AI phone answering

Your store phone, answered on the first ring

You're mid-sale, the phone rings, and the caller wants to know if you carry the thing. Front Desk picks up, checks live inventory, and answers — 24 hours a day, for a flat $49.96/mo.

Call Front Desk now · (702) 760-7515

That number is Shophand's Front Desk, live right now. Ask what's in stock, or ask what Batchly does. It's the same AI that would answer your store's phone.

Here is the ugly math of the store phone. A customer who calls and hits voicemail does not leave a message — they call the next shop on the map and buy there. But you weren't ignoring the phone. You were ringing up the customer standing in front of you, which is the job. With one or two people behind the counter, every call during a rush is a coin flip: lose the caller, or make the line wait. An AI phone answering service for a retail store only fixes this if it can actually answer retail questions — and the first question is always the same: "do you have it in stock?"

Answers that come from live inventory

Front Desk is the AI phone agent in Shophand, and it is not a separate answering service bolted onto your line. It runs inside your Batchly register. When a caller asks "do you have X," it reads the same stock counts the register updates with every sale. Six on the shelf? It says yes. Sold the last one an hour ago? It says that instead, and takes a message so you can call back when the restock lands.

It answers hours, address, and prices the same way — straight from the system. It quotes the shelf price from the register, the same number on your tags; the cash-or-card choice happens at the counter under dual pricing. An answering service reading a script will cheerfully promise stock you don't have and hand you an angry drive-in an hour later. Front Desk doesn't guess. If the count says zero, the answer is zero.

Pickup orders, taken while you ring the line

"Can you hold two of those for me?" is a sale — if somebody writes it down. Front Desk takes the pickup order on the call, reads back the order number and total, and drops the order in your dashboard where staff can see it. The customer pays at the counter at pickup, on the register, at the price they were quoted. No card numbers are read over the phone, ever.

Every call leaves a transcript

Each conversation lands in the dashboard as a transcript. Skim them with your morning coffee and you know what people called about, what they asked for that you don't carry — a buy signal, if the same request keeps showing up — and exactly what was said on any call a customer brings up later. Nothing disappears into "someone called earlier, forget who."

What it does — and what it doesn't

No AI staff is magic, and this page isn't going to pretend otherwise. Here is the honest line:

Front Desk is one duty of Shophand; the others are The Usual and Mornings. The same agent also works the text thread: see SMS ordering.

The price is a flat line, not a meter

Typical published AI answering and receptionist services run $200–$2,000/mo, and many meter by the minute or the call — a busy month costs you more. Front Desk is part of Shophand, the AI staff bundle: a flat $49.96/mo on top of the $99/mo Batchly platform. No per-minute billing, no per-call billing. The same bundle includes text-to-order and The Usual, the replenishment texts that go to your regulars when their usual purchase is due. Full breakdown on the pricing page.

One honest constraint: Front Desk works because it lives inside your register. It is not a bolt-on for another POS. If you're weighing the whole switch, start with what Batchly does at the counter — dual pricing, inventory, ID checks — on the industries pages; the smoke shop page shows the full setup. And if you're thinking about this as a role you'd otherwise hire for, read the AI receptionist page — same product, different job description.

Questions owners ask

How does it know what's actually in stock?

Front Desk reads the live inventory your Batchly register updates with every sale, so a stock answer reflects the shelf as of the moment of the call. If the last unit sold an hour ago, the caller hears that it's out — not a guess.

What happens when it can't answer a question?

It says so, takes a message, and the full transcript lands in your dashboard so you can call back with the real answer. It doesn't improvise on complaints, refunds, or anything outside what the system knows.

Can customers place orders over the phone?

Yes — pickup orders. Front Desk takes the order, reads back the order number and total, and posts it to your dashboard. Payment happens at the counter at pickup; no card numbers are read over the phone.

Does it answer after hours?

Yes. It answers 24/7 — stock questions, hours, prices — and takes pickup orders overnight, so the order is waiting in your dashboard when you open.

What does it cost?

Front Desk is part of Shophand, a flat $49.96/mo on top of the $99/mo Batchly platform, with no per-minute or per-call metering. Typical published AI answering services run $200–$2,000/mo.

Can I hear it before I sign up?

Yes. Call (702) 760-7515. That line is Shophand's Front Desk, live, answering from a sample store's live inventory. Ask what's in stock or what Batchly does; it is the same AI that would answer your store's phone.