When the office is closed.
An after-hours receptionist for evenings, weekends and the enquiries that would otherwise wait in voicemail. Choose the hours that suit your business.
AI voice agents for NZ businesses
On the tools?
We’ll take
the call.
Your next customer shouldn’t have to wait until you’re off the ladder. Give them a friendly AI receptionist that takes the details, answers questions and helps book the next step.
From $70 + GST/month
100 inbound minutes included. Standard setup $295 + GST.
After hours. On another call. Out on a job.
A 42-second example
From hello
to booked.
Hear how an AI receptionist helps a caller after hours and turns the enquiry into an appointment.
Press play and turn your sound on.
An after-hours enquiry6:15 pm
You’ve clocked off.
They’ve just called.
Caller“Hi, I need someone to look at our hot water cylinder.”
AI receptionist“I’m the team’s AI assistant. I can take a few details for them. Which suburb are you in?”
Illustrative conversation, not a live call or client result.
Ready for your next day
A useful message.
A warmer lead.
- What the customer needs
- Where the job is
- Who to call back
- A summary for your team
You can pick up the conversation without starting from scratch.
A small team.
A lot to get done.
You don’t need a busy call centre to make this useful. Start with the calls that interrupt your day or arrive when nobody is there.
When you’re out on the tools.
For builders, plumbers, electricians and small service teams. Stay focused on the customer in front of you while the next caller gets a helpful response.
When everyone is busy.
Back up your existing team when they’re with a customer or already on the phone. Let people answer first, then give callers another way to be heard.
More than
“leave a message”.
We set up the receptionist around your services, your customers and the next step you want each caller to take.
Give callers a welcome.
A friendly voice answers in your business name, explains it is an AI assistant and helps the caller take the next step.
Get the useful details.
Collect a name, contact number, location and what needs doing. You have the context for a useful callback, instead of a missed number.
Answer everyday questions.
Share your opening hours, service areas and approved business information. We build the answers around what you actually offer.
Make room in the diary.
Offer available times and book into a connected booking calendar. We agree which appointments the agent can make and test the booking rules.
Bring your team in.
Transfer to an agreed team number when a person is needed. If nobody is available, collect the details for your team to follow up.
Know what happened.
Review call summaries and transcripts, keep contact details together and receive an email recap so the next conversation starts in the right place.
What could those
calls be worth?
A few missed enquiries can add up. Put in your numbers to see the potential job revenue at stake, alongside the cost of AI phone cover.
Your business. Your numbers.
Use genuine customer enquiries, leaving out spam and sales calls.
The average sale or job you could book, excluding GST.
Of those enquiries, roughly how many would you normally win?
Potential job revenue at stake
$5,200per month
$62,400 over a year
Around 13 potential jobs a month from those missed enquiries.
Estimated AI phone cover$70 + GST/month
Include all calls the AI would answer. The first 100 minutes are included; extra minutes are $0.35 + GST.
$295 + GST standard setup, once. Forwarding, transfers, optional SMS and custom work are separate.
How we work this out
Weekly missed enquiries × average job value × win rate × 52 gives the annual revenue opportunity. Divide by 12 for a monthly average. AI cost is $70 per month plus $0.35 for each inbound minute above 100.
All figures are NZ dollars, excluding GST. These are editable examples, not a forecast or a promise of recovered sales. Revenue is not profit: allow for your labour, materials and other costs. Some enquiries may already convert through callbacks or other channels. The AI cost does not include the one-off setup or other charges listed above.
Potential revenue, not guaranteed sales or profit. An AI receptionist helps you respond; winning the work still depends on your business.
A fair comparison
A full-time hire.
Or AI phone cover?
People handle wider office work and complex judgement. AI can cover routine calls, overflow and after-hours enquiries when a little backup is useful.
Choose your salary assumption
See the base monthly figures
Enter an illustrative annual receptionist salary. This is your assumption, not a market estimate. The monthly figure is salary divided by 12 and excludes employer costs, recruitment and cover.
Default: NZ$55,000, an illustrative user assumption.
Enter a whole annual salary from $1 to $250,000.
| What matters | Full-time receptionist | VI AI receptionist |
|---|---|---|
| Cost | $4,583.33/monthSalary only. Excludes employer costs, recruitment and leave cover. | NZ$70 + GST/month100 inbound minutes included. NZ$295 + GST setup. Extra minutes NZ$0.35 + GST each. Transfers, SMS and provider charges are separate. |
| Coverage and hours | Works agreed hours and notices what needs attention around the office. | Set after-hours, busy-period or all-day cover around your team. |
| Routine questions | Adapts answers to context and spots when a question is unusual. | Answers agreed questions from your business information. |
| Appointment booking | Checks the right calendar and uses judgement about what to book. | Follows a standard booking or callback flow once configured. |
| Complex conversations and judgement | Best for sensitive, nuanced or unexpected conversations needing judgement. | Gathers the basics and hands over when a person should take the call. |
| Wider office tasks | Handles varied office work between calls, according to priorities. | Stays focused on the agreed call flow and defined connections. |
| Call notes | Writes notes your team can understand and act on. | Captures caller details, summaries and transcripts for review. |
| After-hours | Needs a roster, on-call arrangement or answerphone. | Covers evenings, weekends and busy moments when your team cannot answer. |
Use AI to cover the calls you miss, and keep your team for the conversations that need a person.
