Playbook
AI receptionist for a small business with Smith.ai
Direct answer
Smith.ai can answer a small business line on a free plan of 25 calls, then stop. The script takes a name, a number, and the job. It does not quote a price or promise a visit. Confirm callers can reach a normal UK number before you divert. This page has not been live-tested.
- Time to set up
- About an hour, plus test calls
- Difficulty
- comfortable
- Monthly cost, USD
- $0 for 25 real calls, then $3 a call
- Monthly cost, GBP
- £0 for 25 real calls, then about £2 a call
- Last tested
- Not yet tested
- Updated
- 25 October 2026
On 25 October 2026 Smith.ai's pricing page listed Free at $0 a month for 25 real calls, then $3 a real call. About £2 a call uses the planning rate of £1 = $1.33. Pro is a different playbook. VAT may be added. This is not a quote.
GBP figures are a budgeting conversion at £1 = $1.33 and €1 = £0.86, rounded to the nearest pound, fixed for this edition on 24 October 2026. They are not a live rate and not a quote. Vendor list prices are usually quoted before tax.
Primary tool: Smith.ai
Who it is for
A salon, coach, consultant, or cafe that misses calls and wants a message with a callback number, not a diary that books itself.
A missed-call text from a UK provider is still the cheaper test for many shops. The customer replies with the job and you ring them back. Use Smith.ai when you have heard it handle your own test calls better than that text, and when the number is one your customers will actually dial.
The answering-service page is the bill. The comparison is Lindy beside Smith.ai. Neither has been run on a live line.
What you need
- A written list of what the receptionist may and may not say.
- A second phone, so you can place test calls before any customer can.
- A plan for what happens when the 25 real calls are used.
Step by step
01
Write the five facts on paper
The receptionist may collect a name, a callback number, and what the person needs. It may ask whether the matter is urgent. It may not give a price, a deposit, or a time you will attend or call back beyond 'someone will ring you'. The first sentence says it is an automated assistant and that the call may be recorded.
02
Confirm the number your customers would dial
The pricing page checked on 25 October 2026 describes a transfer to a North America-based receptionist. It does not say you will be given a United Kingdom local number. During signup, confirm that callers in the UK can reach the line as a normal UK call. If they would need an international code, stop. Do not divert.
03
Put the script in before you go live
Use the vendor's test calls, which the pricing table listed separately from real calls. Try to make it quote a price and offer a day you are away. If it does either, change the instructions and test again. Add one sentence for danger: gas, fire, a flood that is still spreading, or anyone hurt means the emergency services, not troubleshooting.
04
Divert only the calls you do not answer
Turn on forwarding for unanswered calls, or publish the new number only as the out-of-hours line. Say on your own voicemail that an automated assistant may answer. Place a test from a second phone and check the name and number in the log against what you said. Divert is a setting on your phone line, not a promise from this page.
05
Stop at 25 real calls until you have listened
The free plan was 25 real calls a month, then $3 a call. Listen to those calls before you allow more. If numbers are wrong, tighten the read-back. If people hang up at the first sentence, shorten it. Known spam filtering and a spam allowance are described on the pricing page. Read that section so a junk call does not surprise the bill.
06
Read the log, then decide on Pro
For the first fortnight, check every message the same day. If the script held and the number was dialable, the answering-service playbook is the page that explains the $150 Pro bundle. If the script quoted a price, or callers could not get through on a normal UK number, turn divert off. Do not 'fix it later' while the phone is live.
What can go wrong
A number customers cannot dial
An overseas or awkward number is not a receptionist for a UK high street. Stop before the line is diverted. A missed-call text from a UK provider is the boring alternative.
A price or a promised visit
Helpful, here, is a callback. Any sentence with a pound amount or a day of the week is a failed test call. Change the script before a customer hears it.
The 25 calls treated as unlimited
After 25 real calls the page listed $3 a call. Spam can count, with the allowance the vendor describes. Know the cap before a busy Saturday spends it.
UK notes
Costs, including VAT
Budget £0 while you stay inside 25 real calls. Extra calls were listed at $3, about £2 at the planning rate of £1 = $1.33 fixed on 24 October 2026. That rate is not a live quote. VAT may appear on the invoice or, if you are VAT-registered and the supplier is overseas, may need reverse-charge treatment. Read the invoice. Do not divert a line you have not paid to understand.
Data flow
A recording plus a caller's name and number is personal data, processed by Smith.ai and by you. Tell the caller in the first sentence. You need a lawful basis under UK GDPR. The pricing page describes North America-based live agents, so a transfer can mean an international transfer. Read the vendor's terms and the ICO's international-transfer guidance before you turn that transfer on. This setup is not a licence to make marketing calls. PECR and the Telephone Preference Service are a stricter regime.
HMRC and Making Tax Digital
The cost is usually a business expense if the line is for the trade, which is a question for you or your accountant, not a promise from this page. Call answering does not keep digital records for Making Tax Digital. If your qualifying income puts you in Making Tax Digital for Income Tax, you still need compatible software for the records and the updates. A call log is not that software.
Practical orientation for a UK reader. Not tax, legal, or accounting advice.
Test log
Status: Pending first test
25 October 2026 · pending
Pending first test. The steps were compiled from Smith.ai's AI receptionist pricing page and have not been run on a live UK number.
Sources
- Smith.ai AI Receptionist pricing — accessed 25 October 2026
- Smith.ai AI Receptionist — accessed 25 October 2026
- ICO guide to PECR — accessed 25 October 2026
- ICO guide to UK GDPR — accessed 25 October 2026
Disclosure
AgentShed is independent and this playbook is not sponsored. There is no affiliate link on this page. If that changes, the link will use rel="sponsored" and a sentence beside it will say so. The verdict is not for sale.
Questions people ask
How is this different from the Lindy playbook?
Lindy is a tool you configure, and its public price is not stable. Smith.ai publishes a call bundle. Both stop if customers cannot dial a normal UK number. The comparison page puts them side by side without a score.
Can it book the appointment?
Not in this version. A salon colour or a coaching hour has a length you set on a booking page. The phone agent takes a message. The calendar link is a different playbook.
What if the signup screens have moved?
They will. The stable part is the script and the UK-number check. If a control named here is missing, use the contact form and treat the step as unverified.
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When this page is re-tested
One email when the log changes. No sequence of lessons.