The virtual receptionist for growing businesses

Answer questions and take messages with Sona, OpenPhone’s AI virtual receptionist. Eliminate missed calls and collaborate better with your team using the best phone system for growing businesses.

Trusted by over 60,000 businesses
"Highest Satisfaction" business phone system (VoIP), rated by 2,600+ reviews G2
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Meet Sona, your 24/7 answering service

Sona greets callers, answers questions, and captures messages at a fraction of the cost compared to traditional virtual receptionists.
Hear Sona in action
What your team sees

Why use Sona as your AI phone answering service

OpenPhone is an intuitive and flexible business phone built for team collaboration. Small and growing businesses can use OpenPhone to efficiently communicate with customers over calls and texts.

But what about when your team is busy or unavailable? That’s where Sona, OpenPhone’s 24/7 AI virtual receptionist, can step in.

Sona is integrated directly into OpenPhone’s platform. It can attend to your customers when your team isn’t taking calls. Your team can set up Sona, customize and test it, and review Sona’s call summaries and transcripts right in your OpenPhone workspace.

Add Sona to your call flows in minutes with our call flow builder. You can use it as a backup option when your team is busy during business hours, or you can automatically route inbound calls to Sona after hours.

Customize Sona to your business needs. Train it on your business by adding your policies and answers to common FAQs so that it can provide accurate responses to callers. Provide instructions on what information you’d like Sona to capture when it takes down messages.

Review Sona’s performance in your call views. Filter your calls to only show AI phone calls handled by Sona. Your team has clear oversight into Sona’s performance, and you can adjust how it handles customer interactions. 

The best part? Sona is available at a fraction of the cost of live virtual receptionist services, which means you can answer more calls without spending more.

Elevate your customer experience 

Train Sona to handle your calls in seconds. Assign Sona to your call flows in minutes. 

Drag and drop Sona to your call flows

Add Sona directly to existing call flows in our call flow builder. Sona can handle calls during and after your business hours. 

Train Sona on your business knowledge

Upload your company’s documents to Sona, including key policies and answers to common FAQs. Once it’s trained on your documentation, Sona can talk to customers like a member of your team. 

Let Sona get into the details

Have Sona request specific information based on keywords during the call. Your team can then follow up with customers better and continue the conversation.

Review Sona’s call logs instantly

View Sona’s call summaries, transcripts, and messages in your OpenPhone inbox right after a call ends. You can also access call logs in your CRM — use our HubSpot, Jobber, and Salesforce integrations or build a custom one with the OpenPhone API

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Save time with AI

Give your workflow a boost with OpenPhone AI

Effortless call summaries and next steps

OpenPhone AI automatically summarizes calls, then intelligently suggests next steps.

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Automatic call transcripts

Read conversations in detail and quickly find information with time-stamped call transcripts.

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Suggested contacts

Easily add new contacts with suggestions based on call and voicemail transcripts.

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Joannie Bates Headshot
"OpenPhone was truly my first assistant. The AI feature of transcribing calls, creating a summary and to-do list, is next-level amazing."
Joannie Bates, Principal Agent
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Save time with AI

Give your workflow a boost with OpenPhone AI

Automatic call transcripts

Read conversations in detail and quickly find information with time-stamped call transcripts.

A black screen with a chat box that says "Angela Campbell" on the top left.
Suggested contacts

Easily add new contacts with suggestions based on call and voicemail transcripts.

A contact suggestion button with a phone number and name.
Call summaries and next steps

OpenPhone AI automatically summarizes calls, then intelligently suggests next steps.

Automatic call transcripts

Read conversations in detail and easily reference or find info with time-stamps.

Suggested contacts

Easily add new contacts with suggestions based on call and voicemail transcripts.

AI call tags

Define your tags, and our AI automatically adds them to relevant calls—so you stay focused on what matters.

Julee Fels
Branch Manager

“With Sona, I never worry about missing a call again. It’s like having a smart, reliable assistant who always picks up. It’s professional, friendly, and on it 24/7.”

Julee Fels
Branch Manager

“Sona has my back. Even when I miss a call, I know it’s handled—and handled well. Total game changer.”

Julee Fels
Branch Manager

“Sona has transformed the way I handle my calls. It’s like having a trusted partner who ensures I never miss an opportunity, no matter how busy I get.”

“With Sona, I never worry about missing a call again. It’s like having a smart, reliable assistant who always picks up. It’s professional, friendly, and on it 24/7.”
Christopher Sands, CEO

All the call handling features your team needs

Port your existing numbers for free

Set up easily with unlimited numbers.

Ring groups

Receive incoming calls simultaneously or in custom batches.

Phone menus

Give callers self-serve navigation to reach your team or Sona.

Business caller ID

Let customers know when you’re calling with an outgoing VoIP caller ID.

Call transfers

Hand off callers to colleagues with the right amount of context.

Desktop and mobile apps

Answer calls anywhere in the world, on any device.

How to set up Sona in four steps

Far more than a virtual receptionist platform

See why thousands of businesses choose OpenPhone as their business phone provider.

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Get as many numbers as you need

Choose between local US and Canadian phone numbers and North American toll-free numbers with OpenPhone. You can also choose a custom vanity number that helps you stand out to customers. 

All OpenPhone plans include a number for every user who joins your workspace. You can give specific teams dedicated numbers when you share numbers, like your sales and customer support teams.

