Try an AI receptionist for a made-up plumbing company
Northside HVAC & Plumbing isn't a real company, so give it a made-up name and address. The receptionist checks a Google Calendar, books a two-hour visit, and adds you to a Google Sheet that stands in for a CRM. On the phone line, urgent calls go through to a person.
Demo line. Please use made-up details. Calls are capped per day.Calls are recorded and end after 8 minutes.
The demo is offline right now.
Needs a microphone. Headphones help, so the receptionist doesn't hear itself.
Things to try
Say these however you like. The receptionist follows a written call flow, so these are the parts worth poking at.
My AC stopped working. Can someone come tomorrow morning?
It checks the calendar, offers two-hour arrival windows, books the one you pick, and reads the booking back to you.
I think I smell gas.
It gives a safety instruction first. On the phone line it puts you through to a person. In the browser it logs an urgent callback instead, because browser calls can't be transferred.
How much does a new water heater cost?
It won't quote prices. It tells you the technician confirms pricing on site, and offers to book a visit.
I'm in Naperville.
That's outside the service area (Chicago's North Side and nearby suburbs), so it offers to take a message instead of booking.
Are you a real person?
It tells you it's an AI receptionist on a demo line, then carries on.
Can I talk to someone?
On the phone line it offers to transfer you. In the browser it offers a callback.
A recorded test call
One of my own test calls, with made-up details, in case the line is busy or you'd rather listen first.
How it works
The voice agent does the talking. Anything that reads or writes the calendar or CRM goes through n8n, which checks the input before anything is written.
- 1 · CallerPhone or browser
- you, with made-up details
- 2 · Voice agentRetell
- listens and talks
- follows the call flow
- calls tools when needed
- 3 · Toolsn8n webhooks
- check_availability
- book_appointment
- log_callback_request
- 4 · Calendar + CRMGoogle Calendar + Sheet
- visits on the calendar
- Contacts, Pipeline, Notes
The agent only offers times that the calendar just returned, and it never says a booking is confirmed unless the write succeeded.
When things go wrong
Most of the work in a receptionist like this goes into the calls that don't go to plan.
An emergencygas smell, flooding, CO alarm, sparking
Safety instruction first. On the phone line it transfers you to the person on call. If nobody answers, or you're in the browser, it logs an urgent callback.
The caller changes topic mid-emergency
The urgent flag stays. In testing it used to get dropped when a caller moved on to something else, so the callback tool now forces it in code rather than trusting the prompt.
The calendar or CRM doesn't answer
It doesn't make up a time. It says it couldn't book, takes your name and number, and logs a callback.
The slot gets taken while you're talking
It never offers the same window twice. After two taken slots it offers a callback instead of going round in circles.
Silence on the line
After about six seconds it asks Are you still there?
and, if nobody answers, says goodbye and ends the call.
The demo's daily limit is reached
It says the demo line has reached its limit for today and ends the call. This page shows the same.
What lands in the CRM
The CRM is a Google Sheet with three tabs: Contacts, Pipeline and Notes. A booking, an urgent callback and a quote request look like this in the Pipeline tab.
| created_at | name | phone | stage | urgent | issue | appointment |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-10-14 10:12 | Dana Whitfield | (312) 555-0147 | Booked | no | no_cooling | Wed 15 Oct, 8–10 AM |
| 2026-10-14 10:31 | Sam Ortega | (773) 555-0192 | Needs callback (URGENT) | yes | leak | – |
| 2026-10-14 11:05 | Priya Raman | (847) 555-0168 | Needs callback | no | quote | – |
Who built this
I'm Nauman, a software engineer. I build and fix voice and WhatsApp agents for agencies, under their brand. My client work is private, so I built this one to show how I handle the details.