Customer Support and Voice AI
AI receptionist for small business: calls, bookings and handoffs
What an AI receptionist does on a real call, the rules that apply, a sample greeting and a pass/fail checklist to launch one safely.
Outbound
AI Voice Lead Qualification
New leads get called fast, asked the questions that matter, and scored and routed before interest cools off.
New leads go cold fast when nobody calls them back. AI Voice Lead Qualification phones each new lead soon after they come in, asks the questions your team would ask, and scores the answers against criteria you set. Qualified leads reach a rep with a summary already written. You decide the bar, the questions and where every lead goes.
- Calls every new lead while their interest is still fresh
- Scores each lead against the criteria your team sets
- Routes qualified leads to the right rep with a call summary
$4,900
20–30 working days
Optional maintenance $249/mo
What it is
AI Voice Lead Qualification calls new leads shortly after they come in, asks the qualifying questions you define, and scores and routes each one against your criteria. It does not sell or book a meeting; it works out quickly whether a lead is worth your team's time.
Why businesses buy it
Sales teams waste hours chasing leads that were never a fit, while good leads wait too long and buy elsewhere. Each slow callback is a lost chance you already paid to create. This agent makes the first call quickly, asks your qualifying questions the same way every time, and sends only the leads worth a conversation to your reps. Your team spends its time on people ready to talk. The written Scope Card sets the call flows, the connected systems and the test calls before you order, so you know exactly what you are getting.
Problems this solves
New leads wait hours before anyone speaks to them
The agent calls new leads shortly after they come in. It asks your qualifying questions while the lead still remembers why they enquired. Answers are captured on the call and saved to your CRM.
Sales staff spend time on leads that were never a fit
Each lead is scored against the criteria you define, such as budget or timing. Only leads that meet them are routed to your team. The rest are kept on record for later nurturing.
Qualification notes are inconsistent across the team
Every call asks the same questions in the same order. Answers and the score are written to your connected CRM in a standard format. Managers can compare leads fairly.
Unqualified leads disappear without a recorded reason
Leads that do not meet your criteria are logged with the answers that ruled them out. The agent does not sell or book, so the reasoning stays clear.
A good fit if
New leads arrive faster than your team can call them, and interest drops the longer that first call is delayed.
You already have qualifying criteria, such as budget, timeline or fit, that a script could ask about directly.
You want leads scored and routed consistently, rather than judged differently depending on who happens to make the call.
You want disqualified or low-priority leads logged with a reason, not just dropped silently.
Not the right fit if
You want the call to also pitch the offer and try to close, not just qualify. See AI Voice Sales Agent.
You want the call to book a meeting directly once a lead qualifies. See AI Voice Appointment Setter, a narrower outbound booking build.
Calls are triggered by a specific prior event, like a missed call or abandoned booking, rather than a new lead coming in. See AI Voice Follow-Up.
You need a general outbound base for a purpose other than qualification, such as reminders. See AI Outbound Calling Agent.
How it works
- The call is placed to a new lead shortly after they come in, at the speed and calling window you set.
- It asks the qualifying questions you defined, such as budget, timeline, need or fit, in the order and tone you approved.
- Each answer is scored against your criteria, building a qualification result rather than a single pass or fail judgment.
- Leads that meet your bar are routed to the destination you set, whether that is a rep queue or a specific calendar.
- Leads that do not meet the bar are logged with the reason and the answers given, so nothing is discarded without a record.
- Every call is written into your CRM with the score, the answers and the routing outcome, ready for your team to act on.
What you provide within 72 hours
Your portal lists these the moment you order. Delivery starts the working day after everything is in and your access is checked.
- A telephony account in your name, such as Twilio, Vonage or Exotel, approved for outbound calling.
- Your qualifying questions and the scoring criteria that separate a strong lead from a weak one.
- The routing rules for qualified leads, and where disqualified leads should be logged.
- Access to the CRM this line should read new leads from and write results to.
- Your calling windows, retry rules and the disclosure wording leads should hear.
- Admin access and API keys for every connected system, shared by adding our team as a user or creating a key you control, never by email.
- One person who can approve the qualifying script and scoring rules, and sign off the test calls.
- Documented prior consent for every number we call, with your lists scrubbed against applicable do-not-call lists before each campaign. We do not give legal advice, so confirm your calling obligations with your own counsel.
- An API key for your own AI model account (for example OpenAI or Google Gemini), created for this build with a spending limit.
The 72-hour rule. Send everything on your checklist, including access, within 72 hours of ordering so your build starts on time.
Timeline
Start
Intake confirmed and your qualifying criteria agreed.
Weeks 1–2
Qualifying flows and scoring logic built against your criteria.
Week 3
CRM connected for new-lead capture and scored-result routing.
Weeks 3–4
Fifty test calls run through the qualifying questions, transcripts sent to you.
Week 4
Your review, with two rounds of changes to the scoring rules.
