# AI receptionist for small business The front desk that never goes home. InboxTender answers your calls, texts and DMs in seconds — at 9pm, on Sundays, while you’re with a customer — then books the visit and follows up until they buy. No buyer ends up in voicemail. Start free See what it says back Free plan, no card · Set up in minutes · Cancel anytime While you were out No. 4817 For Smith’s Auto Time 7:30 AM From Jen K. Phone WhatsApp - Telephoned - Texted - ✓ Messaged - Please call back Message Still thinking about the Camry — is it still there? While you were out No. 4818 For Smith’s Auto Time 11:04 PM From Dana R. Phone (616) 555-0187 - Telephoned - ✓ Texted - Messaged - Please call back Message Do you take trade-ins? I have a 2017 Civic. While you were out No. 4819 For Smith’s Auto Time 8:47 PM From Tyler W. Phone (616) 555-0142 - ✓ Telephoned - Texted - Messaged - Please call back Message Is the silver F-150 still available? Could I see it Saturday? Answered 0:18 Test drive booked · Sat 2 PM Answering on - Phone calls - Texts - WhatsApp - Instagram - Email - Website chat What you get ## More sales from the leads you already have. You already pay for the ads, the listings and the phone line. InboxTender makes sure the buyers they bring actually hear back — and keep hearing from you until they come in. 1. 1 **Answer in seconds, not tomorrow.** — Calls, texts, WhatsApp, Instagram and website chat get a real answer while the buyer is still looking — at 11pm, on Sundays, mid-job. The first business to answer is usually the one that gets the visit. How AI phone answering works You reply 9:15 AM the next morning, if you’re quick InboxTender replies 8:47 PM about twenty seconds after they asked 2. 2 **Turn questions into visits.** — It offers times that are genuinely open and holds the one they pick. Buyers can also book themselves from your own booking page. You wake up to visits, not messages. Could I come see it Saturday? Saturday’s open at 11:00 or 2:00 — which suits you? 2 works. Sat 12 Test drive · Tyler W. 2:00 PM · on your calendar 3. 3 **Win back the ones who went quiet.** — When a lead stops replying, it follows up in the same thread — so the buyers you’d written off come walking back in. Three days of silence Hi Jen — the Camry you asked about is still here. Want me to hold Saturday for you? Yes! I’ll come at 11. 4. 4 **Sounds like you. Asks before it guesses.** — It answers from what you taught it and never invents a price. You choose what it handles alone; anything else waits for your OK. Reply yourself and it steps aside. AI email replies, in detail - Hours & availability Answers on its own - Specs & photos Answers on its own - Price & negotiation Asks you first Do the math ## What is a missed buyer worth to you? Move the sliders to match your business. Front Desk is $49/mo with phone answering included — if one saved sale is worth more than that, it has already paid for itself. How it works ## Like hiring a front desk. Minus the hiring. No phone system to replace, nothing to install. Brief it once, refine it whenever you like. 1. 1 **Brief it like a new hire.** — What you sell, your hours, your prices, how you talk. A few questions in plain English — no scripts, no flowcharts. 2. 2 **Point your channels at it.** — Add chat to your site, connect email, WhatsApp or Instagram, and forward unanswered calls to your AI line. Your existing number stays yours. 3. 3 **It answers. You close.** — Buyers get an answer at 11pm and on Sundays. You get a nudge when a conversation is ready for you — and a visit on the calendar. Every channel ## One assistant, everywhere buyers find you. A buyer who texts on Monday and emails on Thursday is the same buyer — and it knows that. One inbox, one history, one assistant. - **Phone calls** — Picks up right away, or rings your cell first and answers only what you miss. Every call lands in your inbox as a transcript. Front Desk AI phone answering - **Texts** — A local or toll-free business line. We handle the carrier registration, so your texts deliver instead of getting filtered. Front Desk Your business text line - **WhatsApp** — Connect the WhatsApp Business number you already use. Take over a chat yourself and it steps back. Responder & up WhatsApp auto-replies - **Instagram** — Answers DMs to your business profile, including replies to your stories and comments. Responder & up Instagram DM replies - **Email** — Drafts every reply to leads and marketplace enquiries