An auto attendant is whatever answers the phone before a person does. The phone-tree kind reads a menu and routes by keypress. Ours asks the caller who they are and what they need, lets an AI read the answer, and then offers one choice. It answers in your business name, and it runs on the cell number you already give out.
We're describing exactly what your callers hear, because that's what matters when you're deciding whether to put something in front of your customers.
What callers hear, line by line
“Thanks for calling [business]. Who's calling, and how can we help today?”
Says their name and what they need. They have 4 seconds to start talking.
An AI model reads what they said and picks out their name, a short topic, whether it's a priority call, and whether it looks like spam. When in doubt, it's told to treat a human-sounding caller as a real person.
“Press 1 to connect with [business] and receive informational text messages about your inquiry. Message and data rates may apply. Reply STOP to opt out. Or press 2 to connect without text messages.”
Presses 1 or 2.
“Connecting you now.”
A first-time caller without a priority word, on any plan. On Receptionist, when the call is being recorded, the last line is “Connecting you now. This call may be recorded.”
What happens next
- They press 1
- The call connects, and they've agreed to texts about their inquiry. They also go on your 60-day verified list, so the next time they call, they skip the questions, and each call restarts the 60 days.
- They press 2
- The call connects with no texts. They go on the 60-day list too.
- They press nothing
- They hear “This number does not accept unsolicited calls. Goodbye.” and the call ends.
- They said nothing, or sounded like spam
- They aren't cut off. They get the same press 1 or 2 choice, with 4 seconds to press.
- They said one of your priority words
- They skip the text question, and your phone rings at once, for as long as 40 seconds, at any hour. They still hear the greeting first.
- You answer
- Before the caller is put through, a voice reads you their name and reason, and a beep follows. That part only speaks and beeps; there's no key for you to press during it.
- You don't answer
- On Pro, the caller goes to voicemail after up to 25 seconds of ringing. On Receptionist, the AI receptionist picks up instead (after 12 seconds of ringing in business hours), and the caller hears “Let me connect you to the receptionist. This call may be recorded.” Priority calls and saved contacts you miss go to voicemail.
Some callers never hear the script at all. Saved contacts, callers who passed in the last 60 days, and anyone who finished screening, left a voicemail or texted your VettedCalls number in the last 4 hours skip it. Numbers on your own spam list, or on the spam registry we share across every customer, are blocked with the goodbye line.
How it compares to a phone-tree auto attendant
Google Voice's automated attendant is a good example of the phone-tree kind. It comes with the Voice Standard and Premier subscriptions, and an administrator builds it in the Google Admin console. Callers hear a welcome message and menu prompts, like “For support, press one. For sales, press 2.” Each key can lead to a submenu, a message, voicemail, or a transfer to a user, a ring group, another attendant or an outside number. It can greet and route calls differently outside business hours and on holidays, and it needs a Voice number of its own that isn't assigned to a user.
| VettedCalls | Google Voice auto attendant | |
|---|---|---|
| What the caller does | Says who they are and why, then presses 1 or 2 | Listens to a menu and presses the key for an option |
| Where calls go | To you, or after hours on Receptionist, to the AI receptionist. With Team answering on Pro, every login rings at once and the first to answer gets it | To the users, ring groups, submenus, voicemail or numbers you set per key |
| Menu of departments | None. The only keys are 1 and 2, and both connect the call | Yes, one prompt per key, with submenus |
| After hours | On Receptionist, screened callers go straight to the AI receptionist; priority calls still ring you | An alternate greeting and handling outside your hours and on holidays |
| Phone number | You keep your cell number; we add a VettedCalls number behind it | A Voice number assigned to the attendant |
Our honest read: if you need “press 2 for billing” across several people or departments, a phone tree does that, and we don't. If your business is you, or you and a few teammates sharing one line with Team answering, and the problem is knowing who's calling before you talk, that's the job ours is built for.
An auto attendant for your cell phone
There's no desk phone and no new number to hand out. Setup on an iPhone or an Android phone goes like this:
- Install the free Cloud Softphone app from the App Store or Google Play. Your VettedCalls extension runs inside it.
- Open the VettedCalls welcome email on the phone and tap Activate VettedCalls. The app sets itself up.
- Allow the permissions the setup page lists for your phone.
- Dial your carrier's forwarding code from the phone's regular dialer, so every call to your cell comes to us first.
Your cell keeps its own number. We buy a new VettedCalls number for your account in the area code you signed up with, and your calls forward to it. Some prepaid and MVNO plans can't forward calls; if yours can't, you get a full refund within the first 14 days. The setup guide lists the forwarding code by carrier.
What it doesn't do
- No menu of departments or options. The press 1 or 2 step is about texts, and either key connects the call.
- No outbound calls. Callbacks go out from your own cell.
- No appointment booking. On Receptionist, the AI receptionist collects the caller's name, their reason and the days they're free, and you lock in the time when you call back.
- No live listening. Once a call connects, there's no way to listen in or join it.
If this sounds like what you want in front of your phone, the call screening page goes deeper on the screening step, and the AI receptionist page covers what happens when you can't answer. Plans are on the pricing page.