The first missed call of the month can cost more than the whole plan.
AI phone coverage for businesses that do not need a full-time front desk
$199/mo
Tara answers when you are on a job, with a customer, or closed for the day. She uses answers you approve, collects the caller's details, and follows the booking and handoff rules you set.
Starter is $199 a month and includes 300 talk minutes. Additional minutes are $0.20 each. The one-time $999 setup builds and tests the knowledge base, call rules, booking, and escalation before real callers reach it.
The problem it solves
A caller rarely waits for the owner to finish a job or leave an appointment. The phone rings, reaches voicemail, and the caller tries the next business. The owner sees the missed call later but never sees the job that disappeared with it.
Hiring someone for every evening, lunch break, and busy stretch is usually too much for a smaller operation. Starter gives the phone a consistent first response without pretending that every call should stay with an automated system.
Who this is for
Starter fits a smaller business that misses some calls but does not receive enough phone traffic for a larger allowance. It works well for after-hours coverage, overflow when the owner cannot answer, and businesses that want to test the system with real callers before moving up.
It is not a stripped-down answering machine. It uses the same approved knowledge base, intake questions, booking rules, and human handoff process as the larger plans. The difference is the included monthly call volume.
How Creative Marketing AI helps
We build Tara from information you approve: services, hours, service areas, common questions, prices you allow her to discuss, and situations that must reach a person. When the answer is not approved, she collects the details and hands the call off instead of guessing.
You decide what she may book, when she may book it, and which calendar she can use. You also decide whether she answers every call, after-hours calls, or only the calls your team cannot reach.
Before launch, we run test calls with you. You hear the greeting, the questions, the booking path, and the handoff. Real call routing starts only after those rules are approved.
What's included
- 24/7 answering for the calls you route to Tara
- 300 talk minutes each month
- Additional talk minutes at $0.20 each
- Approved answers about your services, hours, and service area
- Lead intake questions and contact-detail capture
- Appointment booking inside rules you approve
- SMS or email follow-up where configured
- Human handoff and escalation for calls that need a person
How it works
- 1Choose Starter and add the one-time setup.
- 2Complete the onboarding interview.
- 3Review the knowledge base, intake questions, booking rules, and handoff rules.
- 4Make test calls and approve what callers will hear.
- 5Route the chosen calls to Tara and review early call results with us.
Is it the right fit?
Good fit
- Owner-operated businesses that miss calls while working
- Businesses that mainly need evenings, weekends, or overflow covered
- Teams expecting fewer than 300 talk minutes in a typical month
- Owners who want a lower-cost way to begin with an AI receptionist
Not the right fit
- Businesses that need more included capacity or more complex routing than Starter is designed to support
- Teams that require a person to answer every call
- Emergency-only operations without a defined human escalation path
- Businesses unwilling to approve the answers and call rules
What you provide
- Business hours, services, service areas, and common caller questions
- The exact answers Tara is allowed to give
- Booking rules and approved calendar access
- Escalation contacts and instructions for sensitive or urgent calls
- Cooperation with phone forwarding or the current phone provider
Straight talk
- Starter includes 300 talk minutes per month; additional minutes are $0.20 each.
- Setup is a separate one-time $999 charge.
- Tara does not give medical, legal, financial, emergency, or safety advice.
- She does not quote unapproved prices or make promises the business has not authorized.
- Results depend on the calls received, the business offer, and the team's follow-up; the plan does not guarantee leads or sales.
Common questions
What counts as a talk minute?
Talk minutes are the time Tara is actively handling calls. The Starter allowance includes 300 each billing month. If usage goes above that, each additional minute is billed at $0.20.
Can I keep my current phone number?
Yes. In most cases, your public number stays in place and forwards calls to Tara based on the coverage rules you choose.
Can I move to a larger plan later?
Yes. We can review actual usage, routing, and scheduling needs with you and move the subscription when a larger tier is the better operational fit.
Is setup included in the $199 monthly price?
No. Setup is a separate one-time $999 charge. It covers the onboarding interview, knowledge base, call rules, booking connections, escalation paths, and testing before launch.
What happens when Tara does not know an answer?
She follows the handoff rule you approved. That may mean collecting a message, sending a transcript, or forwarding the call to the right person. She does not invent an answer.
Ready when you are.
Tara AI Receptionist — Starter — $199/mo.