in your voice. Nothing sends until you approve it. Every plan AI email replies - **Website chat** — One line of code puts a chat bubble on your site that answers visitors and captures the ones worth calling back. Every plan Website chat widget Calls go out too: tap Call on any conversation and it rings your cell first, then connects the customer — they see your business number, your personal cell stays private. WhatsApp and Instagram connect through Meta's own authorization screens. Who it's for ## If you sell by conversation, it fits. Any trade where the money starts with a message. You describe the business; it learns how yours sells. - **Auto dealers** — “Is it still available?”, trade-in values and test-drive questions answered around the clock. - **Home services** — After-hours service calls get an answer and the key details captured instead of a voicemail beep. - **Repair shops** — Turnaround times, quotes and “can you fit me in this week?” — handled while you're under a hood. - **Clinics & dentists** — New-patient enquiries answered without pulling anyone off the front desk. - **Salons & spas** — Prices, policies and availability answered mid-appointment, so nobody waits on a callback. - **Real estate** — Listing questions and viewing requests handled at the hour buyers actually browse. Leads, delivered ## It fits the tools you already run. Every captured lead — name, number, what they want — lands in your CRM by webhook or lead-inbox email (ADF for automotive, RELS for real estate). Or point your AI agent at the [API docs](https://inboxtender.com/docs) and let it wire things up. Don't see yours? [Ask us](mailto:hello@inboxtender.com). Your CRM - HubSpot - GoHighLevel - Follow Up Boss - DealerSocket - VinSolutions - DealerCenter Automation, by webhook - Zapier - n8n - Make Your AI agent, by API - ChatGPT - Claude - Gemini - Perplexity - Copilot Pricing ## Less than one missed sale. Start on the free plan with no card. Upgrade when you want more channels or phone answering. ### Free $0/mo Email drafting and website chat, free forever — no card Start free ### Responder $19/mo For sellers who live in their messages Start free Most popular ### Front Desk $49/mo The full front desk, phone included No per-minute overages — new calls simply pause once the monthly allowance is used. Start free - No card to sign up - No contract — cancel in a click - Your existing number stays yours - Choose instant AI answering or owner devices first Questions ## The things everyone asks. And the honest answers. You can send the demo inbox a test enquiry; its email draft waits for human review. ### How long does setup take? You can give it your business name, draft a profile and test an answer in a few minutes. Connecting WhatsApp takes a few more. A new phone line needs carrier registration — 10DLC for local numbers, verification for toll-free — which usually takes a few days. Phone and SMS setup needs public privacy-policy and terms pages. Local (10DLC) numbers require a US business — EIN for registered entities, a texted code for sole proprietors — while toll-free numbers are open to businesses outside the US as well. ### How much does InboxTender cost? Signing up is free and no card is required — email drafts and website chat start there. Responder is $19/mo and adds WhatsApp and Instagram. Front Desk is $49/mo and adds the phone and SMS line. Cancel any time. ### Is InboxTender an answering service or an AI receptionist? It does both jobs. Like an answering service, it picks up the calls you miss, 24/7. Like a virtual receptionist, it knows your business, so it answers questions, qualifies buyers and captures the details your team needs instead of only taking a message. Front Desk includes up to 100 total minutes across inbound and outbound InboxTender calls each month. New calls pause when that allowance is used. ### Does it follow up with leads on its own? Yes. When a lead goes quiet, the assistant follows up in the same thread — a nudge about the truck they asked about, a reminder of the visit they floated — and the moment they reply, the conversation is back in your inbox. You can also reach out first: text or call any contact from the inbox, or send a broadcast to contacts who agreed to hear from you. Every text honors STOP and quiet hours. ### Can it book appointments? Yes. Set your opening hours and what can be booked — a showroom visit, a test drive, a consultation — and the assistant offers times that are