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7 questions to ask an AI receptionist vendor before you sign

The 2026 AI Vendor Evaluation Checklist. What to ask any vendor, what a good answer sounds like, and how to test it live on the demo.

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PDF · 11 pages · Works on any vendor

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SOC 2 (TYPE II)

GDPR COMPLIANT

Applied Certified VENDOR

Checklist titled '7 Questions to Ask Before You Sign' from Sonant's 2026 Buyer's Toolkit, focusing on evaluating AI receptionist vendors with seven key questions and a scorecard.

Every AI receptionist sounds good in the demo.

The differences show up at 4:55 on a Friday, on the client who interrupts, and on the night a sync quietly fails. A rehearsed demo won't show you any of that. These seven questions will, before the contract instead of after it.

Built from our own sales calls, support tickets and onboarding work with independent P&C agencies, plus public guidance from the AICPA and the NAIC.
BEFORE THE DEMO
Email three questions and get the answers in writing.
DURING THE DEMO
Run four live tests yourself, on a real call.
AFTER THE DEMO
Score every vendor on the same one-page scorecard.

Seven questions that separate
real answers from rehearsed ones

Inside the checklist, each question comes with the follow-ups to ask, what a good answer sounds like, the red flags, and a live test you run yourself.

01

Integration

"Show me a call end and the note land in my AMS."
Write-back is what turns a call into a record your team can act on, without anyone retyping it.
02

Resolution

"Does it send the ID card, or take a message?"
If the AI only takes messages, your team still does every routine request, just later.
03

E&O exposure

"What will it refuse to do, and who gets the call?"
An AI that guesses about coverage is a liability with a nice voice.
04

Call quality

"Can it survive a real conversation?"
Your clients interrupt, change their minds and ask two things at once. Scripts don't bend.
05

Reliability

"If something breaks at 2am, how do I find out?"
The one question a demo can't rehearse. Integrations fail quietly, and someone always finds out first.
06

Security

"Where does my client data live, and can I see the proof?"
"We're compliant" is a claim. A current SOC 2 Type II report is evidence.
07

Commercials

"What will I really pay, and how do I get out?"
Per-minute caps, setup fees and AMS access charges rarely show up on the pricing slide.

FREE PDF

The good answers, the red flags and the live tests are in the checklist.
Get the checklist ->
What's inside

Built to be used in the room, not filed away.

Page titled '01 LIVE AMS WRITE-BACK' from Sonant's AI vendor evaluation checklist, featuring a quote: 'Show me a call end and the note land in my AMS. My system, not a slide.' It explains an AI receptionist that writes back call records into the agency management system. Below are questions to ask: if it is a live API or scheduled report import, who pays API access fees, and if it writes notes or tasks on which record. A good answer states notes and tasks appear during demo with method and cost disclosed. Red flags include 'Coming soon,' logo wall, and middleware maintenance. The page ends with a test: call as a prospect asking for auto quote and check if the record type and note are correct in AMS.
One page per question
The question in your words, the follow-ups, a good answer next to the red flags, and a test to run live.
Page titled '05 The 2AM Question' about reliability from Sonant AI vendor evaluation checklist 2026 asks how to find out if something breaks at 2AM. It explains most vendors prepare for demos but few for silent integration failures. Key questions to ask include alerts for note, transfer, or text failures, public status pages and release notes, and agent changes after go-live. Good answers provide specific alerts, status pages, release notes, and support channels. A red flag is vague monitoring claims. The page advises testing live by requesting a real failure alert and recent release notes to gauge readiness.
The 2am question
What happens when a note stops syncing at night, and how to tell if a vendor is ready for it.
Sonant AI vendor evaluation checklist titled 'The demo isn't the decision' explains that AI demos can sound good but real differences appear during use. It lists how to use the checklist: email questions 1, 6, and 7 before the demo, run live tests with questions 2 to 5 during the demo, and score vendors after the demo. The seven key questions are: show a call end and note in AMS; finish task or take message; refusal actions and call recipient; ability to survive real conversation; notification of failure at 2am; client data location and proof; real costs and exit options.
A plan for every demo
Which questions to send ahead, which to test live, and the seven on a single page.
Scorecard for evaluating AI vendors with columns for Vendor A, Vendor B, and Vendor C. Questions include live AMS write-back, task done or message taken, guardrails and escalation, a real conversation, the 2am question, data, security, residency, and real cost and the way out. Scoring is 2 for good answers shown live, 1 for partial or promised answers, and 0 for red flags or no answer. A zero on questions 3, 5, or 6 ends the evaluation. Below, a caution to walk away if hearing phrases like 'That integration is coming soon,' 'It can answer anything,' 'We're working toward SOC 2,' or 'Our team monitors everything.' The checklist is titled AI Vendor Evaluation Checklist 2026.
The scorecard