A useful extra
pair of hands.
Start with the everyday calls. We’ll help you work out whether the standard setup fits, and agree any extras before building them.
Your AI receptionist
Starter
$70+ GST / month
100 inbound minutes each month.
- After-hours, busy-time or all-hours cover
- A greeting and voice chosen with you
- Answers from your business information
- Caller details, summaries and transcripts
- A standard booking or callback flow
- Transfer rules and email recaps
- A local team to help you get set up
No fixed-term contract. Cancel any time.
For a more involved setup
Let’s map
it out.
More calls, several teams or systems that need to talk to each other? We’ll scope a plan around how you work.
- More detailed call flows and routing
- Multiple calendars or team requirements
- Connections to your existing CRM
- Specialist booking or job systems
- Additional follow-up workflows
Custom work is quoted separately.
$295 + GST
standard one-off setup
Your greeting, business information, call flow and testing with you. Complex integrations are quoted separately.
Keep the costs clear.
Extra inbound minutes: $0.35 + GST/min. Transfers to an NZ team number add $0.15 + GST/min for the phone leg. Your provider may also charge for forwarding calls.
Optional SMS and outbound calling are separate. We confirm their availability and charges before adding them. All prices are in NZ dollars.
Your number.
Even after hours.
Keep the number your customers already know, where your provider supports forwarding. We help you choose when calls come to the assistant and when they go to your team.
Already have a calendar, CRM or job system? We’ll check what can connect and what needs extra work, so the promise matches your setup.
Work out what fitsGood people.
Good feedback.
Hear from Kiwi business owners about working with Virtual Innovation on their websites and business systems.
We do the setup.
You try the calls.
We’re based in Auckland and work with businesses across New Zealand. You bring the business knowledge. We make it work on the phone.
Talk us through your day.
When do calls get missed? What do people ask? We map the useful jobs for your receptionist and confirm your phone setup and costs.
Make it sound like you.
We set up the voice, greeting, business answers and callback or booking flow. You try it with the questions your customers really ask.
Put it to work.
Together, we check the call routing, bookings and handovers. Then we switch on the agreed cover and show you where to find your call details.
Your questions.
Answered.
How much does an AI receptionist cost?
Our Starter plan is NZ$70 + GST per month with 100 inbound minutes. Standard setup is NZ$295 + GST once. Extra inbound minutes cost NZ$0.35 + GST each. More involved call flows and integrations are quoted separately before we start.
Can it just answer after hours or when I am on the tools?
Yes. We can configure after-hours cover, a backup when you cannot answer, or answering throughout the day. We check the routing with your phone provider and test when the assistant should pick up. It is a useful fit for tradespeople and small companies without a full-time receptionist.
Can I keep my business phone number?
Usually, by forwarding calls from your existing number to the assistant. Availability and forwarding charges depend on your phone provider. We check the options with you before setup, including what happens when the assistant transfers a call back to your team.
What is included in the setup?
For a standard setup, we agree the greeting and voice, add your business information, configure the call flow and handover rules, and test the agreed receptionist tasks with you. Specialist software connections or more complex requirements are scoped and priced separately.
Can it book appointments into my calendar?
Yes, using a configured booking calendar. Google and Outlook calendar connections can be assessed during setup. We check availability, appointment types and booking rules before switching booking on. Specialist job scheduling systems may need a separate integration.
What if the caller needs a real person?
We agree when the assistant should try your team and which number to use. If the call cannot be taken, the assistant can ask for callback details. It should pass on questions outside its approved information rather than make up an answer.
Are there other phone or messaging costs?
Your existing provider may charge for forwarded calls. A transfer to your team adds an NZ phone leg at NZ$0.15 + GST per minute. Optional text messages, outbound calling and custom integrations are separate from the inbound allowance, with scope and charges agreed before they are enabled.
Can it connect with our CRM or send follow-up messages?
We can save the caller details in the system and configure follow-up workflows. If you already use another CRM, booking tool or job management system, we check its connection options and quote any additional work first. SMS usage is charged separately.
Will callers know it is AI?
Yes. We set up a clear introduction and agree what the assistant can answer, what it should collect and when to hand over. We also agree any recording notice and how your team will access call information before launch.
Am I locked into a long contract?
No fixed-term contract for the monthly Starter plan. You can cancel any time. The one-off setup and any usage already incurred still apply.
No match yet. Try another word, or ask us when we chat.
Let’s catch
your next enquiry.
A free 30-minute chat about your business, the calls you’re missing and whether an AI receptionist could help.
Book your free 30-minute chat