# The AI phone receptionist

> What the phone receptionist can answer, what it records on the case, and what it never promises a caller.

Lethra can answer your firm's phone line with an AI receptionist that holds a
live voice conversation. It picks up when a call comes in, speaks with the
caller in real time, and puts what it learns onto the right record.

## When it answers

The receptionist answers within your configured business hours, and outside
them if you have turned on after-hours coverage. If a call comes in while
neither applies, it forwards to your configured number instead, or plays a
short closed message if no number is set.

(Screenshot: The phone receptionist settings, switched on, with the number callers dial, the forwarding number, after-hours mode and the greeting.)

You can also give it a **forwarding number** so it can hand a live call
straight to a person when that is the right thing to do.

## What it can do on a call

All three can run together, and the receptionist moves between them smoothly
within a single call rather than forcing a caller to choose.

- **Intake.** If someone has died, it gathers their name and a callback
  number calmly, reassures them the team has been alerted, and takes the
  message as urgent. It does not walk into a planning conversation on this
  path, even if planning is also enabled.
- **Questions and answers.** It answers from your firm's knowledge base and
  the details on your company profile: address, phone number, services, team.
  If it does not know something, it offers to take a message rather than
  guess.
- **Plan ahead.** For a caller arranging their own funeral in advance, it
  walks through what matters, burial or cremation, the kind of ceremony,
  music or readings, who should be involved, one topic at a time, and records
  it as a lead for your team to follow up on.

For anything urgent or requiring a human decision, including complex pricing
or a complaint, it transfers to a human if a forwarding number is configured,
and takes a message if one is not.

## What it records

Every call is recorded with the caller's number and a running transcript.
Depending on how the conversation went, it also records:

- **A message**, with the caller's name if given, a callback number, the
  reason they called, and an urgency level. The message becomes a **Call back**
  item in your [inbox](/docs/getting-started/the-inbox/). A high-urgency
  message, such as a death being reported, goes to the top of the inbox as
  urgent and alerts your team immediately.
- **A pre-planning lead**, when the caller was arranging their own
  arrangements ahead of time, with their wishes and contact details. It also
  becomes a **Call back** item, so someone follows up.
- **A transfer**, when it hands the call to a human.

Throughout the call, the receptionist listens for a death, or a death that
is expected soon. As soon as it hears one, it alerts your team as urgent,
with the caller's number to call back, without waiting for the end of the
call.

(Screenshot: A callback in the inbox: the receptionist's summary of an after-hours call, the caller's name and number, and a button to call them back.)

## What it never promises

- It does not invent an answer. If something is not in your knowledge base or
  company details, it says so and offers to take a message instead of
  guessing.
- It does not quote or negotiate pricing.
- It does not commit your firm to a date, a supplier, or a service it has not
  been told about.
- It does not act on anything outside the call it is currently handling. If a
  family already told your firm something on a different call or by email,
  the receptionist only knows once it is on the case.

> **Note:** The receptionist's on/off switch, the greeting, the forwarding number and
> after-hours mode are all configured under **Your Company**, in the **First
> Call** tab, under **Phone Receptionist**, and take effect on the next call.
> Business hours are set on the **Company** tab.
## Next

Where messages and callbacks end up: [The inbox, in depth](/docs/communication/inbox-in-depth/).

Source: https://lethra.ai/docs/communication/phone-receptionist/