genuinely free, holds the one the customer picks and drafts the confirmation for you to approve. You can add visits yourself, and customers can book from your own booking link. Everything lands on one calendar inside InboxTender, with a reminder drafted the day before. There is no Google or Outlook account to connect. ### Do I have to change my phone number? No. Front Desk includes a separate AI line — a local number in your area code, or a toll-free 8xx. You can publish that number, or ask your carrier to conditionally forward busy and unanswered calls from the number customers already know. Forwarding codes and availability vary by carrier, so test the setup before relying on it; your existing number remains on your carrier and in your name. ### Do you handle 10DLC and toll-free registration? Yes. Front Desk includes a dedicated business line — a local number in your area code, or a toll-free 8xx. We prepare and file the carrier registration for you: 10DLC for local numbers, verification for toll-free. That registration is what keeps your texts delivering instead of being filtered as spam. ### Can I answer calls myself? You stay in control. Answer your phone exactly the way you do today — the assistant takes calls you don't pick up. On a line InboxTender provides, you can also flip it to ring your cell first: it rings for 15 seconds, you press 1 to take the call, and the AI answers if you don't. Set business hours when you want the assistant available outside your day. ### Can I call customers back through InboxTender? Yes. Every conversation has a Call button, and the inbox has a dialer for any number. InboxTender rings your own cell first and then connects the customer. The customer sees your business number, your personal cell stays private, and the call files itself into the conversation. ### Does it work with my CRM? Yes. When the assistant captures a lead — name, number, email, what they want — it can deliver it straight to your CRM: a webhook covers Zapier, Make, GoHighLevel and HubSpot, and it can email leads to your CRM's lead inbox in the format yours parses — ADF for automotive CRMs like VinSolutions and DealerCenter, RELS for real-estate CRMs like Follow Up Boss and kvCORE. Set it up once on the Assistant page; every lead after that files itself. ### What if it doesn't know the answer? It says so. The assistant is instructed to use the prices, specs, stock numbers and policies you provide. If the answer isn't in your brief, it tells the buyer your team needs to confirm it and puts a draft in the shared inbox as Needs you. ### Can I jump into a conversation? Any time, from anywhere. Reply from InboxTender or from your own WhatsApp, and the assistant pauses on that conversation immediately — no toggle to remember, no risk of the two of you answering at once. It picks back up only when you hand it back. ### Can I try it before paying? Yes — the Free plan is the trial. Sign up without a card, brief the assistant on your business, and watch it draft email replies and answer your own website chat. Upgrade only when you want more channels answered. ### What do buyers see on WhatsApp, Instagram and email? WhatsApp, Instagram and phone replies use the business identity connected to that channel. Every email reply waits for human approval; once approved, it comes from your connected Gmail or Workspace mailbox when you add one, or your managed @inboxtender.com address. Calls identify the assistant as AI, and the website-chat widget includes a small Powered by InboxTender label. ### What kinds of businesses is it for? Any business that loses money when a message sits unanswered. Home services, repair shops, clinics and dentists, salons, real estate, auto dealers — the setup is the same everywhere: you brief it once on what you sell, and it answers in your trade's language, whether that's trade-in values, turnaround times or next-week openings. Answering 24/7 ## Someone will ask if you're open tonight. Make sure they hear back in seconds, not tomorrow. Set it up free in minutes — no card, no contract, and your number stays yours. Start free Plans from $19/mo when you're ready for more. --- Canonical HTML: https://inboxtender.com/ More from InboxTender: [Home](https://inboxtender.com/) · [About](https://inboxtender.com/about) · [Contact](https://inboxtender.com/contact) · [API docs](https://inboxtender.com/docs) · [llms.txt](https://inboxtender.com/llms.txt) · [Sitemap](https://inboxtender.com/sitemap.xml)