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AI Receptionist in India: What It Does, Hindi Support and Cost
TL;DR
An AI receptionist answers business calls, works out why people are calling, answers routine questions, takes their details and then transfers the call or books a callback. In India, ready-made plans cost about ₹1,500 to ₹2,000 a month before GST for 300 minutes of calls, and developer platforms such as Bolna charge ₹5.52 a minute. That is roughly 8% to 14% of a receptionist's monthly salary.
An AI receptionist is software that answers your business calls in a natural voice, works out why the person is calling, answers routine questions, takes down their details and then transfers the call or books a callback. In India, ready-made plans cost about ₹1,500 to ₹2,000 a month before GST for 300 minutes of calls, and developer platforms such as Bolna charge ₹5.52 a minute (prices checked 23 September 2026).
For example, Superfone charges ₹9,000 for six months with 1,800 AI minutes, and ConnectAI's clinic receptionist costs ₹800 a month plus ₹4 a minute. Three things move the bill: how many minutes the AI talks, whether you buy a packaged receptionist or build one on a developer platform, and whether you need Hindi, regional languages or WhatsApp replies.
What does an AI receptionist do?
It picks up every call, day or night, and handles the first minute or two that your front desk usually spends on the same questions: timings, fees, location, availability. When the caller needs a person, it passes the call on or books a callback with the details already noted, so nobody has to ask twice.
Here is what current AI phone receptionists can handle, and where a person should take over.
| Job | What the AI can do today | When a person should take over |
|---|---|---|
| Answer | Picks up at once, including nights, Sundays and holidays | The caller asks for a person |
| Understand the reason | Sorts the call: new enquiry, booking, existing order, complaint | Several requests at once, or an upset caller |
| Answer FAQs | Timings, address, fees, documents needed, from answers you approve | Anything outside the approved answers |
| Qualify a lead | Asks your set questions (course, budget, locality, move-in date) and saves the answers | Price negotiation, discounts, special cases |
| Book | Takes appointment requests; some products sync bookings to a calendar | Clashes, reschedules, rules it was never given |
| Transfer or call back | Passes the call to the right person in working hours, or books a callback | Nobody is free, so the callback needs a named owner |
Set four hand-off rules on day one. The AI should not take card or UPI details on the call, give medical or legal advice, promise discounts, or handle an angry customer alone.
Does an AI receptionist speak Hindi?
Several say they do. Bolna names "Hinglish, Hindi, Tamil, Telugu" among its 10+ Indian languages. ConnectAI says its clinic receptionist understands Indian English and Hindi. Superfone says its receptionist "speaks in 10 languages" but does not name them on its product page. Retell's supported-language list includes Hindi, Tamil, Kannada and Marathi. CallHippo says its AI voice agent supports multilingual conversation without naming languages. Vapi leaves language to the speech and voice providers you plug in.
A language on a list is a starting point. Indian callers switch between Hindi and English mid-sentence, read out numbers in mixed styles and give addresses by landmark. Before you pay for six months, run 20 test calls the way your customers really speak:
- a Hinglish enquiry: "Kal shaam ka slot free hai kya?"
- a 10-digit mobile number read out in Hindi
- an address given by landmark: "Metro station ke paas, SBI ke saamne"
- a caller who interrupts the AI mid-sentence
- a caller who says "mujhe kisi insaan se baat karni hai" (I want to talk to a person)
For each call, check the transcript. Did the AI get the name, number and date right, and did it hand over when asked?
AI receptionist options in India, with prices
How we compared: prices and language claims come from each provider's official pricing or product page, checked on 23 September 2026. Prices exclude 18% GST unless stated. We compiled this from official pages; we did not test the products.
| Provider | What it is | Published price (GST) | Languages it names | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ConnectAI | Receptionist for clinics and hospitals | ₹800 a month on 3, 6 or 12-month terms, plus ₹4 a minute; ₹1,000 one-time onboarding (GST not shown) | Indian English and Hindi | Clinics that want bookings and reminder calls from one clinic system |
| Superfone AI Receptionist | Receptionist for calls and WhatsApp | ₹9,000 per 6 months for 1,800 AI minutes and 3,000 WhatsApp sessions; top-up ₹5 a minute (+18% GST) | "Speaks in 10 languages", not named | A small business that wants a fixed price, WhatsApp replies and calendar bookings on its existing SIM |
| Bolna | Voice AI platform | ₹5.52 (6.00¢) a minute, pay as you go; credits from $10 (GST not shown) | Hinglish, Hindi, Tamil, Telugu among "10+" | Teams with a developer who want Indian-language agents |
| CallHippo AI Voice Agent | Add-on to CallHippo's phone system | ₹4,500 per user a month plus calls at $0.25 a minute (taxes extra) | "Multilingual", not named | Teams already on CallHippo |
| Vodex | Voice AI platform | Starter $100 a month for 200 connected minutes, then $0.13 a minute (GST not shown) | None on its pricing page | Outbound reminders and lead qualification |
| Retell AI (global) | Developer platform | $0.07 to $0.31 a minute; numbers $2 a month (GST not shown) | Hindi, Tamil, Kannada, Marathi among others | Developers building at volume |
| Vapi (global) | Developer platform | $0.05 a minute hosting plus speech, model and voice costs (GST not shown) | Depends on the providers you plug in | Developers who want to pick every component |
| TalkEasy by GrowEasy | AI receptionist in a business-calling app | Not on the public price list; the Pro phone plan is ₹999 + GST a month | None listed | Teams that want the receptionist, a shared number, recordings and call summaries in one app |
Exotel, MyOperator (its AI Team plan is marked "Custom"), Knowlarity and Ozonetel sell AI voice agents on quotes only. Haptik says its voice agents support 100+ languages and also prices on request.
