An AI after-hours answering service for Australian businesses
What happens to a call at 9pm, and what you read the next morning.
Last reviewed
Jess: Coastline Air, you've reached Jess, the after-hours AI receptionist. What's happening with your system?
Caller: The air con's died completely and it's still 34 degrees inside. My mum's elderly.
Jess: That sounds urgent. Is this an emergency, no heating or cooling at all right now?
Caller: Nothing. It's just blowing warm air.
Jess: Okay. I'm putting you through to the technician on call now, stay on the line.
What is an AI answering service?
Alony is an AI after-hours answering service for Australian businesses. It answers your calls day and night in an Australian voice, finds out whether each one is urgent, puts urgent callers through to the number you choose, takes details or books the rest, and emails you a summary of every call. It stops when your plan's minutes run out.
What happens to a call at 9pm
- Greeting
The words you wrote in the wizard
- Is it urgent?
Is this an emergency, no heating or cooling at all right now?
- Urgent: something is broken or unsafe, or they say it is an emergency
- Is a transfer number set?
- Yes
- Put the caller through, inside your transfer hours
- No
- Take an urgent message
- Yes
- Is a transfer number set?
- Routine
- Why are they calling?
- A booking or a quote
- Take their name, number and address
- Book into Cal.com or GoHighLevel (Growth and up), or leave the details in your email
- A general question
- Answer from your website or files
- Anything else
- Take a message
- A booking or a quote
- Why are they calling?
- Urgent: something is broken or unsafe, or they say it is an emergency
- Record, transcribe, summarise and email you
Set your hours and who gets the urgent calls
The real settings panel, on a sample agent. Change when it puts callers through to you, your hours, and the email you get after every call.
What you read the next morning, and booking
Every plan emails you a summary after every call. On Growth and up the agent books during the call, into Cal.com or GoHighLevel. Otherwise the details reach you in the email. See integrations.
AI, a human after-hours service or voicemail
| Feature | Alony (AI) | Staffed answering service | Voicemail |
|---|---|---|---|
| Who answers | An AI agent in an Australian voice | A person at the service | Nobody. The caller hears a recording. |
| After hours | Day and night, until your plan's minutes run out | Often weekdays only | Whenever the call goes unanswered |
| Cost | A$49 to A$999 a month | Varies with call volume and plan | Usually part of your phone plan |
| Falls short | It cannot read a situation the flow did not plan for. | Works from what you told them. | Nothing happens until you ring back. |
Listed prices from Australian providers are on AI receptionist vs answering service.
Which plan covers after-hours calls
Start with the free trial: 5 minutes of talk time and no card. See how many minutes you need.
Lite, A$49 a month
100 minutes, one agent and an email after every call.
Starter, A$239
500 minutes, a mobile number option and a post-call webhook.
Growth, A$549
1,200 minutes, Cal.com and GoHighLevel booking and a custom voice.
After-hours questions
Does the agent only answer after hours?
It answers the calls that reach its number, day and night, until your plan's minutes run out. You can publish it as your after-hours number.
Do I need a new number?
You get an Alony number when you build the agent. To keep your own number, forward it to the Alony number after hours through your phone provider.
Can it put an urgent call through to my mobile?
It puts the call through to the transfer number you set, inside the transfer hours you choose, for the circumstances you list. With no transfer number set, the agent takes an urgent message.
Will I get a message in the morning?
Yes, an email summary after every call, on every plan. It does not text you.
What happens when the minutes run out?
The agent stops taking calls until the next month or until you move up a plan. There is no overage charge. Work out the minutes you need.
Is it an emergency service?
No. If a risk to life is possible on your calls, say in your greeting that callers should ring 000. If they need judgement, a person on call is the better answer, and the agent's job is to get that person on the line.
Do callers have to be told it's an AI?
We recommend it, and the greeting is yours to write. The greeting guide has wording.
Hear your business answer at 9pm.
Build your agent in a few minutes and listen to its first call. The trial is free, with no card.