When the Call Cannot Be Answered

There are situations where the AI cannot answer an inbound call. Understanding these scenarios helps you set appropriate fallback handling.

Voice AI is turned off

If the Voice AI toggle is set to off in Settings, the AI will not answer any calls. Calls to the phone number will ring unanswered, go to your fallback number (if configured), or behave according to your phone carrier's default.

See What Happens When Voice AI Is Off.

Outside the Voice AI schedule

If you've configured a Voice AI schedule (rather than "always active"), calls outside those scheduled hours will not be answered by the AI. Customers calling outside the schedule will be handled by your carrier or forwarded based on your fallback configuration.

Voice minutes are exhausted

If your plan's voice minute allowance is zero and you have no extra minute packages remaining, the AI will stop answering calls. Callers may reach your fallback number or hear a carrier-level message.

This is why monitoring your usage and buying extra minutes before exhaustion is important. See Usage Warnings and Alerts.

Call forwarding is not set up

The AI receptionist works by having your business phone number forwarded to Speako's number. If call forwarding is not configured on your phone or phone provider, Speako never receives the call and the AI cannot answer it.

This is a common initial setup issue. Make sure call forwarding is active on your phone number and pointing to the AI receptionist's assigned phone number. You can check this in the Settings section — the call forwarding setup guide walks you through the process for your phone type.

Technical issues

On rare occasions, the Speako service may experience a disruption that prevents the AI from answering calls. In these cases, calls typically fall back to your configured fallback phone number if one is set up.

For planned maintenance, Speako publishes maintenance notifications in the Notification Center. Check the Maintenance tab in Notifications if you suspect a service issue.

Setting up a fallback number

A fallback phone number is the number Speako will transfer a call to when the AI cannot handle it. Configure this in your AI receptionist's location detail page, under AI Configuration → Fallback Phone.

💡 Tip: Always configure a fallback phone number. Even the best AI occasionally encounters a call it can't handle. Having a fallback means those calls reach a person rather than going nowhere.

⚠️ Important: Test your fallback number periodically by calling the AI and requesting a transfer. Confirm the call actually reaches the right person or number.