Your phone, answered mid-colour
When your hands are full or the salon is closed, Ellie answers. She knows your services and prices, checks your real diary, books the appointment and texts the client a confirmation. Included on every plan, not a costly add-on.
- A natural British voice, answering as your salon
- Answers questions about your services and prices
- Checks real availability and books straight into the diary
- Moves and cancels appointments when a client rings, within your notice period
- Takes messages and puts urgent calls through to you
- A summary and transcript of every call
A new number, or keep yours
Get a new UK number for the front desk, or keep your own salon number and forward it when you are busy or after hours. Forwarding is usually a short code on a mobile or a setting on a business line, and your dashboard shows you how.
Bookings that really happen
Ellie checks the same live diary as your online booking: each person's hours, processing time and buffers. When the client picks a time she books it, and they get a text to confirm it.
Moves and cancellations too
A client who rings to move or cancel is recognised by the number they are calling from, and Ellie finds their appointment. She offers real free times for the same service, with the same person unless they ask otherwise, and moves it. Your notice period, patch tests and deposit rules apply exactly as they do on the link in their confirmation text, and inside the notice period she takes a message for you instead. Someone ringing from a different phone has to give the number the booking is under, their first name and the day, so nobody can cancel someone else's visit. A text confirms the change.
Messages and urgent calls
For anything she should not handle, she takes a proper message with a name and number to call back, or puts urgent calls straight through by your rules.
It only answers calls
The AI front desk answers the calls your salon receives. It never rings clients to sell to them.
What other salon systems charge for AI
On Salonly the AI front desk is part of every plan. Here is what the best-known UK systems say about AI phone answering on their own websites.
- Fresha
- AI Concierge, £79.95 per location a month
- Treatwell
- AI Receptionist, from £69 a month
- Phorest
- Front Desk AI, answering by SMS and WhatsApp
- Booksy
- AI Receptionist in beta on its US site, not on its UK pages
- Timely
- None on its pricing page
Read from each company's own pages on 16 October 2026. Sources and every other fact are on how we compare.
Questions
How many calls are included?
Every plan includes AI front desk calls each month: Solo 30, Salon 100 and Pro 200. A call is up to 3 minutes: a longer call counts as more than one, and calls end after 6 minutes. Extra calls are 50p each, and your dashboard shows your usage as you go.
Will clients know it is an AI?
Ellie speaks naturally, but if a client asks, she says she is the salon's AI front desk and offers to take a message for the team.
Does it work for barbers, nail salons and beauty salons?
Yes. Ellie answers as your business, with your own services, prices, team and opening hours, whether you run a hair salon, a barbershop, a nail or beauty salon, a brow and lash studio or a clinic.
Is it a virtual receptionist?
In the sense that it answers your phone for you, yes. It is an AI rather than a person in a call centre: when a call needs a person, Ellie takes a message or puts the call through to you.
Can I keep my salon number?
Yes. Forward your number to the front desk when you are busy, or when you are closed. You can switch forwarding on and off whenever you like.
Can I change her name?
Yes. She is called Ellie to start with, and you can call her whatever suits your salon.
Your salon, fully booked. No commission.
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