After hours answering: questions and answers
Plain answers to common questions about AI after hours answering. In short: an AI voice agent with an Australian voice answers your calls at night, on weekends and on public holidays, urgent calls go to your on-call person, and the Yes AI Professional plan includes 1,500 minutes of talk time a month.
Callers and the conversation
Does the caller know they are talking to an AI?
They should. You approve the greeting before go-live, and we recommend it says plainly that the caller has reached an AI assistant answering for your business. The agent is also set up to say it is an AI whenever a caller asks if they are speaking to a real person. Being upfront from the first sentence also heads off complaints later from callers who feel they were misled.
Will it understand accents and callers with English as a second language?
The agent speaks with an Australian voice and listens through speech recognition, which works best on a clear line. Errors are more likely with weak mobile reception, wind or traffic noise, and very fast or unclear speech. To catch mistakes, it can ask callers to spell names and it reads numbers and addresses back. Include the accents your callers have in your test calls during setup, and if many callers speak a language other than English, say so at the start so the script and testing allow for it.
What happens if the AI cannot help a caller?
It does what a sensible receptionist does with a question outside their role: it records who called and why, tells the caller when to expect a call back, and sends you the message. If the call meets one of your urgent rules, it puts the caller through to your on-call person or texts them instead. The agent is set up to answer only from information you have approved and to take a message for everything else.
Can a caller ask to speak to a person?
Yes, and you decide what follows. Common choices are a transfer to the on-call person during set hours, a transfer only when the matter is urgent, or a message for a call back the next morning. Whichever you pick, the agent tells the caller what will happen next, so nobody is left on hold for a transfer that is never going to connect.
Your number, your data and the law
Can I keep my existing phone number?
Yes. Your number stays with your current carrier, and a divert sends calls to the agent after hours, when the line is busy or when nobody answers. Callers keep dialling the number on your van, website and business cards. The small business page explains diverting and what to know if you ever change carrier.
Are calls recorded, and do callers have to agree?
Recording and full transcripts are part of the Yes AI Custom plan; on Starter and Professional you get a written summary of each call instead. Wherever calls are recorded, the greeting should say so up front. Victoria’s Surveillance Devices Act 1999 makes it an offence for someone who is not part of a private conversation to record it without the express or implied consent of each party, and other states have their own rules. Telling every caller at the start gives them notice and a chance to hang up. This is general information, not legal advice.
Where is caller information stored, and who can see it?
Call details go to the people you nominate, by email and SMS, and into any software you connect. The Yes AI privacy policy says information may be processed outside Australia, including for cloud hosting and AI platform services, so ask for specifics if your industry has rules about where data sits. Businesses covered by the Privacy Act 1988 follow the 13 Australian Privacy Principles, which include steps to take before personal information goes overseas.
Setup, hours and costs
How long does setup take?
Yes AI confirms the timing in a written quote, because it depends on how many call types, rules and software links your business needs. Yes AI does the building and testing. Your part is agreeing the triage rules and ringing in test calls, so having a few weeks of call records and your on-call roster ready speeds things up. The triage guide shows what to prepare.
Does it answer on public holidays?
Yes, as long as your plan’s schedule includes them. Load the public holidays for every state you trade in, plus any local days, before the year starts. In Victoria the ones left in 2026 are Melbourne Cup Day (Tuesday 3 November), Christmas Day, Boxing Day and the additional holiday on Monday 28 December, according to Business Victoria. Other states and territories publish their own lists.
Can one agent answer for several locations?
Several locations are handled on Yes AI’s Custom plan, which its price list describes as a multi-agent setup for larger teams and multi-location businesses, so each site can have its own greeting, rules and on-call roster. Tell us in your quote request how many numbers and sites you have, and which calls should be shared between them.
Does it work with my booking or practice software?
The integrations on Yes AI’s list are Xero, Cliniko, ServiceM8, HubSpot, Salesforce, Zoho, Google Workspace and Microsoft 365. For other software, the agent connects through your practice management or CRM system’s API where it has one; where there is no API, details arrive by email for your team to enter. CRM integration and appointment booking start on the Professional plan.
What does it cost?
Night and weekend answering starts on the Professional plan at $599 per month, with a $999 one-off setup and 1,500 included minutes, all ex GST. Starter costs less but answers during business hours only. The cost guide compares pricing models across the market and works through an example.
Can I cancel?
Yes. Yes AI plans are month to month, with no lock-in contract and no penalty for leaving; give 30 days notice. Because the service works through a divert on your own number, ending it is a change to your phone settings, and the number stays with you.
What if the answering service itself goes down?
Ask this of any provider before you sign. A sound setup has a fallback: if the service cannot take a call, the call falls through to voicemail or a nominated mobile, and you are told about the outage. Check the fallback path during setup rather than finding out on a busy night.
To hear the agent answer with your own business details, ask for a demo through the enquiry form.