AI Receptionist Glossary

30 plain-language definitions for AI receptionist concepts and vertical-specific terms used across Oprantis. Organized by topic.

General AI Receptionist Terms

AI receptionist

Software that answers a business’s phone, runs structured intake, books appointments, and writes captured information into a CRM. Uses current-generation voice AI (conversational, natural pacing, handles interruptions). Configured per business with industry-specific scripts, escalation rules, and compliance boundaries. Hear one live: 📞 Talk to Aria.

Aria

The AI agent that powers the Oprantis platform. Aria answers inbound calls 24/7, qualifies leads, books appointments, and syncs calls to your CRM. Configured per business and per vertical. Hear her live: 📞 Talk to Aria.

Structured intake

The process of capturing predetermined fields (name, contact, urgency, service type, address, etc.) during a call rather than free-form note-taking. Structured intake produces consistent CRM records that downstream operations (dispatch, conflict check, qualification) can act on without rework.

Escalation rules

Configured logic that determines when a call routes to a human instead of being handled by Aria. Common escalation triggers: emergency keywords, clinical urgency, statute-of-limitations matters, existing-client servicing, after-hours on-call routing.

Speed-to-lead

The elapsed time between an inbound prospect call and the first response. Velocify research found firms that respond within 5 minutes are 21x more likely to convert than firms responding after 30 minutes. AI receptionists answer in <2 seconds.

Lead-source attribution

Tagging each captured lead with its origin (Google, Yelp, referral, repeat customer) during intake, then carrying the tag through to revenue reporting. Enables marketing-ROI analysis at the lead-source level. Part of the Oprantis “Beyond the Front Desk” operations layer.

Beyond the Front Desk

Oprantis’s product thesis that AI receptionist is the wedge into a service business, but the larger operational value comes from the layer underneath: dispatch optimization for trades, no-show recovery for medical, conflict-check workflows for legal, prospect-qualification for financial. See Platform.

Three-layer model

The Oprantis platform structure: Listening (AI receptionist, live now), Operations (dispatch, recall, follow-up — Coming Summer 2026), Intelligence (lead-source ROI, capacity optimization — Roadmap 2026-2027).

Founders pricing

Lifetime-locked pricing for the first cohort of Oprantis customers: Starter $197/mo, Growth $497/mo, Concierge $1,497/mo. Locks at sign-up and stays at that rate for the life of the subscription regardless of future price changes.

Plan minutes

Inbound call minutes included in each Oprantis plan: Starter 300, Growth 600, Concierge 1,200. Overages bill at $0.20/min. Most service businesses stay well within plan limits.

Trades / Contractors

Booking rate

The percentage of inbound calls that result in a booked job. ServiceTitan industry data: typical contractor booking rate is 42%; top performers reach 90%. A 5-percentage-point improvement translates to roughly $100,000 annual revenue for a 5-14 technician shop.

Missed-call cost

Invoca research: home services businesses miss 27% of inbound calls; average revenue lost per missed call is $1,200. The compounding cost includes the lost job plus the customer’s lifetime value if they choose a competitor.

Dispatch

The operational process of matching incoming jobs to available technicians by trade, urgency, location, and qualification. Quality of dispatch drives revenue per truck and customer satisfaction. Aria captures the inputs dispatch needs (urgency, address, service type) at intake.

Stalled estimate

An estimate that has been delivered to the customer but not converted into a booked job. Common stall reasons: customer comparison shopping, decision deferred, contact lost. Follow-up automation on stalled estimates is part of the Oprantis Operations layer roadmap.

Recall outreach

Outbound contact to existing customers for routine recurring service (HVAC tune-ups, pest control, annual inspections). Recall is high-margin recurring revenue often left uncaptured because front-desk staff don’t have time to chase it.

Medical

HIPAA-BAA

Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act / Business Associate Agreement. The BAA is the legal contract between a covered entity (medical practice) and a business associate (vendor handling PHI on the practice’s behalf) that establishes HIPAA compliance obligations. The default Oprantis configuration is not currently HIPAA-BAA-covered; coverage is on the medical roadmap.

PHI

Protected Health Information. Patient identifying information combined with health information. Subject to HIPAA. Until BAA coverage is in place, configure Oprantis intake scripts to capture appointment logistics (name, contact, visit type) and avoid clinical PHI.

No-show

A scheduled appointment the patient does not attend and does not reschedule. Solv Health 2023 modeling: a 5-provider practice loses ~$192,000 annually to no-shows at the 19% national average rate. Read the full analysis.

Recall (medical)

Outbound patient contact for due/overdue routine visits: annual physicals, dental cleanings, dermatology checks, post-procedure follow-ups. Aria’s medical recall configuration runs the cadence the front desk doesn’t have time for.

Insurance pre-verification

The process of confirming a patient’s insurance coverage and benefits before the appointment. Aria captures the verification inputs (carrier, member ID, group, policyholder DOB) during the booking call so the verification team works the captured fields rather than playing phone tag.

Legal

Conflict check

The process of identifying potential conflicts of interest before a law firm engages with a prospective client. Inputs: parties involved, jurisdictions, related matters. Aria captures the inputs your conflict-check system needs — she does not run the actual conflict check.

Statute of limitations

The deadline by which a legal claim must be filed. Varies by matter type and jurisdiction (PI: 1-3 years, employment: typically 180-300 days, contract: 4-6 years). Aria captures date of incident and matter type during intake; firm-configured rules flag time-sensitive matters for same-day attorney attention.

Intake (legal)

The structured collection of matter information from a prospective client: matter type, jurisdiction, opposing party, date of incident, contact details, conflict-check inputs, document needs. Aria runs intake; attorneys provide counsel.

Bar advertising rules

State-specific regulations governing how attorneys can advertise and communicate with prospective clients. Stricter jurisdictions (NY, CA, TX) require additional script review during Oprantis onboarding to ensure local compliance.

Contingency fee

A fee structure where the attorney’s payment is contingent on case outcome, typically 33-40% of recovery in personal injury matters. Speed-to-lead matters more in contingency-fee practices because prospects call multiple firms simultaneously and whoever answers first usually retains. See the math.

Financial

KYC

Know Your Customer. Regulatory requirement to verify client identity and assess relevant risk factors. Aria captures KYC basics (name, contact, qualifying assets, planning need) during intake. She does not run actual KYC verification (CIP, OFAC, AML screening) — the firm’s compliance system runs that on the captured inputs.

AUM

Assets Under Management. The dollar value of investments an advisor or firm manages on behalf of clients. Most fee-based advisors qualify prospects against an AUM threshold (e.g., $500K minimum, $1M+ for wealth management). Aria asks the qualifying-asset question during intake using a comfortable script.

Qualified prospect

A prospect that meets the firm’s defined fit criteria (AUM threshold, planning-need fit, geographic fit). Aria’s financial configuration qualifies prospects against firm-defined criteria and books only above-threshold prospects into the advisor’s consultation calendar.

RIA

Registered Investment Advisor. A firm or individual registered with the SEC or state securities regulators that provides investment advice on a fiduciary basis. Aria’s financial scripts comply with RIA-relevant communication rules (no specific product recommendations, no performance guarantees) by default.

Fiduciary

A duty to act in the client’s best interest, applicable to RIAs and certain other advisor classifications. Aria does not provide advice and does not enter the fiduciary scope — she captures intake. All fiduciary activity remains with the licensed advisor.