How to set up an AI phone for your business

Before you start

Have these to hand:

• Your website address. If you do not have one, a short page listing your services, hours and area will do.
• The phone number calls should be put through to, if you want a person to take some calls.
• A Google account that holds your business calendar, if you want it to book appointments.
• A few minutes to listen to the AI and correct it.

Step 1: Create your account

Sign up at prepaid.ai. The 7-day trial needs no card. Pick the country your business is in; this matters because it decides which local numbers are available, how the AI introduces itself and the currency for plans. We sell local numbers in New Zealand, Australia, the United States, the United Kingdom and Canada. See numbers.

Step 2: Paste your website

Paste your website address. The platform reads your site and works out what you do, where, and when. This takes a short while. It looks for things callers ask about: services, prices where you list them, opening hours, locations and common questions.

If your site is thin, that is fine; you can fill gaps by hand in step 4. If it has an FAQ page, a clear services list and your hours on a contact page, the AI will start much further ahead.

Step 3: Read your business profile

The platform builds a business profile from what it found. Read it carefully, as if you were a new hire reading a briefing:

• Is your business name right?
• Are the services accurate? Remove anything you no longer offer.
• Are the hours correct, including public holidays and any late nights?
• Is the service area right?
• Is anything missing that callers always ask about?

Correct what is wrong. This profile is what the AI knows, so a few minutes here saves awkward calls later.

Step 4: Talk to your AI in the browser

Before any caller reaches it, call it yourself from your browser. You do not need a phone number for this. Play a few callers:

• A customer asking your opening hours.
• Someone wanting a booking.
• A caller asking a question you do not want answered, such as an exact price.
• An urgent call.
• A caller who wants to speak to a person.

Listen for anything that sounds off. Note the answers you would change. This step is why the trial is useful: you hear exactly what your callers would hear.

Step 5: Adjust what it says

Now tune it. The settings that matter most:

1. The greeting. Short, warm, names your business, says it is an AI. Example: "Thanks for calling Bright Smile Dental. I'm the AI assistant. I can book you in, answer a question or take a message. How can I help?" The AI says it is an AI at the start of every call, so build your greeting around that rather than fighting it.
2. Your hours. What should it do during opening hours, and what after? Many businesses transfer calls to a person during the day and take messages at night.
3. Who to put through to. Choose the number for transfers. Decide which kinds of call deserve a transfer and which a message.
4. Urgent calls. Define what counts as urgent for your business, so those calls are marked and you see them first.
5. Things to avoid. If you do not want prices quoted over the phone, or medical or legal advice given, say so.

Industry pages such as salons and dental practices show how others in your trade shape these rules.

Step 6: Connect Google Calendar

If you want the AI to book appointments, connect your Google Calendar. During a call, it checks your calendar for real free times, offers them to the caller and books one in, so it does not offer a slot that is already taken.

Tips:

• Put your working hours in the calendar so free time means what you intend.
• Block holidays and lunch in the calendar, not just in your head.
• If you have different appointment lengths, tell the AI what each service takes.

prepaid.ai books into Google Calendar. See integrations for what the platform connects to, including the API, webhooks and MCP server for developers.

Step 7: Pick a prepaid plan and get a local number for your AI phone line

When you are happy with how it sounds, choose a prepaid plan. Each prepaid AI phone plan gives you an AI phone line for 30 days, with a local number, AI answering and minutes included: Lite is US$29 with 100 minutes, Standard is US$79 with 350, and Pro is US$149 with 900. See the pricing page for current details.

You then choose a local number in your country. Put it on your website, your Google listing and your signage.

Some countries need paperwork before a number can be switched on. If so, you are told what is needed when you choose your plan.

Already have a business number? Keep it and forward it

You do not have to give up the number your customers already know. Keep it, and forward its calls to your AI phone line with a short code dialled from your own phone. Your dashboard shows the exact codes for your number, so there is nothing to look up.

You choose how much it takes:

• Only the calls you don't answer. You pick up when you can, and your AI phone answers the rest.
• Calls while you're already on the phone. No caller hears an engaged tone.
• Calls when your phone is off or out of signal. Useful on a roof, in a basement or on a plane.
• Every call. Your AI phone answers everything, and puts through the calls you want to take.

Turning forwarding off is one code too. The codes shown follow the standard most mobile networks use, plus Verizon's own codes in the US. A landline or an office phone system can work differently, so check with your provider if a code does not take.

Step 8: Make a real test call

Once your AI phone line is live, ring it from your own mobile. Check the disclosure, a booking, a transfer and a message. Look at the call in your dashboard: recording, transcript and summary. Fix anything that bothers you and call again.

How do I write a good greeting?

Keep it to two or three short sentences.

• Start with your business name.
• Say it is an AI in plain words.
• Offer two or three things it can do.
• End with a question.

Avoid long lists of options. Callers want to be understood, not to listen to a menu.

What should be on my website for the AI to learn from?

The better the page, the better the answers.

• A services page with what you do, in plain language.
• Your opening hours, on a page the platform can find.
• Your address and the area you cover.
• An FAQ with real answers to the questions callers ask.
• Anything you never do. "We do not do commercial work" is useful information.

FAQ