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How long does setup actually take?
About fifteen minutes. You load your services and durations, connect a calendar, and forward your number. Nothing is installed and no hardware arrives.
What do I need before I start?
Your list of services with rough durations and prices, your opening hours, and access to the Google or Outlook calendar you already use. That is the lot.
Can I try it without changing my phone?
Yes. Ring our demo line on +44 1830 575742 and you are talking to the same software. Nothing on your side changes until you forward your own number.
Do I have to give up my existing number?
No. You keep the number on your van and your shopfront, and forward it. Conditional forwarding sends only the calls you do not pick up; unconditional sends all of them.
How do I turn forwarding off again?
From your phone's keypad, in under a minute. Forwarding is a network setting on your own line, so you are never locked into it by us.
Can I still answer calls myself?
Yes, that is what conditional forwarding is for. Pick up the ones you want; anything you leave ringing goes to your agent rather than to voicemail.
Which calendars are supported?
Google Calendar and Microsoft Outlook or 365, both with two-way sync. Apple iCloud works as a subscribed read-only feed, so your agent can see it but cannot write to it.
How does it avoid double-booking?
It reads live availability before it offers a time and writes the appointment during the call. If two callers want the same slot, the second is offered the next one.
Why is my appointment an hour out?
Almost always the display timezone on the calendar itself rather than the booking. Check the timezone setting in Outlook or Google before assuming the time was taken down wrong.
What counts as a talk-time minute?
Seconds spent actually speaking to a caller, rounded up per call. Ringing is not counted, texts are not counted, and calendar writes are not counted.
What happens if I go over my plan?
Nothing stops. The extra is billed at £1.50 a minute, and if you are consistently over we will tell you that moving up a plan is cheaper.
How do I change or cancel my plan?
From the dashboard, in either direction. Moving up is immediate and pro-rated; moving down takes effect at your next billing date. Monthly plans have no tie-in.
How long do you keep call recordings?
Ninety days by default for recordings and transcripts, and sooner on request. Account records are kept for twelve months after closure.
A caller wants their data deleted
Forward it to privacy@lombi.co.uk and we will action it within the statutory month, usually the same week. You do not need to work out first whether you are the controller.
Can I get a DPA?
Yes, before you take a single call rather than after you sign. Ask at privacy@lombi.co.uk.
What happens if the agent cannot answer?
The call falls straight back to your own line, so a caller hears your phone ring rather than an error message.
It got a name or email wrong
It reads names and addresses back letter by letter where it matters, but if one slips through, the transcript is on the call record so you can correct it and we can bias the recogniser toward that word.
It answered something I would not have
Tell us and we will tighten the rule. What your agent may quote, book and refuse is configuration rather than a rebuild, and it is your call, not ours.
Do I have to give up my number
No, and you should not have to. The number on your van and your shopfront is worth more than any software, so it stays exactly where it is.
The words people use
Plain definitions for the terms every provider in this category uses slightly differently.
AI receptionist
Software that answers your phone in a conversation rather than a menu, and can finish the task the caller rang about. If it can only take a message, it is voicemail with better manners.
Talk-time minute
The unit nearly every voice service bills in. Seconds spent actually speaking, rounded up per call. Worth checking whether a provider also bills the ringing.
Conditional forwarding
Sending only the calls you do not pick up to another line. The opposite, unconditional, sends every call. You keep your number either way.
Missed-call rescue
Dealing with the calls that ring out, rather than logging them. A list of missed calls is still a list of jobs you have to do.
Two-way calendar sync
Your agent both reads availability and writes bookings back. One-way sync is what causes double bookings, because the agent works from a stale copy.
Data Processing Agreement
The contract setting out what a supplier may do with data about your customers. If a supplier cannot produce one, they have not thought about it.
Still stuck?
Four routes, and what each is genuinely best for.
Ring the agent
+44 1830 575742 reaches the same software you would be buying, so it doubles as the demo.
mail@lombi.co.uk
Reaches a person rather than a ticket queue. Best for anything you want in writing.
Ask on the site
The chat in the corner of every page answers from what is actually documented here.
privacy@lombi.co.uk
Data requests, DPAs, and anything your own customers have asked you to action.