---
title: "AI Call Answering: What the Term Means and How It Works"
description: "AI call answering explained: How artificial intelligence takes calls, understands requests and acts – and how it differs from an answering machine."
type: "wissen"
product: "phone"
slug: "ai-call-answering"
source_language: "de"
target_languages: ["de", "en", "es", "pl", "tr"]
published: "2026-06-10"
status: "publish"
faq_json: [{"q":"What is AI call answering?","a":"With AI call answering, an artificial intelligence takes incoming calls in natural language, understands the request and acts: it answers questions, forwards calls or notes a callback."}, {"q":"How does AI call answering differ from an answering machine?","a":"An answering machine only records. The AI conducts a real conversation: it asks follow-up questions, structures the request and creates a summary the team can work with directly."}, {"q":"How does the AI know what to answer?","a":"From a Knowledge Base: there you store opening hours, services, prices and frequently asked questions. The AI assistant bases its answers on this knowledge – just as you specify it."}, {"q":"What happens with requests the AI can't resolve?","a":"That's what forwarding rules are for: you define in which cases the call is handed over to which number – for example urgent requests directly to the mobile phone."}, {"q":"Can I test AI call answering before deciding?","a":"Yes. With webRichtung phone you set up a Phone Agent with its own phone number and test 7 days with 15 conversation minutes free – a test call to your own number is enough."}]
language: "en"
source_id: "wissen/ki-anrufannahme"
source_hash: "ed29d50900395a7b0afe5596e514c9e5e05a70cc073de3c3fb19640c6132fe5e"
---

AI call answering means that an artificial intelligence takes incoming calls, understands the request in a free-flowing conversation and acts directly: answering questions, forwarding, scheduling an appointment or noting a callback. Unlike an answering machine, it doesn't just record, and unlike a touch-tone menu, it doesn't force anyone through rigid selection paths.

## How AI call answering works

A typical call runs in four steps:

1. **Answering:** The AI assistant greets the caller with your greeting – just as your team would.
2. **Understanding:** The caller describes their request in their own words. The AI asks follow-up questions when something is missing – for example a name or callback number.
3. **Acting:** Depending on the request, the AI answers the question from its stored knowledge, forwards to a person according to your rules, or records the request in a structured way.
4. **Documenting:** After the call, a log entry is created with date, duration, caller and an AI summary. Your team reads in a few sentences what it was about – without listening to the call.

## Distinguishing: answering machine, IVR, AI

- **Answering machine:** records, understands nothing. The caller speaks into the void, the team listens and types it up.
- **Voice menu (IVR):** "Press 1 for …" – fixed paths, frequent drop-offs, no understanding of free phrasing.
- **AI call answering:** a real conversation in natural language. The AI also understands roundabout phrasing ("I'm calling about the invoice from last week…") and delivers a structured result.

You can find a detailed comparison in the article [Automatic Call Answering](/en/wissen/automatische-anrufannahme.html).

## Where the AI gets its knowledge

Good AI call answering doesn't answer from the internet, but from your knowledge. In the Knowledge Base you store what the assistant should know about your company: opening hours, services, prices, frequently asked questions. The better this knowledge is maintained, the better the answers. For everything the AI shouldn't or can't clarify, you define forwarding rules – urgent cases then go directly to a person.

## When AI call answering is worthwhile

The benefit is greatest where calls are lost: during peak times when all lines are busy, outside business hours, and in small teams where nobody is dedicated solely to the phone. The AI takes several calls in parallel – call spikes no longer create a waiting queue. The cost side also suits a cautious start: with webRichtung, account and users cost 0 euros, you only pay for usage via Credits (1 Credit = 1 euro net) – quiet hours cost nothing.

## How to try it out

With [webRichtung phone](https://www.webrichtung.de/module/phone/) you set up a Phone Agent in just a few minutes: set a name and greeting, done – your assistant is reachable under its own phone number and speaks 70 languages when needed. You test 7 days with 15 conversation minutes free: call your own number, ask typical customer questions and then check in the log how the conversation was summarized. A step-by-step guide is available in the [documentation](https://docs.webrichtung.de/phone/).