Go-live
Live and calling new leads, recorded handoff session held, support begins.
| Option | Delivery time | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Standard | 20–30 working days | $4,900 |
| Express | 15–25 working days | $5,750 |
| Rush | 10–20 working days | $6,600 |
What you receive at handover
- AI Voice Lead Qualification, configured and live on one outbound number
- Workflow, prompt and guardrail configuration with your qualifying questions and scoring rules
- Connection to up to two agreed systems, such as your CRM and lead source
- A test report from 50 test calls with transcripts
- An admin guide, recorded 60-minute handoff session and 30 days of post-launch support
Expected benefits and how to measure them
- New leads can be spoken to while their interest is high.
- Sales time can go to leads that meet your criteria.
- Qualification records can become consistent and easy to review.
- Time to first contact
- Compare the gap between lead creation and first call in your CRM, before and after launch.
- Qualified lead share
- Track the proportion of leads scored as qualified each week from the CRM.
- Sales acceptance
- Ask reps to mark routed leads as accepted or rejected, and compare with the month before.
Before you start: Export a month of leads with creation and first-contact times. Note how many reps judged worth pursuing.
These are things to track, not promised results. Outcomes depend on your data, your team and your market.
Running costs
The build price is paid once. Call minutes are billed directly in your own accounts, roughly $0.13 to $0.31 per connected minute all in, covering the voice platform, the AI model and telephony, plus number rental. Because qualifying calls are usually short and structured, cost tends to track lead volume fairly predictably, plus the usual telephony minutes spent on unanswered attempts.
AI usage during build and testing is billed to your own accounts too, so every provider relationship stays yours.
Ask about running costsCustom requirements
Need more than five qualifying segments, or scoring logic that pulls from more than two systems? Add a note at checkout and you get a written Change Quote, with work starting only once you accept it. Larger or bespoke projects go through the Custom AI request form instead.
Request a custom versionKeep it running
Monthly maintenance covers monitoring, fixes, updates, a monthly health report and change hours to adjust scoring criteria as your ideal customer shifts. It starts after the thirty days of included support and can be cancelled any month.
$249/mo (the minimum fee, includes 2 change hours)
Optional. Starts after the post-launch support period. Cancel any month.
How maintenance worksHow this compares
| Do it yourself with a SaaS tool | Hire a custom agency | Upmark Labs | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Price | A lead-scoring platform charges a monthly subscription per seat | A custom build gets quoted after discovery calls | Ours is one fixed price, shown on this page before you buy |
| Data source | Form-based scoring only knows what a lead typed | Depends entirely on what the agency scopes | Ours asks the questions directly on a live call |
| Delivery | A scoring platform is self-serve but slow to configure well | An agency build usually runs several weeks | Ours has a fixed delivery time shown before you buy, with faster options |
| Speed to first call | Depends on when a rep gets to the lead | Depends on what was agreed with the agency | Ours calls as soon as a new lead arrives |
Questions about this product
Does the AI Voice Lead Qualification agent book a meeting once a lead qualifies?
No. Its job stops at qualifying and routing the lead to the right place, such as a rep queue or a calendar link. If you want the call to book the meeting directly once a lead qualifies, the AI Voice Appointment Setter or the AI Voice Sales Agent is built to carry the call further. Each has its own page with its scope.
How is this different from the AI Voice Follow-Up?
This build calls new leads as soon as they come in, to qualify and route them. AI Voice Follow-Up is triggered by a prior event, such as a missed call or an abandoned booking, to re-engage someone rather than qualify someone new. The two can run side by side at different points in a lead's journey.
How does the scoring actually work?
Each answer is checked against the criteria you define, such as budget range, timeline or stated need, and combined into a qualification result rather than a single pass or fail. You decide the bar for what counts as qualified, and that logic is documented and testable, not a hidden black box.
What are the monthly running costs for AI Voice Lead Qualification?
Connected call minutes run roughly $0.13 to $0.31 all in, covering the voice platform, the AI model and telephony, plus number rental, paid directly in your own accounts. Qualifying calls are usually short, so cost tends to track lead volume closely, with some added telephony minutes for unanswered attempts.
How long until it is qualifying our leads?
Delivery is counted in working weeks from the day your intake is complete and access is verified, and the fixed time for each speed sits in the price and delivery panel on this page. Before launch we run fifty test calls and send you the transcripts, so you hear how it qualifies real leads before it goes live.
Do leads know they are speaking to an AI agent during qualification?
Yes. The call opens with a short disclosure in wording you approve, delivered before the qualifying questions begin. Several US states and countries have specific disclosure and consent requirements for automated outbound calls, and the wording is set during intake and can be updated later through monthly maintenance.
Can we change the qualifying criteria after launch?
Yes. Adjustments to the questions or the scoring bar fit inside the monthly change hours in maintenance. A structurally new qualifying segment beyond the five in scope is scoped and quoted as an Additional Workflow before the work starts. Maintenance also covers monitoring, fixes and a monthly health report, and can be cancelled any month.
Guides on this topic
All guides Call every new lead while the interest is still warm.
Order AI Voice Lead Qualification and it is calling, scoring and routing new leads on a fixed delivery date.
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