Solutions · Customer service
A virtual receptionist for your business: an AI bot that answers customers on WhatsApp
A virtual receptionist is an AI bot that answers customers on WhatsApp, 24/7, in Hebrew or English, only from the business information you entered. Ariko understands voice notes and images, books appointments, and offers to pass what it doesn't know to a member of the team. You can take over any chat. Testing is free; WhatsApp is paid.
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What the virtual receptionist does, and what stays with you
The bot answers
- The questions that repeat: hours, services, prices, location, policies — if they are in the business's information.
- Booking, cancelling and moving appointments in Google Calendar.
- Voice notes and images, as part of the conversation.
- Several messages in a row: it waits a few seconds and answers them together.
- Collecting details before handing over, if that's the goal you set.
- Evenings, nights and weekends — without your phone having to be on.
Stays with you
- Anything not written in the business's information — the bot doesn't guess.
- Discounts, exceptions and judgement calls.
- A customer angry about a fault or the service — the bot hands over at once.
- Professional, medical or legal advice.
- Any chat you choose to take yourself.
What it answers from — and what it does when it doesn't know
Ariko answers factual questions only from the business's information and the rules you wrote. Prices, discounts, cancellation policy and turnaround times it states only if they are written there — no "usually", no "of course".
- A question with no answer in the information. It answers what it does know, says someone from the team can answer the rest, and offers to pass it on. Only when the customer agrees does the question reach you — and the bot keeps helping with everything else until someone from the team replies.
- A customer who asks for a person. The bot stops answering in that conversation, and you get an alert.
- Take over with a click. In the inbox you take any conversation, and the bot stops there at once. When you're done, you hand it back.
- Replying from your phone. When someone from the team replies to a customer from the WhatsApp Business app, the bot stops answering in that conversation until it is handed back — so it never talks over you.
- Feedback on replies. Mark a poor reply, write what it should have said, and the correction goes into the business's information.
What it looks like in a chat
An illustration: a made-up phone repair lab, not a real customer. Its information has the opening hours, and says a repair is priced after a check in the lab. How long a repair takes is not written.
A virtual receptionist or a human virtual assistant?
"Virtual assistant" sometimes means a bot and sometimes a service of real people answering in the business's name. They are different things:
| Compared | AI bot on WhatsApp | Remote human assistant |
|---|---|---|
| Response time | Seconds, at any hour | During the service's hours |
| What it knows | Only what is in the business's information | What was explained to them, plus judgement |
| Phone calls | No — WhatsApp messages only | Usually yes |
| Chats at once | As many as arrive | As many people as are on shift |
| Fits better when… | The same questions repeat, appointments, lots of evening messages | Most enquiries are calls, and each one is different |
Want to see how one is built? How to build a WhatsApp bot for your business.
Frequently asked questions
What is a virtual receptionist for a business?
Software that answers customers in the business's name in a chat — with us, on WhatsApp — with nobody sitting at the screen. A good one answers only from the business's information, and passes to a person what it doesn't know.
Can the bot make up an answer?
Ariko is explicitly instructed to answer factual questions only from the business's information, and prices and policies only if they are written. What isn't written it doesn't guess: it says someone from the team can answer and offers to pass it on. That's why you test it in the test chat before a real customer writes.
What happens when a customer is angry or asks for a person?
A customer who asks for a person — the bot stops answering in that conversation and you get an alert. A customer angry about a fault or the service — the bot hands over to the team at once, without asking first.
Does the virtual receptionist understand voice notes?
Yes. Ariko understands voice notes and images and treats their content as part of the conversation. When a customer sends several messages in a row, it waits a few seconds and answers them together.
Does a business chatbot replace the team?
No. It takes the repeating questions and the booking, and leaves the team what needs a person — exceptions, complaints and questions whose answer isn't written. The team sees every conversation in the inbox and can take over at any moment.
How much does a virtual receptionist cost?
Build and test on the Free plan, $0 — No WhatsApp connection. For it to answer customers on WhatsApp: Solo $99 a month (1,000 messages, up to 2 users), Business $149, Growth $199 and Scale $399, before VAT. Meta's message charges are included.
Try it on your own business
Five short questions, and you are already talking to it in the test chat. Free, no credit card.
Start freeRelated: A WhatsApp bot for appointment booking · How to build a WhatsApp bot · Auto-reply or a bot? · What a WhatsApp bot costs