Features
She remembers who's calling.
When a number she has answered before rings again, she greets that caller by name and stops asking for what she already has. It is on from the first call, with nothing to set up.
No card · No setup · Keep your number · No website? Start here
What is returning-caller recognition?
When someone calls your shop a second time, Heyline matches their caller ID against the numbers she has answered before, greets them by name, and skips the questions she already has answers to. It is on from her very first call — no setting to switch on, no list to import.
It runs off the number on the call, so it costs you nothing to set up. The first time a person books or leaves a message, she asks their name and checks that the number they are calling from is the best one, and that pair becomes a contact. The next time that number rings, the contact is already there.
Repeat customers are the callers you can least afford to bore. According to ServiceTitan's 2022 data across 3,000+ US and Canadian trade businesses, the typical shop books 42% of the calls that come in — and that share falls to 24% at shops with fewer than five technicians. A second call that opens with "can I get your name again?" is a poor way to spend that chance.
What does she say when she recognizes a caller?
She puts a short welcome in front of the greeting every caller gets. The prefix is "Hi {Caller name} — welcome back!". Behind it comes the same example greeting a first-time caller hears: your business name, then the line that tells them she is an AI assistant and that the call may be recorded, then an offer to help.
The disclosure never moves. Personalization only adds words to the front, and if a warm opening would ever push the AI-and-recording line out, she drops the prefix and gives the plain greeting instead. A customer who has called you every spring for three years still hears that she is an AI and that the call may be recorded.
Everything else holds too. She still answers within two rings, and she still answers only from the notes you gave her. Being recognized changes her manners, not her rules.
Decide with your ears — not a sales deck.
Paste your website and talk to your own receptionist, free, in your browser.
A second call, from a number she knows
Thu · 8:12 AM — Ridgeline Yard Care · caller ID matched a contact
Hi — you did my hedges back in the spring. They need another pass.
Happy to set that up, Teodora. You already have a fall cleanup with us on the 19th at 1:00 PM — do you want the hedges on that visit, or a separate one?
Separate is fine. Sometime next week?
I have Wednesday at 9:00 AM or Thursday at 2:30 PM.
Wednesday works.
Booked — Wednesday at 9:00 AM, hedge trimming for Teodora, and I have your number as 403-555-0126. Anything else?
8:13 AM — hedge trimming booked · recap emailed to the owner
Conversation is illustrative.
What changes on a call she recognizes?
Recognition changes what she has to ask. It never changes what she has to say, or what she is allowed to do.
| In the call | Unknown or blocked caller ID | A number she has answered before |
|---|---|---|
| The greeting | The standard greeting, business name first | The same greeting with a welcome back in front of it |
| Their name | She asks for it before she saves a message or books | Already on the contact — she uses it |
| Callback number | She checks whether the number they are calling from is the best one | The number on file, no re-asking |
| An appointment they already have | She takes a message, and never confirms one exists | She can name it, change it, and read the change back |
| Read-back on a booking | Day, time, name and callback number | Day, time, name and callback number |
Recognition is per business and always on — there is no switch, only the contact itself.
How do I change the name she greets someone by?
Everyone who has called lands on the Contacts page: a searchable directory with a panel for each number, holding the name she uses and that caller's calls, messages and bookings.
Find the contact
Search Contacts by name or number and open the row. The history on the panel goes back as far as your plan keeps call history — 30 days on Starter, and up to 365 days on Growth and Scale.
Rename them
Type the name you want her to use. It takes effect on that caller's next call — the fix for a nickname she caught, or for a shop where the office manager answers the line.
Or delete the contact
Deleting makes recognition forget the number, so the next call is treated as a first call. The calls themselves stay in your log, and the contact rebuilds itself if that person ever calls back.
What recognition never does
She never claims to be a person. A name in front of the greeting is a courtesy, not a disguise — every call still discloses that she is an AI and that it may be recorded.
She never carries a caller between businesses. Each business on your account keeps its own receptionist, its own number and its own contacts.
She never reaches out first. No texts, no reminders, no calling anyone back — everything she does happens on the call the customer made.
She never opens someone else's calendar. She sees only the appointments booked under the number she is talking to, and a blocked number gets a message taken instead.
Frequently asked questions
How does she recognize a caller?
She matches the caller ID on the incoming call against the numbers your receptionist has answered before. A match brings up the name and the details already on file, so she greets them and skips what she would otherwise ask. A blocked or withheld number cannot be matched, so that call runs as a first call.
Is caller data shared between businesses on Heyline?
No. Recognition is scoped to one business. Each business on your account has its own receptionist, its own number and its own contacts, so a customer known to your plumbing company is a stranger to your cleaning company until they call that line. Growth covers up to three businesses and Scale up to five.
Can I rename or delete a contact?
Yes, both, from the Contacts page. Rename a contact and that becomes the name she greets them by on their next call. Delete it and recognition forgets the number, so the next call starts fresh. The calls, messages and bookings stay in your log either way, and the contact rebuilds itself if that person calls again.
What if the caller's name changed?
Rename the contact and she uses the new name from the next call on. She reads the name off the contact, not off an old call, so one edit is enough. If the number moved to a different person entirely, delete the contact instead — she will ask fresh and save what that caller tells her.
Start with the first call.
Build her from your website and talk to her in your browser — free, no card. She starts remembering the day she answers your phone.
No card · No setup · Keep your number · No website? Start here
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