Questions, answered plainly.
Setup and going live, what the agent does on a call and what it will not do, how minutes work, where call audio is stored, and how an AI receptionist compares with voicemail, an answering service and hiring someone.
Signing up and going live.
Do I have to change my phone number?
No. You keep your number and your telco. You turn on forwarding with your telco in a couple of minutes, and it is reversible in minutes.
How long does setup take?
Under 10 minutes, from signup to a live agent, all of it in your own portal.
Will I hear it before my customers do?
Yes. Ring it yourself and throw your worst calls at it before you forward a single real call. Nothing reaches your callers until you switch forwarding on.
Can I use it for after-hours only?
Yes. Forward the line at 5pm and take it back at 8am, or send everything to the agent. Your choice, changeable any time.
What the agent does, and what it won’t.
Will callers know it’s an AI?
Yes. It says so on every call. That is a product fact, not a setting. Callers are far more forgiving when you are straight with them.
What if it can’t handle a call?
On every plan it can transfer the call to your team with the conversation so far, or take the details, flag it urgent and alert you straight away. You set which, and when.
Can I choose the agent’s name and voice?
Yes. Name your agent, choose its voice and set its greeting any time from your dashboard. Whatever its name, it tells every caller it is an AI assistant.
What won’t it do?
Quote outside the prices you gave it, promise a time your diary doesn’t have, take a card number, or pretend to be a person.
Metering, overage and changing plans.
What counts as a minute?
Time the agent is actually on a call. Ringing, transfers to your team and calls the agent never answers don’t draw down your minutes.
What happens if I run out?
The agent keeps answering. Additional minutes are charged at your plan’s rate (Lite $0.89, Essential $0.59, Growth $0.39 and Business $0.29 a minute, + GST) on the following month’s bill. We tell you at 80% and 90% of your plan’s minutes, and again when additional minutes start. In the dashboard you can set a monthly limit or switch them off; then the agent stops answering, and calls reach your own phone again once you turn off call forwarding.
How many minutes do I need?
Essential’s 300 minutes covers about 120 calls a month. Start on the trial and we will tell you what your real volume fits.
Is there a setup fee or lock-in?
Neither. Monthly cancels any time. Annual is billed once for the year at 15% off.
What’s in the free trial?
15 days with 50 minutes of agent call time (about 20 real calls). No credit card.
Where call audio goes.
Where is my call data stored?
In Australia, on AWS Sydney. That covers recordings, transcripts and booking notes. Recordings and transcripts are on every plan, kept for your plan’s call history period (from 30 days on Lite to 3 years on Scale), then deleted automatically.
Is it Privacy Act compliant?
It is handled under the Privacy Act 1988 and the Australian Privacy Principles. Call audio is personal information and we treat it that way.
Can I delete recordings?
Yes, individually from the dashboard, or all at once by asking us. Recordings and transcripts are deleted automatically at the end of your plan’s call history period anyway (from 30 days on Lite to 3 years on Scale). Longer retention by arrangement.
Who at TensifyX can hear my calls?
You and your team in the dashboard. Our support staff only when you ask us to look at a call, or where security, a fault or the law requires it.
What it is worth to you.
As a business, how can TensifyX improve my profitability?
It answers the calls you would otherwise miss, books the work into your system while the caller is still on the line, and follows up by SMS and email, for less than an answering service or a receptionist. Here is how it compares with the other ways to answer your phone, and where each one wins. To put a number on your missed calls, try the missed call cost calculator.
Compare your options: The same nine questions, asked of all four.
- Cost a month: Voicemail $0; Answering service $200 to $600; In-house receptionist $5,000+ loaded; TensifyX $42 + GST, billed yearly
- Hours covered: Voicemail None; Answering service 24/7; In-house receptionist Business hours; TensifyX 24/7
- Books into your system: Voicemail No; Answering service Rarely; In-house receptionist Yes; TensifyX Yes: one calendar, or two way from Essential
- Knows your prices: Voicemail No; Answering service Reads a script; In-house receptionist Yes; TensifyX Yes
- Calls at once: Voicemail N/A; Answering service Queued; In-house receptionist One; TensifyX 2 to 15+
- Handles a complaint well: Voicemail No; Answering service Takes a message; In-house receptionist Best option; TensifyX Transfers to you with the conversation so far, or flags it
- Greets people at the door: Voicemail No; Answering service No; In-house receptionist Only option; TensifyX No
- Time to go live: Voicemail N/A; Answering service 1 to 2 weeks; In-house receptionist 4 to 8 weeks; TensifyX Under 10 minutes
- Cost to try it: Voicemail Free; Answering service A month’s fee; In-house receptionist A salary; TensifyX 15 days free
Answering-service and receptionist figures are typical Australian market ranges, not quotes. Concurrency on TensifyX is 2 on Lite, 4 on Essential, up to 15+ on Scale.
A table with one winner is a sales brochure.
Voicemail wins
When you get five calls a week and know every caller by name. It’s free and it’s honest. Paying us from $42 + GST a month, billed yearly, to handle twenty calls is bad value and we’ll tell you so.
An answering service wins
When a human voice is the product: sensitive matters, distressed callers, anything where being heard by a person is the point.
A receptionist wins
When there’s a front door. Someone has to greet walk-ins, make the coffee, chase the courier and read the room. No AI does any of that.
We win
When calls arrive at the worst times, when the job is the same twenty questions every time, and when the thing that actually costs you money is a booking that never got written down.