Add more numbers as your team grows — additional numbers cost $5 per number per month.

Easily add teammates or a virtual assistant

Add teammates and virtual assistants to your OpenPhone workspace in a couple of minutes. 

Invite teammates to your OpenPhone account by sending invites to their email. Once they sign up, you can assign them to any phone numbers you’d like to share with them. 

Control which users you’d like to give member or admin permissions, depending on their function in the team. 

Adding a voice agent like Sona to your OpenPhone workspace is just as simple. Add Sona to your call flows in our call flow builder, customize how it operates, test it for yourself, and hit Publish. Sona can start handling calls for you immediately. 

Manage calls with ease

Make call routing and management a breeze with OpenPhone. Create custom call flows during and after business hours with our call flow builder. Get a high-level overview and edit your call flow steps quickly in our user-friendly visual canvas. 

Choose how phone calls are routed to your team, simultaneously or in custom batches, with ring order. Help customers connect with specific team members quickly with phone menus. Direct missed and unanswered calls to a secondary number with our call forwarding options.

Collaborate better with your team

Always stay aligned with your teammates in OpenPhone. 

Split responsibility for incoming calls and texts with shared numbers. Tag teammates to troubleshoot customers' issues in real time and assign follow-up tasks with internal threads. See whether colleagues are caught up with inbox viewers. 

Hand off customers to team members with just enough context using warm transfers. Bring multiple stakeholders together in one place with group calling. 

Automate admin tasks with integrations and AI 

Help your team focus on the work that matters. Log calls and texts automatically with our HubSpot and Salesforce integrations. Build custom integrations with Zapier, Make, or the OpenPhone API, and share call and text data with your entire tech stack. 

Leverage our AI features to make your team more efficient. Save time spent taking notes on calls with AI call summaries and transcripts. Automatically add new contacts to your address book with AI-suggested contacts. Track ongoing call trends, use AI to analyze your phone calls, and gain business insights with AI call tags

Send more texts in less time

Help your team handle more conversations over text without adding headcount. 

Automatically reply to messages when you’re busy or unavailable with SMS auto-replies. Schedule messages to reach customers in their time zones with scheduled messages. Create text templates that help you answer common questions quickly with snippets. 

Set up automatic SMS workflows with Zapier or Make for appointment confirmations, reminders, and review requests. 

Desktop and mobile apps for your team

Call and text from anywhere in the world with OpenPhone.

Team members can use their preferred device to talk to your customers as long as they have an internet connection. OpenPhone is available for Mac, Windows, iOS, and Android. And for every other device, you can use our web app. 

No hidden fees

Find out how much you’re investing in your business phone solution upfront on our pricing page.

Frequently asked questions

Can’t find the answer here? Check out our Help Center.

What is a virtual receptionist?
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A virtual receptionist is a virtual call answering service that answers incoming calls on behalf of a business. Virtual receptionists answer common questions, take down messages from customers, and share call details for teams to follow up.

They perform the function of an in-house receptionist, but instead of working on-site, they answer calls virtually. You can choose between human and AI receptionists to act as your virtual receptionist. 

How much does a virtual receptionist cost?
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Live virtual receptionists cost hundreds of dollars per month and charge based on their call minutes. 

AI virtual receptionists, also known as AI answering services, are much more cost-effective. Sona costs $49 per month and includes 50 calls per month. Additional calls are billed at $0.99 per call (plus applicable taxes).

Bonus: Find out more about the best AI phone answering services.

How do virtual receptionists work? 
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If you’re using a live virtual receptionist, you’ll have to forward your incoming calls to the receptionist so they can handle incoming calls. They manage calls through a separate platform from your business phone. You’ll have to monitor call quality by looking through call summaries and transcripts in their mobile app or website. 

AI virtual receptionists like Sona are integrated directly into OpenPhone. You don’t have to forward calls to Sona because you can add Sona to your existing call flows. You can also review Sona’s call summaries and transcripts right in your OpenPhone workspace and adjust how it performs to align with your business needs. 

Security-wise, how does Sona work as a virtual receptionist?
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The information you provide to Sona is not used to train AI models. Your business information remains private and is only used to answer questions from your callers.

What’s the difference between a virtual receptionist and an auto attendant?
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An auto attendant is a phone menu for incoming callers. It offers a set of options for callers to choose from and connects them to the corresponding department or team member.

A virtual receptionist is a more interactive call management feature. Callers can speak to a live receptionist or an AI virtual assistant and ask questions or share a message with the team. 

Virtual receptionists can answer questions just as a member of the team would, or they can take down detailed messages so team members can follow up later. 

How can a virtual receptionist improve customer service for small businesses?
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A virtual receptionist offers a more interactive call experience for customers. If a customer has a question about a business’s products and services, they can quickly get answers from a virtual receptionist. Customers can also leave detailed messages with virtual receptionists when they have a conversation instead of leaving an open-ended voicemail with a business.

Are virtual receptionists only suited for call centers?
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No, virtual receptionists aren’t only suited for call centers. Growing businesses with small teams can benefit from using a virtual receptionist to eliminate missed calls. They can also use a virtual receptionist to capture leads, similar to a sales AI tool. In both cases, they can better handle their call volume and increase customer satisfaction.

Ready to improve your team's communication?

Join thousands of businesses already using OpenPhone to communicate better with their customers.