AI agent
Client Intake Agent
Qualifies website and email enquiries, collects matter details, prompts a lawyer's conflict check and books first meetings, with a person approving every reply.
AI Agents · Best for any firm losing calls
After-hours AI receptionist for professional firms
The After-hours Receptionist, by Pylon Digital, is an after-hours AI receptionist that answers your firm's calls and website chats when the office is closed. It takes messages, books appointments into approved calendar slots and hands anything complex to a person. It never gives legal or tax advice. It suits any firm losing calls.
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Is it right for you
Who it's for
The After-hours Receptionist suits 10–100 person accounting, law and advisory firms whose phones ring when nobody is free to answer: evenings, lunch breaks and peak season. The trigger is usually a voicemail box full of hang-ups, or a new client who mentions they called twice before reaching anyone.
- Firms whose prospective clients call in the evening, once their own working day is over
- Accounting firms fielding extra calls at tax time and around BAS due dates
- Law firms whose new enquiries do not wait for business hours
- Small reception teams that cannot cover lunch, leave or overflow
Why do firms lose calls after hours?
Firms lose calls after hours because many people only have time to call once their own working day ends, and a voicemail greeting is easy to hang up on. A caller who reaches voicemail may simply try the next firm on their list, and the enquiry never appears in anyone’s records.
The After-hours Receptionist answers those calls, captures who called and why, and makes sure a person sees every enquiry the next morning. Our guide to AI receptionists for accountants covers what one should and should not do, and how to set it up.
What does the receptionist leave to people?
It leaves anything that needs judgement to people: advice, fees, complaints and any question about a client’s own matter or return. It answers, records and routes; it does not decide. Law firms that also want enquiries qualified and conflict-check prompts run can pass new matters to the Client Intake Agent, one of six AI agents for professional firms that share the same guardrails.
Capabilities
What it does
You get a receptionist configured to your services, calendars and hand-off rules, hosted and monitored under Managed AI.
Calls and chats in one
It answers calls forwarded from your existing number and chats on your website, using the same approved answers for both.
Structured messages
Each conversation becomes a short message with the caller's details, reason for calling and urgency, sent to the right person.
Appointment booking
It books into the calendars and time slots you choose and sends a confirmation from an approved template.
Approved answers only
It answers routine questions from a knowledge set your firm approves: hours, location, services and what to bring.
Transcripts and audit log
A transcript of every conversation and a log of every message, booking and hand-off.
Guardrails
What it will never do on its own
The receptionist speaks to callers live, so its limits are agreed before it answers a single call: what it may say, what it must hand off and who approves the rest.
- Human approval before anything leaves the firm: callers hear only approved answers, confirmations use approved templates, and anything else waits for a person
- A full audit log of every call, chat, message, booking and hand-off
- Agent data stored in fully GDPR-compliant data centres
- Never gives legal, tax or financial advice, and never comments on a client's matter or job
- Always says it is an AI assistant and offers a message for a named person
- Hands urgent calls to your on-call person and directs emergencies to Triple Zero (000)
Process
How it works
A discovery call, agreed scripts and rules, a supervised launch, then a monthly service.
- Step 0145 minutes, free
Discovery call
We look at when calls are missed, what callers usually need and how your calendars work.
- Step 02Agreed in writing
Scripts and rules
We write the approved answers, booking rules and urgent hand-off rules with your team, including what the receptionist must never discuss.
- Step 03Timeline in your proposal
Connect and test
We connect call forwarding, website chat and calendars, then run test calls covering routine, urgent and difficult callers.
- Step 04Timeline in your proposal
Supervised launch
The receptionist goes live after hours while your team reviews every message and transcript and we tune the answers.
- Step 05Monthly, ongoing
Run
We monitor quality and hand-offs, and update answers as your services, staff and hours change.
Integrations
Systems we work with
Calls reach the receptionist by forwarding your existing number after hours, so clients dial the number they know. Messages and bookings land in the systems your staff already use, where their integration options allow.
- Microsoft 365 (Outlook calendars and Teams)
- Xero Practice Manager
- Actionstep
- LEAP
- Clio
Security & data residency
Where your data goes, and who can see it
Callers share names, numbers and why they need an accountant or lawyer, so every conversation is treated as confidential. Agent data is stored in fully GDPR-compliant data centres, and only people you name can read transcripts and messages.
