Answers every call in under 3 seconds. Books it straight into your calendar.

They describe the same job, answering your business calls so you don't miss them, but the term tells you who's doing the answering. "Virtual receptionist" is the broad term: any receptionist who works your phones remotely rather than at a desk in your office, whether that's a human in a call centre or AI. "AI receptionist" specifically means the calls are answered by a natural-language voice system rather than a person. The practical difference is coverage and cost: a human virtual receptionist works limited hours, handles one call at a time, and usually charges per minute or per call. An AI receptionist works 24/7, takes unlimited calls at once, and runs on a flat monthly fee.

A traditional answering service is a call centre of human operators who pick up your overflow calls, take a message, and email or text it to you. They're staffed during set hours, you often queue behind other clients at peak times, and most charge per call or per minute. LUNA's AI receptionist doesn't just take a message, it does the work: answers in under three seconds, qualifies the enquiry with your intake questions, books the appointment straight into your calendar, and only escalates to a human when the call genuinely needs one.

We don't publish a fixed price, because a sole trader and a multi-location business need very different setups, so a single number would be wrong for almost everyone. For context: a full-time in-house receptionist carries a substantial yearly cost once you add super, payroll tax, leave and a desk, and still only covers business hours. Traditional answering services typically charge per call or per minute, on top of a monthly base fee, for limited hours. We quote a flat monthly fee per business after a short discovery call, with no per-call charges.

Most callers won't notice on the first call. The AI uses a natural Australian voice, configurable male or female, responds conversationally with appropriate pauses, and handles common requests smoothly. If someone asks directly, "Am I talking to a robot?", the system is transparent and acknowledges it's an AI receptionist. For distressed or emotionally complex calls, the system recognises the sensitivity and routes to a human on-call number rather than continuing on its own.

Yes. The most common setup: your team answers during business hours, the AI takes over in the evenings, and it handles everything overnight, on weekends and on public holidays. Other businesses run the AI as their full-time receptionist and only get flagged calls forwarded to a mobile. We configure the rules during setup to match your existing phone system.

Yes. Your current business number is forwarded to the AI system, so callers dial the same number they've always had. We work with Telstra, Optus, Vonex, AVOXI, Sipnetic and most Australian VoIP and landline providers. No number porting, no SIM changes, no disruption for your customers.

Yes. Direct integrations include Cliniko, Power Diary, Google Calendar, Microsoft 365 Outlook, Calendly, Square Appointments, Mindbody, ServiceM8, Xero, HubSpot and Pipedrive. For platforms without a direct connection, we route the booking via Zapier or Make so the appointment still lands in the right place, appearing in your live calendar within seconds along with the caller's details and a recording of the call.

Three escalation paths. If the question is in scope but the specific answer isn't configured, it apologises, takes a message, and texts you the question, typically within 15 to 60 minutes of your review. If the question is out of scope but routine, such as a billing dispute, it routes to a designated escalation number. If the call is flagged as urgent, it routes immediately to your on-call mobile and stays on the line until someone picks up. The system never leaves a caller stranded.

Two ways, depending on the situation. A cold transfer forwards the caller straight to your escalation number and drops off, which suits routine routing like a billing query going to accounts. A warm transfer keeps the AI on the line, briefs whoever picks up on who's calling and why, and only then hands over, which is what we use for urgent or sensitive calls so nobody has to repeat themselves. There's no number porting involved, your existing business number is simply forwarded, and because the system handles unlimited concurrent calls, a transfer never ties up the line for the next caller.

Call recordings and transcripts run on Australian-hosted infrastructure, and the data stays yours: every recording, transcript and contact exports cleanly if you ever leave. Access is restricted to your account, and we don't sell or reuse call data. For clinics and other regulated businesses, the medical version is configured around AHPRA advertising rules and the higher bar for handling sensitive health information. If you have a specific data-residency or retention requirement, we set it during discovery.

Most businesses are live within 2 to 4 weeks: discovery call, script writing and voice selection in week one, testing and edge-case handling in week two, then a parallel-run and full cutover across weeks three and four. It's month-to-month with 30 days' notice, with an optional 6-month plan if you want it. No technical knowledge is needed on your end, we configure everything.

Yes. The system is timezone-aware across Brisbane (AEST, no daylight saving), Sydney, Melbourne and Hobart (AEDT/AEST), Adelaide (ACDT/ACST) and Perth (AWST). Times quoted to callers localise to the business's primary timezone by default, and after-hours rules respect the business's local time rather than the caller's.

It handles unlimited concurrent calls. A rush of after-hours or overflow calls all get answered at once, nobody queues, nobody hits a busy signal, and nobody is bounced to voicemail because every operator is already on a call.

Yes. Play the voice samples on this page for a feel, or head to our full voice selection page to compare every available voice side by side. We can also send a short sample call recording for your industry within an hour of your discovery enquiry, no commitment required.