Calls come in when you're teaching students, preparing lesson plans, or grading assignments. We capture leads, schedule sessions, collect student information, and log details instantly in your systems. With our AI-first answering service with human support as an extension of capabilities, potential students and scheduling requests never hit voicemail.
The AI Receptionist from Smith.ai greets every caller professionally and captures essential student information through structured intake questions. By collecting key details upfront — such as subject needs, grade level, learning goals, scheduling preferences, and budget — the system helps identify and prioritize qualified leads based on your expertise and availability. Our human agents seamlessly step in when callers request to speak with someone directly or have complex educational situations that require detailed information collection and routing to the appropriate tutor or education coordinator.
The AI Receptionist from Smith.ai combines cutting-edge AI technology with optional human support to deliver unmatched call handling capabilities. Unlike competitors who offer basic subscription services, we provide white-glove implementation and ongoing support to ensure your success.
What sets Smith.ai apart:
Make better business decisions with real-time call data powered by AI, visualized in your Smith.ai dashboard. Every call summary is enriched with AI-generated metadata including actions completed, caller disposition, priority, relevance, call recording and transcription, and more. Track enrollment patterns, popular subjects, and seasonal demands through historical tables and charts to predict business growth, scheduling needs, and ROI with superior accuracy through our AI-powered analytics.
While our answering service with human support delivers exceptional results for most businesses, we understand that some situations require dedicated human coverage. That's why Smith.ai also offers comprehensive virtual receptionist plans with 100% live, North America-based agents answering your calls 24/7.
Our virtual receptionist plans provide dedicated human agents trained specifically on your business and industry.
Improve customer experiences with 24/7 AI-powered engagement built specifically for your business. Unlike basic AI competitors that offer one-size-fits-all solutions, Smith.ai delivers infinite customization with white-glove implementation tailored to your exact needs and goals.
While other AI services leave you to figure it out alone, our expert team works closely with you to craft custom AI behavior that sounds like your business, follows your procedures, and delivers results that match your goals.
The AI Receptionist from Smith.ai transforms how tutors and teachers manage their practice, becoming a true partner in growing your education business. Instead of juggling phone calls between lessons or missing inquiries while you're teaching, your AI Receptionist handles every call professionally, capturing parent inquiries, scheduling sessions, and qualifying leads around the clock.
Here's what actually happens: Parents often call outside school hours, in the evenings and on weekends, when they're planning their kids' schedules. Your AI Receptionist answers instantly, gathering essential information about the student's grade level, subject needs, and scheduling preferences. It books consultations directly in your calendar, screens out spam calls, and ensures you never miss a potential student because you were in the middle of a lesson.
The real game-changer is how this frees you to focus on what you do best: teaching. You're not rushing to return voicemails between sessions or playing phone tag with busy parents. Everything flows into your systems automatically through our 5,000+ integrations, creating a complete record of every interaction. This means when you do connect with a parent, you already know exactly what they need.
What sets Smith.ai apart is the human support that extends your AI's capabilities. When parents have complex questions about learning disabilities, need help choosing between programs, or are dealing with emotional concerns about their child's progress, North America-based receptionists provide the empathy and careful listening these conversations require. They're not educational consultants; they're professional receptionists who excel at gathering detailed information and ensuring parents feel heard and supported.
Your tutoring business isn't generic, and neither is your AI Receptionist. Through our white-glove onboarding process, we program your AI with the exact language, protocols, and procedures that match how you run your practice.
Start with custom prompts tailored to your teaching approach. Whether you specialize in SAT prep, elementary math, or special education support, your AI Receptionist speaks your language. It knows your tutoring packages, understands your scheduling constraints (like avoiding dinner hours or respecting exam seasons), and captures the specific information you need from each family. You decide what questions to ask, how to qualify leads, and which students get priority scheduling.
The customization goes deep into call routing and handling protocols. Different caller types get different treatment based on your rules. New inquiries about test prep? The AI captures their target scores and timeline. Current families calling about scheduling? It accesses their preferences and automatically offers appropriate slots. Other tutors or schools calling about partnerships? They get routed according to your specifications.