Which one fits:
- Superfone if you want a fixed price today, support for 10 languages (its own claim) and WhatsApp replies, which need WhatsApp API activation. Our TalkEasy vs Superfone comparison covers the phone plans side by side.
- ConnectAI if you run a clinic or hospital and want the receptionist to book appointments and place reminder calls from one clinic system.
- Bolna, Retell or Vapi if you have a developer and want custom flows, your own CRM hooks or thousands of minutes a month. Of the three, Bolna puts Indian languages up front, naming Hindi, Hinglish, Tamil and Telugu.
- CallHippo's add-on if your team already uses CallHippo for calling.
- Vodex if most of the work is outbound, such as reminders and collections.
- TalkEasy by GrowEasy if you want the receptionist in the same app as a shared business number, call recording, AI call summaries and routing rules. If most of your callers speak only Hindi or a regional language, start with a provider that names those languages and test it with your own calls.
AI receptionist vs a human receptionist: monthly cost
Worked example: a clinic, coaching centre or property office wants its after-hours and busy-hour calls answered. Say that is 5 calls a day at 2 minutes each, or about 300 AI minutes a month.
| Option | Monthly cost for about 300 minutes | How we got it |
|---|---|---|
| Superfone AI Receptionist | ₹1,770 including GST | ₹9,000 ÷ 6 = ₹1,500, plus 18% GST. Its allowance is exactly 300 minutes a month |
| Bolna | ₹1,656 before any tax | 300 × ₹5.52. You build and maintain the agent yourself |
| ConnectAI (clinics) | ₹2,000 before any tax, plus ₹1,000 once | ₹800 + 300 × ₹4, with one-time onboarding |
| Vodex Starter | About ₹10,400 before any tax | $100 for 200 minutes + 100 extra minutes at $0.13 = $113 |
| CallHippo AI Voice Agent | About ₹11,400 plus taxes, on top of your CallHippo plan | ₹4,500 add-on + 300 × $0.25 ($75) in call charges |
| Human receptionist | ₹14,543 to ₹19,000 in salary | Indeed average ₹14,543 a month (702 salaries, updated 10 May 2026); AmbitionBox average ₹2.3 lakh a year, about ₹19,000 a month (23.2k salaries, updated 23 Sep 2026) |
Dollar prices are converted at ₹92 to the US dollar, the rate Bolna's own page uses (6.00¢ = ₹5.52). Salary sources: Indeed India and AmbitionBox.
For calls outside office hours and when the desk is busy, an AI receptionist at ₹1,656 to ₹2,000 a month costs 9% to 14% of one receptionist's monthly salary. It does not replace the person who greets walk-ins, collects payments and calms upset customers. It covers the calls that person can't take, which is where missed calls turn into lost leads.
Is an AI receptionist legal in India? What TRAI says
Yes. We found no Indian rule that stops a business using AI to answer its own incoming calls. TRAI's spam rules (TCCCPR) cover commercial calls and messages a business sends; a call the customer makes to you is not one of them. The rules start to matter when your AI calls people:
- Automated calls must be declared. TRAI's TCCCPR (Third Amendment) Regulations 2026, issued on 18 September 2026, define an "A2P call" as one started by software without a human dialling, including robo-calls and "artificial voice". The sender must declare A2P calls and the calling number ranges to its telecom operator in advance. Undeclared ones are treated as spam (TRAI press release 119/2026). These A2P rules start 60 days after the amendment is published in the Gazette. TRAI declined to exempt calls where a human joins in, because operators cannot tell those calls apart.
- Promotional calls need a 140-series number registered with a telecom operator, whatever your sector (TRAI press release 91/2026).
- Mixing an offer into a service call makes the whole call promotional under the 2025 amendment. An AI callback about a missed enquiry should stick to the enquiry.
If your AI also calls people back or places voice reminders, ask your provider which numbers those calls go out from and how they are declared to the operator.
Recordings and transcripts are personal data under the Digital Personal Data Protection Act 2023, whose notice and consent duties are phasing in over 18 months from November 2025. Announce the recording at the start of the call and limit who can open recordings.
How to set up an AI receptionist in a week
- Write the answers. List the 10 questions your staff answer most often, with the exact answer you want given: fees, timings, address, documents, parking.
- Set the hand-offs. Decide which requests go to a person, who takes them in office hours, and who owns after-hours callbacks.
- Choose when it answers. All calls, only after hours, or only when your team is busy. Superfone, for example, offers a primary mode and a backup mode. If you want the AI on a separate business number rather than a staff SIM, our virtual number guide covers getting one, KYC included.
- Test with 20 real-style calls in your customers' languages (the Hindi checklist above), and fix wrong answers before going live.
- Read every summary in week one. Check each AI call summary against the recording, add missing answers and tighten hand-off rules where callers got stuck.
TalkEasy by GrowEasy's AI receptionist
TalkEasy by GrowEasy's AI receptionist answers incoming calls, including after office hours, at weekends and on holidays. It works out why the customer is calling, answers common questions, captures lead details, and then transfers the call to the right team member or books a callback. The same app gives your team a shared business number, call recording, and an AI summary of each recorded call. The receptionist is not on TalkEasy's public price list; the Pro phone plan costs ₹999 + GST a month with 3 hours of talktime a day and unlimited users (pricing).
See how TalkEasy's AI receptionist handles your calls
Last reviewed 23 September 2026.