An AI phone PA for your business

Step by step.

1. 01

   Choose the first jobs

   We start with a short list of well-defined jobs, such as reading out today’s diary, booking a slot or drafting a quote email. For each, we agree what it may do on its own and what always needs your spoken yes.

2. 02

   Set up the number

   A private Twilio number answers your calls. It recognises the phones it should accept and adds a second check, such as a spoken passphrase, before it does anything. Calls from unknown numbers end politely.

3. 03

   Connect the tools

   Each tool is connected through MCP with its own account and only the permissions the agreed jobs need. The assistant can’t reach anything that isn’t connected, and any tool can be disconnected without affecting the others.

4. 04

   Understand the request

   Your speech is transcribed as you talk. Claude works out which job you mean, which tools it needs and what it must check first, and asks a short question when the request is unclear.

5. 05

   Read back the details

   Before acting, it reads back the names, dates and amounts it heard. Anything that spends money, emails a customer or can’t be undone waits for a clear yes, and a no or silence cancels it.

6. 06

   Carry out the job

   It books the slot, drafts the email or raises the invoice in your own systems, then tells you in a sentence or two what it did, in an ElevenLabs voice. If a step fails, it says so and leaves a note.

7. 07

   Log every call

   Each call is logged with what was asked, what was read back, what you confirmed and what changed in each tool. You can check the log at any time and put anything right.

8. 08

   Use it, then extend

   The first jobs run for a few weeks of real calls. We review the log together for misheard requests and refused jobs, then add new jobs one at a time, each with its own permissions and confirmation rules.

Before we connect it.

Who it’s for

For owners and managers of small UK businesses who spend most of the day away from a desk: trades, field service firms, consultants, agency owners and people running more than one site. It suits someone who already keeps the diary, email and accounts in online tools, and who saves the admin for the evening. A business where an office team already handles that admin, or whose records aren’t yet kept in online tools, will get less from it.

Where this is useful

Useful for owners who spend the day on site or on the road and keep a list of admin for later. A sensible first version handles a handful of well-defined jobs, such as booking, quoting and checking the diary, before it is given more.

What we need to connect

1. 01A phone number the PA answers, the callers it should recognise and a check that it is really you.
2. 02Access to the tools it should act in, such as your calendar, email and accounting, through accounts with only the permissions it needs.
3. 03The jobs it may do on its own, and the ones that always need your spoken yes first.

What needs careful handling

Speech can be misheard, so names, dates and amounts are read back before anything is booked or sent. If a request is unclear or outside what it is allowed to do, it says so and leaves a note rather than guessing. Calls are logged with what was asked and what was done, so anything can be checked or put right later.

What it takes to build.

Effort and timeline

A first version that recognises your number, handles two or three jobs such as reading the diary, booking a slot and drafting an email, and logs every call is usually around two to three weeks of build, then a few weeks of everyday use before more is added. Each extra tool, more callers and anything that touches money add time, because each needs its own permissions and confirmation steps. You provide access to the tools and decide which jobs need your yes.

Off-the-shelf options

The voice assistants on phones can set reminders, send messages and add calendar events by speech, and some business tools now include AI assistants inside their own apps. AI receptionist services answer calls for a business and take messages or bookings, which is a different job: they talk to your customers rather than act for you. General automation platforms such as Zapier or Make can run tasks from a transcribed voice note or message. These cover simple requests well. They usually stop at acting across several of your own systems in one call, checking it is really you and asking before anything risky.

When a custom build makes sense

A custom build makes sense when the jobs you want done span several tools, such as checking the diary, raising an invoice and emailing the customer in one call, or reach records only your business holds. It also matters when the permissions, confirmations and call log need designing around how you work. If phone reminders and dictated messages already cover what you need, they are simpler to run.

Questions people ask.