Our solutions team creates custom workflows using platforms like Zapier, Make, and N8N, building automations that match exactly how you operate. Maybe you want new SAT prep inquiries to trigger immediate follow-up sequences, or families mentioning learning challenges to be flagged for special attention. Whatever your process, we make it happen. This isn't a one-size-fits-all solution; it's enterprise-level customization at subscription pricing, designed specifically for how your tutoring business works.
Integration transforms your AI Receptionist from a call-answering service into the central hub of your tutoring business operations. With connections to over 5,000 tools, every interaction automatically flows into your existing systems, with no manual data entry, no dropped details, and no missed follow-ups.
Picture this: A parent calls about math tutoring. Your AI Receptionist captures their child's grade level, specific struggles, and availability. That information instantly populates your CRM, schedules a consultation in your calendar app, triggers a welcome email sequence, and even creates a new student profile in your learning management system. By the time you check your dashboard, everything's already organized and ready for action.
The integration possibilities are endless. Connect with scheduling tools like Calendly or Acuity to automate session booking. Sync with payment processors to handle deposits and recurring billing. Link to communication platforms so parents get automatic confirmations and reminders. Even connect with educational tools and platforms you use for online tutoring. Everything works together seamlessly.
But here's what makes this special: Our solutions team doesn't just connect the tools — they build custom workflows that match your specific tutoring practice. Want different intake processes for K-12 versus test prep students? Done. Need special handling for group class inquiries versus one-on-one tutoring? We configure that. This level of integration usually requires expensive consultants and complex IT projects. With Smith.ai, you get it all configured during onboarding, with ongoing support to adjust as your practice grows.
Your answering service captures every lead, especially the ones you'd normally miss. Think about when parents actually research tutoring — Sunday evenings when they're planning the week, late nights after reviewing report cards, early mornings before work. These are exactly when traditional tutoring businesses miss opportunities. Your answering service answers instantly, 24/7, capturing that parent's interest when motivation is highest.
The system qualifies leads intelligently, gathering crucial details about the student's needs, goals, and timeline. Parents appreciate the immediate response and professional interaction — no voicemail, no waiting for callbacks, just instant help when they need it. The AI schedules consultations on the spot, while they're still engaged and ready to commit. This speed matters; parents often call multiple tutors, and the first to respond professionally usually wins the student.
Client satisfaction soars when every interaction feels personal and efficient. Your answering service remembers returning families, knows their preferences, and provides consistent service whether they call at noon or midnight. It handles routine questions instantly — rates, availability, subject areas — while seamlessly escalating complex situations to human support when needed.
The human element is crucial for satisfaction. When parents call with concerns about their struggling student, or need to discuss sensitive learning challenges, our North America-based receptionists provide the empathy and careful attention these conversations deserve. They're not trying to be educational experts — they're skilled communicators who ensure every parent feels heard, gather detailed information, and connect them with you when your expertise is needed. This combination of AI efficiency and human understanding creates an experience that builds trust and long-term relationships.
Getting started with your answering service isn't complicated — we make it straightforward with comprehensive support every step of the way. You don't get dropped into a self-service portal to figure things out alone.
First, you'll work directly with our onboarding specialists who understand education businesses. This isn't generic setup — it's a detailed consultation about your specific tutoring practice. What subjects do you teach? How do you structure your programs? What information do you need from new families? We dig into your workflows, understand your pain points, and learn exactly how you want calls handled.
Next, we custom-program your answering service with your specific protocols. We'll craft the exact questions it asks, the information it captures, and how it routes different types of calls. Your AI learns your tutoring packages, understands your scheduling preferences, and speaks in your voice. We integrate it with your existing phone system and connect all your business tools — calendar, CRM, payment processing — creating automated workflows that match how you actually operate.
Throughout this process, you get white-glove support. Our team handles the technical setup, tests everything with you, and refines responses until they're perfect. You can even start with our risk-free trial, a 30-day period with up to a $1,000 money-back guarantee, so you can experience the difference without commitment.
After launch, you're not on your own. You get ongoing account management and optimization support because your tutoring business evolves, and your answering service should too. This is what partnership looks like: continuous support to ensure your communication system grows with your practice.