What is Virtual Receptionist?

A virtual receptionist is a remote receptionist service — human, AI or a mix of both — that answers a business's calls without sitting in its office.

Virtual receptionists answer calls in the business's name, take messages, book appointments and route calls. The term covers human teams working remotely, fully automated AI receptionists, and hybrid services where AI handles routine calls and people handle the rest.

Businesses choose a virtual receptionist to cover overflow, lunch breaks, evenings and weekends without hiring full-time front-desk staff.