Score every vendor the same way.

Seven questions, up to three vendors, 0 to 2 points each. A zero on guardrails, reliability or security ends the evaluation, whatever the total. Those three create risk for your agency, not just inconvenience.

Thick pink X or close icon with rounded ends.

Walk away if you hear

"That integration is coming soon."

"It can answer anything."

"We're working toward SOC 2."

"Our team monitors everything."

Get the checklist and scorecard ->

Written for whoever signs off on the vendor

Inside the checklist, each question comes with the follow-ups to ask, what a good answer sounds like, the red flags, and a live test you run yourself.

Owners and principals

Comparing two or three vendors
You've seen the demos and they all sound the same. The checklist gives you a fair, side-by-side way to tell them apart.

Ops and IT leads

Running the due diligence
The security, retention and incident questions your IT team or PE sponsor will ask, ready to send before the first call.

Canadian brokerages

With data residency on the line
Where client data is stored is a yes or no question. Ask it early, and get the answer in writing.

"Quinn provides somebody on my team that doesn't take PTO. Her kid's not sick. She doesn't have a down day."

Smiling woman with long blonde hair wearing a blue O'Connor Insurance Associates polo shirt in front of a blurred brick wall.

Michelle O'Connor

President, O'Connor Insurance

8x

ROI in 30 days at O'Connor Insurance

58 h

freed per month at O'Connor Insurance

100%

answer rate at BIG Pickering

43%

productivity gain at Cornerstone

Questions agencies ask
before they buy

What questions should I ask an AI receptionist vendor?

Seven cover most of the risk. Ask to see a call write a note into your own AMS. Ask whether it completes routine requests or only takes messages. Ask what it refuses to do and who gets the call when it does. Test whether it survives a real conversation. Ask how you find out when something breaks. Ask for proof of where your data lives. Then ask for the full cost and the exit terms in writing.

How do I test an AI receptionist before I buy?

Call it yourself instead of watching a demo video. Interrupt it, change your mind, ask two things at once and ask for a person. Call as a client and ask for your ID card, then call from a client's number with the wrong date of birth. Before you hang up, open your AMS and check that the record and note are right.

Does an AI receptionist need to integrate with my AMS?

If you want it to do more than take messages, yes. Ask whether it uses a live API or a scheduled report import, whether it writes notes, tasks or both, and who pays for API access with your AMS vendor. A logo on a slide is not an integration.

What security documents should an AI receptionist vendor provide?

A current SOC 2 Type II report under NDA, and a bridge letter if the audit period ended more than three months ago. Also ask which country your data is stored in, how long recordings are kept for E&O, and how quickly they will notify you of an incident.

Can an AI receptionist give coverage advice?

It shouldn't. A well-built AI receptionist refuses to discuss coverage, bind or state a price, and hands the call to licensed staff with a summary attached. A Canadian tribunal has already held a company responsible for what its own chatbot told a customer.

What hidden costs should I watch for?

Minute caps on per-minute plans, setup and training fees, AMS access charges and unclear definitions of a seat. Ask for a sample order form instead of a pricing slide, and ask whether you can start on overflow or after-hours calls with written exit terms.

Is the checklist free, and does it work for any vendor?

Yes. It takes a short form to download, and a demo is optional. The questions are written to work on any AI receptionist vendor, Sonant included.