- Recording notice
- Every caller hears at the start that the call is recorded and transcribed, in wording your firm approves.
- Retention
- Recordings and transcripts are kept for the period agreed with your firm, then deleted.
- Where data is stored
- Call and chat data is stored in fully GDPR-compliant data centres. Our security and data residency page explains how we protect it.
- Model training
- Your proposal shows each AI provider's terms on model training, and we switch on the settings each provider offers to keep client data out of it.
- Privacy
- The receptionist collects only what a message or booking needs, and the handover documentation records what personal information it holds, where it is kept and who can see it.
Pricing
Pricing guidance
Pricing model: Setup + monthly
Setup fee plus a monthly fee, both quoted in writing after the free discovery call. The setup fee depends on the channels we connect and how many calendars and hand-off rules we configure. The monthly fee covers hosting, monitoring and answer updates. Your proposal shows whether call minutes are included or charged by usage.
Illustrative scenario: a 15-person accounting firm finds that many tax-time calls come in after 5.30 pm and reach voicemail. With the After-hours Receptionist, evening callers hear that they are speaking with the firm's AI assistant, leave their details and reason for calling, and book a meeting into an approved slot. Staff review the messages first thing next morning.
Commitments
What you can hold us to
These are the working rules behind every engagement, from the first discovery call to the monthly Run service. Ask us on the call how each one works for the system you have in mind.
Scope and price in writing first
Every build is scoped and priced in writing before work starts, so there are no open-ended hours.
A person approves what agents send
Our AI agents draft; a person at your firm approves what they send. The After-hours Receptionist answers live only from wording your firm approves in advance.
Every agent action logged
Every action an agent takes is recorded in an audit log, so you can see exactly what it did.
GDPR-compliant data centres
Client data in the systems we build and run is stored in fully GDPR-compliant data centres.
Accessible, fast websites
Websites are designed and tested against WCAG 2.2 level AA and Google’s Core Web Vitals “good” thresholds.
Built and run under one roof
A build can move straight onto a monthly Run service with us, so it is not handed over and forgotten.
Questions
Frequently asked questions
Will callers know they are talking to an AI?
Yes. The receptionist introduces itself as your firm's AI assistant at the start of every call and chat. Callers who would rather speak to a person can leave a message for a named staff member or, if your firm offers one, be transferred to an on-call number. Clear disclosure builds trust, so it is not something we switch off.
Can it give legal or tax advice?
No. The receptionist never gives legal, tax or financial advice, even when a caller insists. It answers only from your approved knowledge set: hours, location, services and how to book. Questions about a caller's own situation become a message for a qualified person, and it never comments on deadlines, amounts owed or the progress of a matter.
How does it hand off to a person?
It hands off in one of two ways, set by your rules. Routine calls become a structured message waiting for the right person when the office opens. Calls that match your urgent rules can be transferred to an on-call number or flagged to a nominated person straight away. If a caller describes an emergency, it tells them to call Triple Zero (000).
Can it book appointments directly into our calendars?
Yes. It books into the calendars, meeting types and time slots you choose in Microsoft 365, offering only free slots within your rules, and sends the caller a confirmation from an approved template. Staff can move or cancel bookings as usual, and every booking appears in the audit log.
Does it make outbound calls?
No. The receptionist answers inbound calls and website chats only, and never makes sales, marketing or cold calls. When a caller needs a call back, the message goes to the right person in your firm, who returns the call. Calls that match your urgent rules follow your on-call arrangements instead.
How much does an after-hours AI receptionist cost?
The After-hours Receptionist is priced as a setup fee plus a monthly fee, both quoted in writing after the free discovery call. The setup fee depends on whether we connect phone, website chat or both, and how many calendars and hand-off rules we configure. The monthly fee covers hosting and monitoring under Managed AI, plus updates to answers.
Secure by design. Set up correctly. Fully managed.
Talk to us before you commit to anything
Start with a free 45-minute discovery call. We look at your systems and priorities, then recommend a first step with a fixed scope, or tell you if we are not the right fit.
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