AI Receptionist NZ With Unlimited Minutes

Jodie's New Zealand list prices are NZ$99, NZ$199 and NZ$399 a month plus GST, all with unlimited minutes (fair use up to 1,000 calls a month) and no per-call fees. Local rivals mostly sell minutes: Talkify is NZ$129 a month for three months and NZ$199 after that, with 200 minutes, and FirstVoice starts at NZ$297 with setup included (checked October 2026). A bundle can cost less on a quiet line, and a flat price wins once the phone is busy.

It answers your business calls in a natural voice, talks with the caller, then takes their details, books them in or passes the message on. Jodie works this way day and night: she learns your business from your website or Google Business Profile, and after each call you get an email and app summary with the recording and transcript.

Jodie has no free plan, and New Zealand sign-ups are on a waitlist for now; join it and we will tell you when a place opens. Smith.ai, an American service, has a free AI plan that covers 25 calls a month, then charges US$3.00 a call (checked October 2026). Plain voicemail costs nothing but cannot ask questions or book a job.

Usually, if calls go unanswered while you are on the tools, with a client or closed for the evening: one extra job a month will often cover NZ$99. If a person who can book the work already gets to every call quickly, save your money.

On the phone, largely yes: Jodie covers every call day and night, takes messages and, from the Professional plan, books appointments and puts urgent callers through to you. What she cannot do is greet anyone at the counter or handle work away from the phone. Our receptionist cost calculator sets a receptionist's wage against a Jodie plan.

A virtual receptionist is usually a real person at an agency, answering your calls remotely and charging by the call or the minute. An AI receptionist, also called an AI virtual receptionist, is software doing the same job at any hour, and Jodie charges one flat monthly fee for it. The comparison table above sets out where each comes out ahead.

Up to you: her opening line can tell callers up front that the call may be answered by an AI assistant and may be recorded, which some businesses must do. Either way, Jodie sounds natural, uses your business name and follows up on what the caller says, with no press-1 menu.

Jodie takes down the caller's details and their question, and both arrive straight away in your inbox and the Jodie app so you can ring back with the answer. If some callers should never wait, Professional and Premium let you set rules that put them straight through to you or your team.

Yes, on most networks. Nothing is ported: you set a divert on your existing number for every call, after-hours calls only, or just the calls you miss, with Spark's or One NZ's code or your phone's settings on 2degrees. Skinny does not support call forwarding, so a Skinny number cannot divert to Jodie.

Jodie AI Limited is registered in England and Wales, and our privacy policy has a New Zealand section under the Privacy Act 2020, including Information Privacy Principle 12 on overseas disclosure. Recordings and transcripts are processed in Ireland and the United States, you can switch recording or transcription off, and complaints can go to the Office of the Privacy Commissioner.

Join the waitlist first, since New Zealand sign-ups are not open yet. When your place opens, most businesses are set up in under 10 minutes. Jodie reads your website or Google Business Profile, you check what she has learned and add your questions, make a test call, then divert your calls to her number.

Yes, on the Professional and Premium plans. She offers the times you have free, books the caller in while they are still on the line, and puts the callers you choose straight through to you or a colleague. Basic answers and takes messages but does not book or transfer.