# An AI receptionist that answers your business phone when you cannot.

**Yes. Blue Crane Works, in Hamilton, Ontario, sets up an AI receptionist on your business phone number.** It answers in a natural voice, tells callers it is a virtual assistant, answers only from facts you approve, and takes the caller's name, number and what they need. When the call ends it texts you the message and can send it into your own app. Call our own line, [289-769-9808](tel:+12897699808), to hear it. Priced in writing for each business.

Verified 19 October 2026 against test calls on our own live line and Microsoft's Voice Live documentation

The call, 7:40 on a Saturday evening
**Receptionist:** Thanks for calling Mason Plumbing. This is Harper, the virtual assistant. How can I help?

**Caller:** There's water coming through my kitchen ceiling.

**Receptionist:** I'm sorry, that sounds stressful. Can I get your name and the best number to reach you?

The text you get when they hang up
Mason Plumbing: your assistant took a call (sounds urgent). Dana Patel, 905-555-0142. Water coming through the kitchen ceiling under the upstairs bathroom; wants someone today. At: Stoney Creek.

An example. The business and the caller are made up; the text follows the exact format the receptionist sends.

## The grind

- Calls that ring out while you are on a roof, under a sink or driving

- Voicemails with half a number and no name

- Evening and weekend calls nobody picks up

- Writing callers' details on the back of an invoice between jobs

- An answering service that bills by the minute and still only takes a message

## What happens when someone calls?

The receptionist picks up, says it is a virtual assistant, and has a normal
conversation: what the caller needs, answers from your approved facts, then their name, number and
address. When the call ends it writes the call up and texts it to you, and the caller gets a short
thank-you text with a way to opt out.

1. Twilio carries the call from your number to the receptionist over a live audio stream ([Twilio Media Streams](https://www.twilio.com/docs/voice/media-streams)).

2. Microsoft's [Azure AI Voice Live](https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/ai-services/speech-service/voice-live) listens and speaks. Microsoft describes it as low-latency speech-to-speech for voice agents; in our own test calls in October 2026 it replied about two seconds after the caller stopped talking.

3. It answers only from a written brief of your services, hours and prices. Anything the brief does not cover, it says the team will confirm.

4. If the caller talks over it, it stops and listens.

5. When the line closes, it writes up the call: name, callback number, what they need, how urgent, and the address or town. That message is texted to you and, if you have one, sent into your app.

## Can I hear it before I buy it?

Yes. Call [289-769-9808](tel:+12897699808). That is Blue Crane's own
receptionist, Harper, answering for us. Ask it what we do, what a website costs, or anything else, and
leave your name and number. It writes up the call and texts it to Trevor, the same way it would text
you. It is running on our own line today; it is not yet answering for a client, and we will say so
until it is.

## What we build

**Running today: a natural voice that waits its turn**A Microsoft neural voice, about two seconds from the caller stopping to the reply in our test calls, and it stops talking the moment the caller does.

**Running today: only your facts**It answers from a brief you approve line by line. It never quotes a price, promises a time, books a slot or agrees to a discount unless the brief says so.

**Running today: the message, written for you**Name, callback number, what they need, how urgent, and where, texted to you when the call ends. The full transcript is kept with it.

**Running today: safety, spam and cost limits**Anyone describing danger, fire, a gas smell or flooding near electrical is told to hang up and call 911. Sales pitches get a polite goodbye. A daily call cap and a time limit on each call keep the bill predictable.

**Set up for your business: rings you first, or transfers**It can ring your cell first and answer only the calls you miss, or answer every call and put callers through to a person during your hours.

**Set up for your business: into your own app**If we built your custom application, every call lands in it as a record, and the receptionist can be given lookups into it, such as where a job stands.

## What it costs

Priced for each business in writing, before anything is signed, and added to the same monthly bill as your website or app if you have one with us.

AI Receptionist

Quoted *in writing*

Quoted for your call volume and setup before anything is signed.

Your own receptionist on your number.

