AI Front Office for Reception and Switchboard. A virtual receptionist service that puts every caller through
Zanus AI is an AI virtual receptionist service that answers your main number on the first ring, hears who or what each caller needs and puts them through to the right person or department. It gives hours and directions, takes messages, books visits, and answers the website chat, the info inbox and the contact forms too.
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7 days free · per company, never per seat · nothing to install
Easy setup
Answers & books
Sells
Helps your team
You talk. Lisa sets it up.
You“Calls about invoices go to accounts payable; if nobody is free, take a message.”
Lisa“Calls about invoices now ring accounts payable first, and the AI takes a message when nobody there is free. Apply?”
Any setting, in any module · applied only on your yes
Start with the one thing you need. Add more anytime by asking Lisa.
The whole Front Office › · All applications ›
Who reaches you
The people the AI answers for you
- Callers who know the reason for the call but not the name
- Suppliers asking where an invoice goes or when it will be paid
- Visitors confirming a meeting, the entrance and the parking
- Couriers looking for the delivery entrance or a signature
- Journalists and partners who need the right office
- Customers who want sales, support or billing without a phone menu
What it does
What an AI virtual receptionist service does for the front desk
One AI answers the main number and the doors around it from one set of approved answers, so the caller experience is the same front desk on the phone, in the chat and by mail.
The main line answered 24/7
AI Phone works as a call answering service on the number you publish and answers inbound calls on the first ring, in the caller's language, with no hold queue however high the call volume climbs.
Callers put through by what they say
The AI can route calls by reason and language: a caller who asks for accounts payable, a named colleague or whoever handles deliveries is put through, and your colleague hears who is calling and why first.
Message taking that reaches the desk
When nobody can take the call, the AI writes the message for the person it is meant for and reads the callback number back, so missed calls stop becoming lost ones.
Appointment scheduling with hosts
With AI Booking, a supplier or a visitor is offered only the free times of the host they asked for and booked during the call, with the confirmation sent at once.
The website and the info inbox
AI Webchat answers visitors from your pages by text or voice, and AI E-mail sorts what lands in the general address to the department it belongs to, a reply drafted.
Every call on the caller's record
Each call is saved with its transcript, its summary and its outcome, so the front desk sees who rang, who took it and what was promised without asking around the office.
The front desk's day
The moments a busy switchboard has to cover
8:30 AM, the building opens
Four lines ring at once as staff arrive. Each caller is answered on the first ring, a supplier is put through to purchasing, and two others get the parking answer without holding.
10:15 AM, a reason but no name
A caller needs whoever handles damaged deliveries and has nobody to ask for. The AI hears the reason, finds the department that owns it and connects the call with the reason announced.
1:00 PM, reception at lunch
The receptionist steps away and the AI goes on answering calls. A courier gets the delivery entrance, and a visitor running late reaches the host in the mobile app, told who is calling and why.
5:40 PM, the last calls
Callers ask about tomorrow. One books a meeting into a free slot of the host's calendar, one leaves a message for a manager on Do Not Disturb, and one hears the opening hours.
Real screens
The virtual receptionist service on real screens
Every picture is a real Zanus AI screen with demo data: what the front desk opens during the working day.
Weigh the options
Virtual receptionist services compared with a phone menu and a desk alone
What a caller gets from each way an organization usually covers its main number.
| What you need | A human receptionist alone | A recorded phone menu | Live answering services | Zanus AI |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Five calls at the same moment | One answered, four on hold | Every caller waits through the options | Answered in turn by live agents | Every call answered on the first ring: in the caller's language |
| A caller who knows only the reason | Asked to hold while she checks | Has to guess the right option | Noted and passed on later | Put through by what the caller says: with the reason told to your colleague first |
| The person asked for is busy | A paper slip on the desk | A voicemail box that may go unheard | A message e-mailed later | A message filed for that person: with the callback number read back |
| A meeting with a colleague | Booked if the calendar is at hand | Not possible | Written down for someone to book | Booked into the host's free slots: and confirmed before the call ends |
| The website, the inbox and the forms | Handled when there is time | Not covered | Usually a separate service | Answered from the same knowledge: by chat, by e-mail and on each form |
What goes to a person
Where the AI receptionist hands over to your people
Advice stays with professionals
For a bank, an insurer, a law firm or a public office, the AI answers only from the information you approved; questions of advice, eligibility, a legal matter or money go to a person.
Callers who ask for someone
Call handling is set per department: the AI answers alone, answers first or lets your people pick up first, and a caller who asks for a colleague reaches them within the hours they keep.
Nothing invented
When your knowledge holds no answer, the AI says so and offers a message or a colleague, and the question waits for you to answer it once for every channel.
Mail kept for a person
Messages for a department you set to approval, such as legal or press, wait in the info inbox with Lisa's draft for one of your people to read and send.
Ready in 2 minutes
Set up your virtual receptionist service in 2 minutes
Give Lisa your website
Lisa reads your website, then asks about your departments, who takes which calls, your opening hours and your callers' languages, and reads back what she understood.
