Guides·Buyer’s checklist
Nine questions to ask before you buy AI phone answering
Every AI phone answering company sounds great in its own demo. These nine questions separate the ones that will work in your restaurant from the ones that will cost you orders. Ask all nine and write the answers down.
Does it read every order back to the caller?
A wrong order costs you twice. You eat the food cost, and the customer eats a bad night. The cheapest insurance against both is a read-back: the whole order, out loud, before the call ends.
Ask to hear the full read-back: items, sizes, and changes included. If a caller orders a chicken sandwich with no onions, then switches it to grilled halfway through, the read-back should say the final version, not the first one. Test that scenario. Then check that the system asks permission to send the order and waits for the caller’s yes before it reaches the kitchen.
What happens when it is not sure?
The scary call is not the one the AI can’t handle. It’s the one it guesses on. A guess about an allergy, an angry customer, or food for forty people on Saturday can do real damage.
Ask for a clear plan for calls that need judgment. Which calls trigger a transfer, what number rings, and what happens if nobody answers? Ask: “What happens the moment a caller says the word allergy?” Then test that path with your own staff.
- A caller asks if anything in the fryer touches peanuts
- A caller is upset about last night’s order
- A caller wants catering for forty on Saturday
- A caller says “can I just talk to somebody?”
How does a caller reach a human?
Some of your regulars will want a person, and that has to be fine. Ask how callers request staff and what they hear if staff cannot answer.
A transfer feature alone is not enough. Check that it is configured for your number, try it from an outside phone, and test the unanswered case too. Your staff need to know which phone will ring and who is responsible for it.
Do I keep my phone number?
Your number is on your menus, your door, your takeout boxes, and years of Google results. After your recipes, it may be the most valuable thing your restaurant owns.
A good answer: you keep your number and simply forward it, all the time or only when the line is busy, and you can turn forwarding off yourself whenever you want. Then ask the follow-up: “If I cancel, what happens to my calls?” You should be able to walk away the same day with your number untouched.
What does setup involve, and who updates my menu after?
You do not have time to run a technology project. Ask what setup requires from you, start to finish: menu loading, any kitchen equipment, test calls, and phone forwarding. Agree on the steps and timing before you start.
Then ask about week two. Prices change. You run out of the turkey special at 6 pm on a Friday. Who makes that update, how do you send it, and how do you know it is live? Agree on a process for planned changes and sold-out items that your restaurant can use during service.
What will it cost each month, all-in, and is there a contract?
Ask for one number: “If I get my normal amount of calls next month, what is my bill?” Watch for per-minute charges, per-call charges, setup fees, and fees for menu updates. None of those are wrong on their own. Hidden ones are.
A good answer is a flat, plain figure you can write on a sticky note, with any extras spelled out before you sign. Then ask about the contract. Month-to-month means the company plans to keep earning your business every month. If there is a term, ask exactly what canceling costs and how you get out.
Can I hear it on my menu before I pay?
The demo you’ll be shown runs on their sample menu. Their sample menu doesn’t have your combos, the item name nobody spells right, or your half-veggie half-chicken split. Yours does.
A good answer: yes. They load your real menu and let you call it before money changes hands. Then test it like a Friday night. Talk fast. Change your mind mid-order. Ask what comes on the chicken shawarma. Say “actually, make that two.” Have your toughest employee try to break it.
Any company confident in its product will let you make that call. If the other eight answers check out too, you’ve found a real option, whoever it is.
Hear it answer a real call.
$49 a month, plus $1 per order. Book fifteen minutes with your menu. No commitment.
You pay nothing until the service has taken 50 correct orders for you, as your signed agreement defines them. Plus applicable sales tax. Pricing and order details