Smith.ai was one of the steadiest of the nine AI receptionists we phoned on October 11, 2026. Its typical wait was 2.2 and 2.3 seconds, its slowest answer took 2.4, and it never talked over the caller. If you came here hoping we caught it out, we did not.
The difference is in who each one is for. Smith.ai's home page says it runs intake for law firms, with human receptionists behind the AI. Ours is the receptionist inside NameCRM, for a small service business that wants calls booked and filed on the client's record. It comes by request, with a walkthrough first.
Checked October 11, 2026 on each vendor's own pages
Timed by phone
Smith.ai was steady: 2.2 and 2.3 seconds, with a slowest answer of 2.4 seconds, barely slower than its typical one. It never talked over the caller. Of the nine, only Vapi, Smith.ai and ours did both things right on both calls.
On October 11, 2026 we phoned each demo number twice. The caller was an AI of ours playing a new customer, and it was not told whose number it had dialled. The wait is the time from the caller's last sound to the receptionist's first sound. The typical wait is the middle value on a call. Talking over the caller means it started speaking while the caller was mid-sentence and the caller kept going.
Read the full test of all nine| What we timed | Nametech (ours) | Smith.ai |
|---|---|---|
| Typical wait, two calls | 1.6 s and 1.9 s | 2.2 s and 2.3 s |
| Talked over the caller | Never | Never |
| Waits over 5 s | None | None |
| Slowest wait under 5 s | 2.4 s | 2.4 s |
Our column is the receptionist that answers our own business line. Smith.ai's column comes from its home page and its AI Receptionist page, read on the date shown.
| What you need | AI receptionist in NameCRM | Smith.ai AI Receptionist |
|---|---|---|
| Who it is built for | Small service businesses in British Columbia whose day is calls, email, meetings, quotes and contracts. | Law firms first: its home page says it runs intake for law firms. Its AI Receptionist page speaks of businesses more widely.[1] source 1[2] source 2 |
| How you get it | In progress Only with NameCRM, which is not on sale yet. It runs our own agency in Surrey, BC, and businesses can request access for a walkthrough. | Yes Sign up on its website. It says you can create an AI Receptionist in about 15 minutes and hear how it handles your calls before any customer does.[2] source 2 |
| A person behind the AI | You can listen live from your phone, whisper an instruction the caller cannot hear, or take the call over. It rings you in when a caller asks for you. | Add-on or app More than 500 human receptionists based in North America can take the calls that need a person, as an add-on.[2] source 2 |
| Tells the caller it is an AI | Yes Every call opens by saying it is your AI assistant and that the call is recorded, and it says so again whenever a caller asks, then offers a call back from you. | Yes Its site says callers will know, and that the greeting can introduce the service openly. It says the AI never claims to be human when a caller asks directly.[1] source 1[2] source 2 |
| Is the call recorded? | Yes Yes, on two channels, stored privately, and the caller is told at the start of every call. | Yes Every call is recorded and transcribed, its site says.[2] source 2 |
| Books appointments | Yes Books, moves or cancels meetings in your real calendar during the call, checked against your open hours, with a Meet link or a meeting place. | Yes Books the consultation during the call, into your case management system.[1] source 1[2] source 2 |
| Languages | Understands French, Hindi, Urdu and Punjabi callers as well as English, and replies aloud in French or Hindi. | English and one other language, named on its page.[2] source 2 |
| Works with other software | NameCRM connects directly to the systems a service business runs on: Microsoft 365, Google Calendar, Stripe, QuickBooks Online and the phone network. | Yes Connects to Salesforce, HubSpot and Clio, and to more than 5,000 apps directly or through Zapier and Make.[2] source 2 |
Facts about other products come from their own websites, read on October 11, 2026; the numbers in brackets lead to each page. Products change, so check the vendor before you decide. No prices appear here, ours or theirs.
Most of what our test caught elsewhere is absent here. Smith.ai did not talk over the caller and did not leave a silence over five seconds. Its slowest answer, 2.4 seconds, was barely slower than its typical one. Ours has the same clean sheet.
Ours answered sooner on both calls: 1.6 and 1.9 seconds against 2.2 and 2.3. Whether a caller would notice that is a fair question. They would notice being talked over, and neither of us did that.
Smith.ai has people. When a call needs a human, more than 500 receptionists in North America can take it. Ours has one person to fall back on, and it is you: it rings you in when a caller asks for you.
It also connects to the software law firms already use, Clio among it, and to thousands of other apps. Ours connects to the handful of systems NameCRM runs on and files everything there.
The AI receptionist is part of NameCRM and is not sold on its own, because it books into the calendar, reads the caller's record and turns promises into tasks. Request access on the NameCRM page and we will set up a walkthrough.
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Questions
Smith.ai's home page is written for law firms. Ours is built for small service businesses. It answers when you cannot, books the meeting in your calendar during the call and files the call on the client's record. It comes inside NameCRM, by request, so it is not a same-day swap.
We rang its public demo number twice on October 11, 2026. Its typical wait was 2.2 and 2.3 seconds, and its slowest answer took 2.4. It never talked over the caller. That is two calls to a demo number, not a customer's own setup.
Both, according to its site. Its AI Receptionist answers, and more than 500 human receptionists based in North America are available as an add-on for calls that need a person. Ours has no answering staff. The AI answers, and you can listen in or take the call over yourself.
Smith.ai's site says callers will know, and that its AI never claims to be human when asked directly. Ours opens every call by saying it is your AI assistant and that the call is recorded. It says so again whenever a caller asks.
Not today. Ours is part of NameCRM and comes by request. You ask for access on the NameCRM page and we set up a walkthrough first. Smith.ai lets you sign up on its own website.
