ai receptionist for a one-person business

You set up call forwarding from your existing number to the Nexy number provided when you sign up. Forwarding is a standard feature on every mobile and landline — you enter a code or change a setting in your carrier account, and calls route to Nexy instead of ringing your phone. Your number stays yours, your customers dial the same digits they always have, and you can stop forwarding at any time. No porting, no SIM swap, no downtime.

Being reachable means calls to a number you already gave out are answered — that is free. Being found means strangers can discover your Nexy number through search or a directory, and that costs money because it drives inbound volume. If you forward your existing business number and do not publish the Nexy number anywhere, you pay nothing. The moment you want new customers to find you through Nexy, you cross into the paid side. As of October 2024, competitors start around $29 a month for 75 minutes, then about $0.45 per additional minute.

Yes, probably. If your call volume is low and most callers are happy to leave a message, voicemail is enough. An AI receptionist makes sense when you lose business because people hang up rather than leave a voicemail, or when you spend hours a day answering the same questions, or when you need appointments booked immediately rather than waiting for you to call back. If none of those apply, voicemail is simpler and costs nothing.

Nexy follows the script you write, and if the caller's question is outside that script, it says so. You configure what happens next: it can offer to take a message, suggest the caller emails you, or end the call politely. It does not improvise answers or pretend to know something it was not told. If you want it to handle a new question, you add that question and answer to the script.

You connect the specific calendar where appointments should land, and Nexy writes events into that calendar only. It does not read your existing events, delete anything, or access other calendars in the same account. Most calendar services let you create a dedicated calendar for bookings, and that is what you point Nexy at. If your calendar system does not support scoped access, Nexy can send appointment details to an email address instead, and you add them manually or use an automation tool.

The disclosure is configurable. You decide whether Nexy says it is an AI in the first sentence, later in the call, or not at all. The default is disclosure in the first sentence, because transparency avoids complaints and sets expectations, but you control the setting. Some jurisdictions require disclosure by law, so check local rules before turning it off. Nexy does not enforce a policy here — it gives you the switch and you decide what is appropriate for your business and location.

As of October 2024, ElevenLabs Reception starts at $29 a month for 75 minutes, then around $0.45 per minute after that. Dialzara is approximately $29 monthly, Rosie around $49, and My AI Front Desk near $65. Human services like Ruby and PATLive begin at $250 a month and climb quickly with volume. Nexy's pricing structure is different: being reachable is free, and you pay only when you want strangers to find you through inbound discovery. If you forward your existing number and do not publish the Nexy number, your cost is zero.

You set available hours when you configure the script, and Nexy books appointments within those hours. If you travel, you update the availability once — either by changing the hours in the script or by blocking time in the connected calendar. Nexy reads availability from the calendar you gave it, so if you mark yourself unavailable in Google Calendar, those slots disappear from what Nexy offers callers. It does not automatically detect your time zone or adjust for travel, because it has no way to know where you are unless you tell it.