FAQ
Short, plain-English answers to the questions we hear most often
from small business owners evaluating an AI voice receptionist.
The basics
An AI voice receptionist is software that answers your business phone line in a natural-sounding human voice, has a real conversation with the caller, and captures the information you would normally have a receptionist write down. DeskAgent is built specifically for small and mid-sized service businesses: it answers questions about your hours and services, qualifies the caller, and books appointments directly into your calendar.
DeskAgent starts at $397 CAD per month for a single location with 200 included call minutes and a one-time $500 setup fee. Multi-location plans are $798 per month with 600 included minutes and a $1,500 setup fee. Enterprise plans for organizations with more than 20 locations are custom-priced. See our pricing page for the full breakdown.
Yes. DeskAgent's default workflow writes confirmed appointments directly into your Google Calendar and logs every call in a Google Sheet, so your team can see who called, why, and when they are scheduled — all in tools you already use. No new software for your staff to learn.
A standard single-location setup is live in 7 to 10 business days. During onboarding we map your business hours, services, pricing guidance, intake questions and booking rules, customize the agent's voice and script, and run a calibration pass on test calls before we route your real line.
In most setups, yes. We do not require you to port your number. DeskAgent typically goes live behind your existing number using call forwarding — either after-hours only or 24/7, depending on your plan — so customers keep dialing the number they already know.
DeskAgent has no long-term contracts. You can cancel monthly with 30 days' notice. We will stop answering calls on your line at the end of your billing period and hand back any captured data and configuration.
How it works
Yes. DeskAgent supports multilingual conversations, including English and French, and can switch languages mid-call when a caller responds in another language. Additional languages can be configured during onboarding to match your customer base.
DeskAgent is configured with explicit fallback rules. When a caller asks something outside its knowledge — a clinical question, a complex pricing scenario, a complaint — the agent acknowledges it, captures the caller's details and the question, and creates a flagged callback task in your Google Sheet so a human on your team follows up. You always stay in control of your sensitive conversations.
A traditional answering service uses human agents who handle calls in queue and typically charge per minute or per call. DeskAgent answers every call in parallel with no queue, captures structured data into your calendar and sheet automatically, runs 24/7 without shift gaps, and is priced as a flat monthly subscription. See our DeskAgent vs Answering Service comparison for a side-by-side breakdown.
Voicemail with transcription is a one-way recording — the caller leaves a message, you read it later. DeskAgent has a real two-way conversation: it answers questions, qualifies the caller, books an appointment, and confirms it before the caller hangs up. For service businesses, that converts more callers into booked customers.
DeskAgent's standard workflow uses Google Calendar and Google Sheets, which most small businesses already have. Direct integrations into practice-management systems like Dentrix, Open Dental, ABELDent, Mindbody, Jane, or scheduling tools like Calendly are available as custom add-ons — we scope these during the discovery call.
Privacy & industry
Yes. We have a configuration tuned for dental offices that captures insurance carrier, procedure type, urgency level, and preferred appointment window, and is set up to handle PIPEDA and Ontario PHIPA expectations. See our dedicated page on AI receptionist for dental practices for the full intake script and privacy details.
By default, captured caller data is written to your own Google Workspace — your Google Sheet and Google Calendar, under your account. DeskAgent does not resell, share, or repurpose your caller data. Access to the underlying call platform is restricted to the DeskAgent operations team for support and quality monitoring.
DeskAgent is designed around the principles of Canada's Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA): we collect only the personal information needed to handle the call, the data is stored under your business's own Google Workspace account, and we sign a written service agreement covering handling and retention. For health-care practices in Ontario, we additionally align with PHIPA expectations on patient information.
DeskAgent is a Canadian service operated out of North York, Ontario. We currently serve businesses across the Greater Toronto Area and surrounding regions in Ontario, with expansion to Calgary and the rest of Alberta planned.
Book a demo and we'll walk through your current call flow, where opportunities are being missed, and how DeskAgent can be tailored to your operation.
Book a Demo