- Answers in a natural voice, at any hour

- Answers only from facts you approve

- The message texted to you after every call

- A thank-you text to the caller

- Rings you first, or transfers during hours

- Into your app, if we built it

Hear it first: call [289-769-9808](tel:+12897699808), or [book a 30-minute call](https://bluecraneworks.ca/solutions.html#contact). Prices in CAD, plus HST. Existing clients keep the rate they signed.

## Which setup fits my business?

There are three ways to put it on your phone. Most trades start with the second:
your phone still rings, and the receptionist only picks up the calls you cannot.

| Setup | What happens to a call | Suits |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Answers every call | The receptionist picks up straight away, every time, and you get the message. | A business with nobody free to answer during the day. |
| Rings you first | Your phone rings first. If you do not answer, the receptionist picks up. | An owner who answers when they can and wants every missed call caught. |
| Answers, then transfers | The receptionist answers and, during your hours, puts the caller through to a person once it has their name and number. | An office with someone to take the hot calls. |

## How is it different from voicemail or an answering service?

Voicemail asks the caller to talk to a beep and leaves you a recording to play
back. An answering service puts a person on a script. The AI receptionist answers questions from your
own facts, at any hour, and hands you a written message instead of a recording.

| Question | Voicemail | Blue Crane AI receptionist |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Can the caller ask a question? | No. | Yes, and it answers from the brief you approved. |
| What do you get? | A recording, often with no name or a half-heard number. | A text with the name, the number read back to the caller, the need, the urgency and the address. |
| Does the caller hear back? | Only when you call. | A thank-you text straight away, then your call. |
| Into your app? | No. | Yes, if we built your app. |

## Does the caller know it is an AI?

Yes. It introduces itself as a virtual assistant in its greeting, and it says it
is an AI plainly if anyone asks. It is not set up to pass for a person. It does not give legal,
medical, safety or financial advice, and it never invents a name, a number or an address: when it
did not catch something, it asks again.

## Where do the calls go, and what is kept?

Calls are not processed in Canada. The receptionist runs on Microsoft Azure in the
United States (the [East US 2 region](https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/reliability/regions-list)), and the model behind it is what Microsoft calls a
Global deployment, which Microsoft says [may be processed in any Azure region](https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/ai-foundry/foundry-models/concepts/deployment-types). It can be pinned to the US data zone instead
if you need that. The audio of the call is not recorded. The transcript and the message are stored
by Blue Crane and sent to you, and they are governed by Canadian privacy law,
[PIPEDA](https://www.priv.gc.ca/en/privacy-topics/privacy-laws-in-canada/the-personal-information-protection-and-electronic-documents-act-pipeda/). What callers are told is in
[our privacy policy](https://bluecraneworks.ca/privacy.html#phone).

## Does it work with my website or my app?

It works on its own, on any phone number. It also fits what we already build: on a
[managed website](https://bluecraneworks.ca/solutions/websites.html) the number on every page can be the one it
answers, and in a [custom application](https://bluecraneworks.ca/solutions/custom-applications.html) each call arrives
as a record on the right customer, with the transcript beside it. One company builds and runs all
three, so when something needs changing you call the person who set it up.

## What it replaces

- Voicemail nobody checks until the evening

- An answering service billed by the minute

- Callers' details written on the back of an invoice

- Calling back a number with no name attached

## Who it is for

Trades and local businesses whose phone rings while their hands are full: plumbers, roofers, heating and electrical shops, contractors, cleaners, clinics and studios. Available to businesses in Hamilton, Stoney Creek, Ancaster, Dundas, Waterdown, Burlington, Grimsby and Brantford, and remotely anywhere in Ontario.

## What week one looks like

1. A call with you: what callers ask, what you charge, your hours, and anything that must never be said on the phone.

2. We write the brief the receptionist answers from, and you approve every line of it.

3. It goes on a new local number, or your calls forward to it, ringing you first if you like. You call it yourself until it sounds right.

4. Then it goes live, and every message lands on your phone as a text.

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Source: https://bluecraneworks.ca/solutions/ai-receptionist