7 Best 24/7 Answering Service for Hair Salons

According to their website, Quo’s Sona AI agent is designed specifically for salons and spas, offering a seamless integration within their modern business phone system. Sona handles calls 24/7, answers common questions, and captures detailed messages directly within the Quo workspace, ensuring all client interactions remain in one place. This eliminates the need to toggle between multiple platforms, which can lead to a disjointed client experience. Sona is trained once with your salon’s service menu, pricing, and policies, ensuring consistent and accurate responses every time—no more misquoting balayage prices or forgetting cancellation rules. The system integrates directly with Quo’s call routing features, allowing you to set up phone menus so callers can be directed to the right department based on their needs. Sona is also cost-effective, with a base plan of $49 per month for 50 calls, and additional calls costing $0.99 each. Importantly, calls under 15 seconds—such as spam or wrong numbers—are not charged, making it a predictable expense. This focus on integration and cost predictability makes Quo a strong contender for salons already invested in their phone system.

Smith.ai positions itself as a hybrid AI and human-powered answering service, combining the speed of AI with the empathy of live agents. According to their website, their AI Receptionist handles calls 24/7, books appointments, qualifies leads, and provides intelligent call analytics. The platform is highly customizable, allowing businesses to create custom AI prompts tailored to their industry, terminology, and workflows. This is particularly valuable for salons with unique service offerings or complex booking rules. Smith.ai also offers optional human support, with North America-based receptionists who can seamlessly escalate calls when needed. Their platform integrates with over 7,000 business tools, including major CRMs and booking systems, ensuring client data is automatically logged. The service is known for its white-glove implementation, with dedicated onboarding support from sales engineers and account managers. For salons looking for a solution that can grow with them and adapt to changing needs, Smith.ai offers a high degree of flexibility and control.

YunaCalls offers a specialized AI answering service for hair salons with a strong focus on seamless integration and quick deployment. According to their website, their AI receptionist handles appointment bookings, service questions, and client inquiries 24/7 with native Mindbody integration. This is a significant advantage for salons using Mindbody as their primary booking platform, as it ensures real-time synchronization and eliminates double-booking risks. The platform boasts a 5-minute setup time, allowing salons to deploy their AI agent quickly without technical hurdles. Yuna’s AI is trained on typical salon inquiries and can handle complex service offerings, making it ideal for salons with diverse service menus and stylist schedules. The platform also supports multiple locations and offers a 14-day free trial with no credit card required. Their clients report significant improvements in booking capture and client satisfaction, with one salon owner noting a 92% reduction in missed bookings and 100 new clients in six months. The service is priced at $0.15 per minute, which is competitive for the level of automation provided.

PATLive offers a long-standing, 100% US-based answering service with a focus on professional, reliable call handling. According to their website, their virtual receptionists are trained for over 80 hours and are known for their quick response time, answering calls in an average of four rings. The service handles a wide range of tasks beyond simple call answering, including screening and transferring calls, message taking, lead collection, appointment scheduling, event registrations, and even payment processing. PATLive’s service is highly customizable, with the ability to create custom call scripts that reflect your salon’s brand voice and policies. The company emphasizes its commitment to customer service, with a 4.8-star rating on TrustPilot. They also offer web and mobile apps for real-time status updates and call management. For salons that value a human touch and want a reliable, professional team that acts as a true extension of their business, PATLive offers a premium service with a proven track record.

MAP Communications provides a live answering service for salons and spas with a focus on affordability and flexibility. According to their website, they charge only for the time their receptionists actively spend chatting with callers, which eliminates surprise bills and allows salons to pay only for what they use. The service is available 24/7 and can be turned on and off as needed, making it ideal for salons with fluctuating call volumes. Their receptionists are trained to follow customized scripts that match the salon’s policies, services, and brand voice, ensuring a consistent and professional experience. The company emphasizes its employee-owned structure, which they claim leads to a higher level of investment in client success. MAP also offers an appointment scheduling service and an online portal to access call data and message details. For salons looking for a cost-effective, flexible solution with a human touch, MAP Communications provides a straightforward and transparent pricing model.

Upfirst offers an AI-powered virtual receptionist designed for small businesses seeking a low-cost alternative to human receptionists. According to their website, the system uses AI to answer calls, collect information, schedule appointments, and provide summaries. It can route calls to specific departments or people, making it suitable for salons with multiple stylists or services. The voices are designed to sound natural, and the system is built to be easy to use for non-technical users. A key advantage is that spam calls are not counted toward usage, and users can test the experience from their own number without being charged. Upfirst integrates with other software via Zapier, allowing for broad automation potential. While it currently does not support inbound text messaging, it can send outbound texts in some workflows. The platform is particularly affordable, with a base plan of $24.95 for 30 calls. For salons that are open to AI and want a simple, budget-friendly solution, Upfirst provides a compelling entry point.