Forward the main number
Forward your main line to your Front Office number and calls are answered from that moment, with no porting, no hardware and nothing to install.
Name your departments and people
Tell Lisa who handles purchasing, accounts, customer service or press and when each colleague can be reached; your call flows change as you talk, each shown before and after and applied on your yes.
Read the first week
Run it free for 7 days on your own main number, then read every call it answered, routed and booked, each with its transcript, when the week ends.
Reception and Switchboard in your trade
By industryLaw FirmsSmall BusinessHealthcareAccounting & Tax FirmsConsulting FirmsReal EstateEnterprise GroupsAssociationsMedia CompaniesSoftware & SaaSTravel AgenciesHardware & Electronics
Questions & answers
Virtual receptionist service: what buyers ask before they switch
What does a virtual receptionist service do?
Virtual receptionists pick up a company's phone when nobody at the front desk can, greet the caller, find out what they need and route the call. Zanus AI does that job as an AI virtual receptionist telephone answering service: it answers from the information you approve, puts callers through with the reason announced, takes messages with the number read back and books visits.
Is an AI virtual receptionist the same as a live receptionist service?
No. A live answering service puts its own live receptionists on your line, usually working from a script. Zanus AI is an AI on your own number that never closes, answers in the caller's language from your approved knowledge, and hands the caller to one of your own colleagues whenever your rules say a person should take the call.
Can an AI switchboard replace the phone menu on our main line?
Yes. Callers simply say who or what they need, in their own words and language, and the AI matches it to your departments and people. Nobody listens to a list of options first, and each department keeps its own rule: AI only, AI first or your people first.
How does the AI know who to put a caller through to?
From what you tell Lisa: your departments, who handles which calls, the languages each colleague speaks and the hours each person can be reached. Call routing follows the caller's reason and language, and your colleague hears who is calling and why before the line connects.
What happens when the colleague a caller wants is busy?
A colleague in a meeting or on Do Not Disturb is not rung. The AI tells the caller when that person will be back or takes the message, reads the callback number back digit by digit and files it for them. When nobody at all can be reached, the caller hears the honest line you wrote for that hour.
How much does a virtual receptionist service cost?
Zanus AI is priced per company, never per seat or per receptionist, so the main number, the info inbox and the website chat share one subscription for the whole organization. You choose the modules you need and add others later; the plans are on the pricing page, and the free trial runs 7 days with no credit card.
Which virtual receptionist service is best for a small business?
A virtual receptionist service for small business owners has to finish the call instead of only taking a note. For a small business the main number is often the only door, and AI answering on it means the first ring at any hour, callers put through to the right person, the visit booked and every call written down, on the business phone number you already have.
Can we keep the main phone number we publish today?
Yes. Call forwarding from the main number to your Front Office number is enough: the AI answers from that moment, with no porting and no new phone system. Moving the number in for good later is your choice: the port is arranged with your carrier, or the switchboard takes a new local number.
Does the virtual receptionist also answer the website, the info inbox and the forms?
Yes, with the modules you add. AI Webchat answers visitors by text or voice from your pages, AI E-mail sorts the general inbox to the right department with a draft ready, and AI Web Forms replies to each contact form on the spot. All of them answer from the knowledge the phone uses.
What does a caller hear on a holiday or after the office closes?
The message you wrote for that day, then the service you chose for closed hours: full AI service, take-a-message only or voicemail. Because the AI itself never closes, a caller at 7 PM can still get directions, leave a message for the right person or book a visit for the next morning.
Can a manager follow the calls the switchboard handles?
Yes. Like a supervisor in a call center, a manager can listen to a live call in real time, and every call is saved with its transcript, summary and outcome on the caller's record. The All calls register shows who handled each one and how it ended, and the morning briefing lists what came in overnight.
Is an AI receptionist safe for banks, insurers, law firms and public offices?
It answers only from the information the organization approved, such as hours, addresses, departments and how to reach them. A question that asks for legal, financial or insurance advice, or about someone's eligibility, is handed to a person or taken as a message for the right office, not answered by the AI.
How does an AI virtual receptionist phone answering service compare to hiring a human receptionist?
A human receptionist takes one call at a time during office hours and needs cover for lunch, holidays and sick days. The AI can answer calls on the first ring at any hour, several at once and in the caller's language, and passes the calls that need a person to your own receptionist or colleagues, with the reason announced.
Does the AI answer frequently asked questions on the phone?
Yes. Frequently asked questions about opening hours, directions, parking, deliveries and who handles what are answered from the knowledge you approved, in the caller's own words and language. A question with no approved answer is never guessed: the caller is offered a colleague or a message, and you answer it once for every channel.
Award-winning AI
Winner at CES 2026, ISE 2026 and TMCnet Enterprise AI Product of the Year.
REAL AI - the whole Front Office is AI, not old software with an AI button.
Awards & trade shows ›
Give Lisa your website.
She sets up your business in 2 minutes.
Other software makes you learn it. Zanus AI learns your business.
Try it free on your own business — no credit card, per company, never per seat.
Ready to buy? See plans & pricing ›
Or call +1 (954) 736-3939 — the AI answers.