How to Turn on the Virtual Receptionist in LeadLocate

Let your tracking number be answered in the store's name when every salesperson is with a customer.

1. Open IVR Settings

   Sign in as a Master Administrator. Open Billing & Admin, then Account Settings, then Phone & IVR and IVR Settings. Scroll to the Virtual Receptionist section. If Answering Service is handling your calls, the section is locked until the service is turned off.

2. Turn the switch on

   Flip the Virtual Receptionist switch. On, callers reach the receptionist. Off, calls forward to the Forward Calls To list as before. Nothing answers differently until you save, so fill in the fields below first.

3. Write the greeting

   In Greeting, type what the caller hears first, starting with the store's name. Press Generate to have a greeting drafted from your business details, or press Upload Greeting to use a recording in your own voice. Use Standard puts the default greeting back at any time.

4. Describe the store and the rules

   Fill in About Your Business: what you sell, where you are, how you want the store described. Then write Call Instructions in plain English: when to transfer, when to take a message, and what to ask for, such as the caller's name, number and the vehicle they are calling about.

5. List transfers and message recipients

   In Transfer Numbers, enter the phones a connected caller reaches, usually the same people on the ring list. In Message Copies, enter who receives a copy whenever the receptionist takes a message, such as the sales manager and the internet director.

6. Set hours, save and test

   Tick Open 24 hours or set Edit Hours, so the receptionist transfers during business hours and simply takes a message after close. Save with the bar at the bottom. Then call the tracking number from a cell phone, ask about a vehicle, and confirm the transfer and the message both behave as written.

You need a Master Administrator login, because the Virtual Receptionist section of IVR Settings is read only for everyone else. You need three short pieces of writing ready: a greeting in the store's name, a paragraph about the business, and the rules for when to transfer and when to take a message. You also need the phone numbers that should receive transfers and the people who should receive message copies.

Nothing needs to be bought. The receptionist is part of LeadLocate CRM on every plan. A new account starts with plain forwarding, the line open around the clock and the press 5 confirmation off, so the first call rings through with nothing configured; the receptionist is the one switch that changes that. If a live Answering Service with an Operator Greeting is already taking your calls, turn it off first, or the receptionist stays locked.

The next call to your tracking number is answered on the first ring in the store's name. The receptionist asks how it can help, and when the caller wants sales during business hours it rings the Transfer Numbers. If nobody picks up in time, or the store is closed, it takes a message with the details your Call Instructions asked for and tells the caller someone will return the call.

Two things then happen at once. The message arrives with everyone listed in Message Copies, and the call appears on the Calls page with the caller ID, the recording and the message taken. When the caller's number matches a lead, the call sits on that lead's timeline, and the rep who owns the lead sees it as soon as they finish with their customer. On the LeadLocate mobile app the same history shows under Call Logs, and a transferred call rings the rep's phone with the inbound call alert screen showing the caller's name.

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Calls still ring straight to the floor. The switch was flipped but the page was not saved, or Answering Service is on and the receptionist section is locked. Turn the service off, confirm the Virtual Receptionist switch is on, and save.

The receptionist takes messages but never transfers. Transfer Numbers is empty, or the Call Instructions never say when to transfer. Add the numbers, write a plain rule such as transfer sales calls during business hours, and check that Edit Hours matches the store's real schedule, since a transfer outside those hours is a message by design.

Nobody at the store sees the messages. Message Copies is empty. Add the people who should call back, and turn on Call Alerts in their notification preferences so a taken message becomes a text to them within the minute.

The receptionist sits in front of the ring list, so the list it transfers to is the next thing to check: the call forwarding and ring lists page covers the Forward Calls To field and the press 5 confirmation under Call Handling, which applies to a transferred call as well. The virtual receptionist and call screening feature page explains what a normal day looks like with it on, and the AI receptionist for car dealerships page answers whether a store should let software answer its phone at all.

A store that wants a numbered menu before the receptionist, or a different path for sales and service callers, builds it with the IVR call flow builder on the same page. What a caller hears when a transfer fails and no message is taken is the Company Voicemail greeting. Every other guide is on the help center.

Write the Call Instructions the way you would brief a new receptionist on her first morning. Say what to ask for, say what never to promise, such as a payment or an out the door price, and say who gets which kind of message. The receptionist follows what is written, so a rule you leave out is a rule it does not have.

Read the first week of messages on the Calls page and tighten the instructions from what you see. A store that wants help writing them, or wants the receptionist to handle something specific to its business, can ask: anything the standard fields do not cover is available on request, and our team puts it in production for your dealership. Reach us through contact us.

Does the virtual receptionist answer every call, or only unanswered ones?

With the switch on, it answers the tracking number first and then transfers or takes a message according to your Call Instructions and hours. With the switch off, calls forward straight to the ring list.

Can I use my own voice for the greeting?

Yes. Press Upload Greeting on the Virtual Receptionist section and choose your recording. You can also type the greeting as text, have one drafted with Generate, or go back to the default with Use Standard.

Where do the messages it takes go?

To everyone listed in Message Copies, to the Calls page with the recording and the message text, and to the lead's timeline when the caller's number matches a lead.

Is the receptionist the same thing as Jax?

No. Jax is the AI assistant that helps a salesperson inside the CRM. The virtual receptionist is a separate switch on IVR Settings that answers callers on the store's tracking number.

Tell us how your floor handles a call. Our team drafts the greeting and the call instructions and tests the first calls with you.

Prefer to talk right now? Call or text 844-376-2274.