AI for Inbound Sales Calls: Greeting, Handoffs and the Rules

An AI can answer your sales line on the first ring, at any hour, find out what the caller wants, and either book them or put them through to a person. Because the caller dialed you, the TCPA's consent rules for calls you place don't apply to answering (47 U.S.C. 227(b) regulates making calls). Three things still do: call recording laws, state laws on disclosing AI, and the consent you'll need for any call or text you send that caller afterward.

Out Nurture's AI calling is in beta and not yet available; this guide is about how AI answering for sales lines works in general.

What an AI receptionist should do on a sales line

Caller wants	AI handles it	Send to a person
Hours, location, what you sell, service area	Yes, from an approved fact sheet	Only if they ask
To book a consultation, showing or demo	Yes, straight into the calendar	If no slot fits
A price or quote	Published prices only	Anything custom, discounts, financing terms
Ready to buy, apply or sign now	Collect name and number first	Yes, transfer right away
An existing deal or account	Take a message	Yes, to the owner of that deal
A complaint, legal, medical or money problem	No	Yes
"Can I talk to a person?"	No	Yes, every time

Write the fact sheet the AI answers from, and tell it to say "I don't know, I'll have someone confirm" for anything not on it. A wrong price said confidently on a recorded line is worse than a callback.

What the AI says first

Example greeting:

"Thanks for calling Acme Roofing. I'm the AI assistant, and this call is recorded. I can answer questions, book an inspection, or get you to someone on the team. What can I help with?"

Each part has a job:

• Business name: confirms they reached the right place.
• "AI assistant": meets Maine's rule and avoids the awkward question later (see below).
• "This call is recorded": covers the all-party consent states.
• Three options: tells the caller what it can do, so they don't test it.

Recording consent

Federal law lets a party to a call record it with one side's consent (18 U.S.C. 2511(2)(d)). Some states require every party to agree. On their own official statute sites, these include:

State	Statute
California	Penal Code 632 and 632.7 (cell and cordless calls); fines up to $2,500 per violation
Florida	Florida Statutes 934.03
Illinois	720 ILCS 5/14-2
Maryland	Courts and Judicial Proceedings 10-402
Massachusetts	General Laws chapter 272, section 99 (secret recording)
Montana	Montana Code 45-8-213 (all parties must know)
New Hampshire	RSA 570-A:2
Washington	RCW 9.73.030

This list isn't complete, and callers can phone you from anywhere. Announce the recording on every call rather than guessing where the caller is. If a caller objects, stop recording and offer a callback from a person.

Laws on saying it's an AI

• Utah: if a caller clearly asks whether they're talking to a human, a business using generative AI in a consumer transaction must say it's AI. Licensed professionals must say so at the start of the call when it involves sensitive data such as health or financial information (Utah SB 226, 2025). The same bill protects a business whose AI discloses itself at the outset and throughout.
• Maine: a chatbot that talks or types with consumers may not leave a reasonable person believing it's human without a clear notice that it isn't (Maine Public Law 2025, chapter 294).

Saying "AI assistant" in the greeting satisfies both.

"Are you a robot?"

Example answer: "Yes, I'm an AI assistant for Acme Roofing. I can keep helping, or I can connect you with someone on the team. Which would you like?" Give the choice, and transfer without argument if they pick a person. Don't let the AI say "I'm a real person," joke around the question, or use a cloned voice of a staff member.

Handing off to a person

1. Warm transfer: the AI tells the caller who it's connecting them to, then gives the salesperson a short whisper or text first: "Maria Lopez, roof leak over the garage, wants an inspection this week, in Northside."
2. Nobody answers in about 30 seconds: come back to the caller, apologize, and book a callback at a specific time instead of sending them to voicemail.
3. After hours: book the next open slot, and tell the caller exactly when a person will call.
4. Always: read the callback number back to the caller digit by digit.

Send each call's summary and transcript to your CRM or inbox, with the caller's number, what they want, and what was promised.

Calling or texting them back

The caller agreed to talk on this call, not to future marketing. If your callback uses an AI or prerecorded voice to sell, the FCC treats it as an artificial-voice call that needs the person's prior express written consent (FCC Declaratory Ruling 24-17; 47 CFR 64.1200(a)(2)). A person calling them back by hand is not an artificial-voice call, but Do Not Call rules still apply to sales calls you make; an inquiry by the caller gives you three months under the established-business-relationship exception (47 CFR 64.1200(f)(5)).

The cleanest fix is to send callers to a booking page or form that collects written consent for calls and texts. Texts from a 10-digit business number also need an approved A2P 10DLC registration; see A2P 10DLC registration: cost, timeline and rejections.

What to measure

• Share of calls answered within the first few rings, by hour of day.
• Share of calls that ended with a booking, a transfer, or a scheduled callback.
• Transfers that nobody picked up.
• Calls where the caller asked for a person, said the AI was wrong, or hung up in the first 15 seconds. Read these transcripts first.

For why response time matters with web leads too, see speed to lead.

If you use Out Nurture

Out Nurture texts leads today (how the texting works); AI calling is in beta and not available yet.