check that the greeting sounds natural, business information is correct, and booking works.

Nothing here is final. You can change every setting later.

6

Start your trial

Select Start free trial to finish. Reception.ai creates your workspace, receptionist, and booking page, and imports what it found on your website.

What happens after setup

When you finish the wizard:

  1. Your workspace, receptionist, and booking page are created.
  2. US and Canadian businesses get a permanent local phone number and the receptionist starts answering immediately.
  3. UK businesses get a held number that starts taking calls once the regulatory review is approved. See International numbers.
  4. Businesses in other countries connect a number from the dashboard before taking calls.

New accounts start a free trial that includes 30 credits (30 phone minutes). No credit card is required. See Plans and pricing.

Onboarding progress is saved in your browser for 4 hours. The test receptionist expires 20 minutes after it is created. If it expires, select Start over.

Next steps

The Home page shows a setup checklist based on what was imported. Review and refine:

  • Business hours, locations, and booking rules
  • Services, pricing, and durations
  • Staff members and their availability
  • Receptionist voice, rules, and procedures
  • The rest of your website, using Read the rest of your site on the Home page
  • Google Calendar sync for real-time availability