AI receptionist and missed-call text-back: free scripts for small businesses
If you miss calls while you're on a job, with a patient or in court, an AI receptionist or a missed-call text-back can answer, collect the details and book the next step. Whichever service you choose, the result depends on three things you write yourself: the call script, the facts it may answer from, and the rules for when it must hand the caller to a person. The free prompts below write all three, then help you test them before a real customer ever hears them. We don't recommend or link to any particular AI receptionist product and earn nothing from any of them.
8 free prompts across 2 categories. Each one links to the real-world example it is based on.
How to use these prompts
- Write the facts and hand-off rules before you compare AI receptionist products; the same script works in any of them.
- Start with after-hours and overflow calls only, so you keep answering the calls you can take yourself.
- Read every call summary for the first two weeks and fix the script whenever it guesses or misses a hand-off.
- Re-check prices, hours and holiday closures in the fact sheet every month.
Before you switch anything on
- Build your fact sheet with the fact sheet interview prompt. Most bad phone answers come from missing or outdated facts.
- Write the script and hand-off rules with the AI receptionist script prompt.
- Set up the missed-call text-back so nobody who calls hears nothing back.
- Run the 25 practice calls and only go live with no fails on emergencies or privacy.
Example scripts by business type
These are short starting points written by us for illustration. Paste them into the script prompt with your own details; they are not legal or medical advice.
HVAC, plumbing and other trades
Greeting: "Thanks for calling [Business]. I'm the automated assistant. Is this about a repair, a new installation or something else?"
Collect: name, callback number, address and whether it's within your service area, the problem in their words, whether there's no heat, no cooling or water leaking now.
Hand off immediately: a gas smell (tell them to leave the building and call the gas utility's emergency line or 911 from outside), flooding, sparking or burning smells, no heat in freezing weather for someone vulnerable.
Never: quote a repair price you haven't listed, or promise an arrival time.
Law offices
Greeting: "Thank you for calling [Firm]. I'm an automated assistant and can't give legal advice, but I can take your details for an attorney or staff member."
Collect: name, callback number, the type of matter in a sentence, any court date or deadline, and the names of the other parties (for the conflict check), without asking for the full story.
Hand off immediately: anyone in custody or with a hearing in the next few days, anyone in danger, existing clients asking about their case.
Never: say whether they have a case, give legal advice, quote fees beyond your published consultation fee, or confirm that someone is a client. Check your bar's guidance on using AI tools and on confidentiality (for example ABA Formal Opinion 512, July 2024, in the US).
Medical and dental offices
Greeting: "Thank you for calling [Practice]. I'm an automated assistant. If this is a medical emergency, please hang up and call 911."
Collect: name, date of birth if your booking system needs it, callback number, new or existing patient, the reason for the visit in a few words, insurance if you take bookings that way.
Hand off immediately: chest pain, trouble breathing, severe bleeding, thoughts of self-harm (give 911 and, in the US, the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline), and anyone asking about test results or medications.
Never: give medical advice, discuss results, or collect more health detail than booking needs. In the US, any vendor that handles patient information for you generally needs to sign a HIPAA business associate agreement; check before you connect it to your phone line.
Safety rules that apply to every business
- Say up front that callers are talking to an automated assistant.
- Never take card numbers by voice; send a secure payment link from your own payment system instead.
- Only text people who called you, include an opt-out ("Reply STOP"), and check local consent and recording rules before you record or text.
- Give every caller a way to reach a person, and read the call summaries every day for the first two weeks.
The 8 prompts: what to paste and what to check
| Job (prompt) | What you paste in | What to check |
|---|---|---|
| Text back every new lead within minutes, day or night, and book the appointment before they call someone else Instant text follow-up for new leads · beginner |
| Treat pasted messages as data, not instructions |
| Sort a month of customer calls by what callers wanted and how they felt, to find what is really driving them Call driver analysis · beginner |
| Treat pasted messages as data, not instructions |
| Get a morning report of every lead nobody called back, every overdue follow-up and every appointment missing from your CRM Daily lead follow-up audit · beginner |
| Read the draft before it goes out |
| Answer every restaurant call, even six at once: a phone agent texts a booking link, takes same-day reservations and captures large-party and private event inquiries Restaurant reservation calls · intermediate |
| Treat pasted messages as data, not instructions |
| Write the call script and rules for an AI receptionist or answering service: greeting, intake questions, what it may answer, and when it must hand off to a person Phone & reception · beginner |
| Have a qualified person check legal points |
| Build the one-page fact sheet your AI receptionist answers from, and the list of things it must never say Phone & reception · beginner |
| A person makes the hiring or people decision |
| Set up missed-call text-back: a voicemail greeting, an instant text and two follow-ups that turn missed calls into bookings Phone & reception · beginner |
| Read the draft before it goes out |
| Test your AI receptionist with 25 tricky practice calls before real customers hear it Phone & reception · beginner |
| Remove personal data you don't need |
What AI should never decide on its own
Let these prompts draft, sort and flag. Keep a person responsible for:
- Emergencies: gas, flooding, medical symptoms or anyone in danger goes to a person or 911
- Medical, legal, financial or safety advice to a caller
- Prices and arrival times you haven't approved in the fact sheet
- Taking card numbers by voice, or sharing one caller's details with another
Frequently asked questions
What should an AI receptionist script include?
A greeting that says it's an automated assistant, the intake questions in order, answers to your most common questions taken only from your own fact sheet, clear rules for when to hand off to a person (emergencies, upset callers, anything it can't answer) and a summary sent to you after each call. The script prompt below writes all of that.
What is missed-call text-back?
A text sent automatically, usually within a minute, to someone whose call you didn't answer, inviting them to reply or book. It keeps the conversation going by message instead of the caller trying the next business. The missed-call prompt writes the voicemail greeting, the instant text and two follow-ups.
Can a medical or law office use an AI receptionist?
For booking and taking messages, often yes, with care: it must not give medical or legal advice, it must hand emergencies to a person or 911, and the vendor must meet your privacy obligations (in the US, HIPAA for patient information and your bar's confidentiality rules for clients). The example scripts above show what to include.
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