The office manager at a creative agency in De Pijp, eighteen people across two floors of a converted warehouse, had used a virtuele receptioniste service for four years and received a neat email for every call the agency missed. Clients, suppliers and the occasional journalist were all treated politely and all ended up in the same inbox, waiting for somebody at the agency to find the time to ring back, which during a pitch week could mean Thursday.
The businesses in this article are illustrative examples, not named StartAutomate clients.
Key takeaways
- A virtuele receptioniste is usually a person at a Dutch telefoonservice who answers in your company name and passes on a message.
- An AI telefoniste answers the same calls and can act on them, booking the meeting, checking a project, or sending a file, in Dutch or English.
- Some businesses are still better served by a person, especially when callers expect to be recognised by name.
What a virtuele receptioniste does
Dutch telefoonservices employ receptionists who answer calls for many companies at once. They greet callers with your company name, follow the instructions you give them, and send the message by email, SMS or app, and some will also put calls through to your mobile or book an appointment in a shared agenda.
They do this professionally, and plenty of small companies are happy with it. The limit is that somebody answering for a hundred businesses cannot work inside each of their systems, so most calls still end in a message.
What an AI telefoniste adds
An AI telefoniste is connected to the agency's own tools, such as the Outlook or Google agendas of the account managers and the project list in Teamleader, Simplicate or Gripp. A client asking when the first concepts will be ready is told the date the project lead entered, and a new prospect gets an intake meeting booked in the right person's agenda before the call ends.
It switches between Dutch and English as the caller does, which matters in Amsterdam, where the agency's clients include a German sports brand and a bakery chain from Haarlem.
Cost of each option
Telefoonservices in the Netherlands usually charge a monthly subscription with a bundle of calls, plus a per-call rate once the bundle is used, and a busy month costs more. An AI telefoniste is typically a setup fee plus a monthly amount linked to volume, and the extra call at half past five costs very little.
The cost most agencies overlook is the time spent ringing people back, which never appears on the telefoonservice invoice and is easy to recognise in a pitch week.
When a person is still better
A notary's office whose callers are often elderly, a funeral director, or a small firm whose clients expect to be greeted by name may reasonably prefer a person on the phone, and we say so when that is the case.
Many businesses run both for a while, with the AI telefoniste answering first and passing certain calls to the existing service, which is a sensible way to compare them on real callers.
Common questions
What is the difference between a virtuele receptioniste and an AI telefoniste?
A virtuele receptioniste is a person at a telefoonservice who answers your calls and passes on messages. An AI telefoniste is software that answers calls and can complete tasks, such as booking appointments, directly in your systems.
Can an AI telefoniste speak Dutch and English?
Yes. It answers in Dutch or English and switches when the caller does, and it can be set up for other languages your callers use.
Can I keep my telefoonservice as well?
Yes. The AI can transfer certain calls to your existing service, so you can compare both on your own callers before deciding.