AI phone receptionist · Practices and SMBs in Belgium
Your AI phone receptionist. Every call answered.
Our AI assistant answers in your name when you cannot pick up. It says straight away that it is an AI, takes the message and sends it to you within 15 min. An emergency? It passes the call to a human. Prepared by us, personally validated with you, live within 5 business days.
Free, 30 minutes, no commitment.
What is an AI phone receptionist for SMBs, concretely?
A voice assistant that answers your calls: all day, or only when you do not pick up. It says it is an AI from the first second, takes the message and passes urgent calls to a human. It does not record the voice. Secondia sets it up and follows it up for independents and SMBs in Belgium: from €149/month excl. VAT with 300 minutes included, live within 5 business days, no long-term commitment.
A virtual receptionist that says it is one
An AI phone receptionist is a voice assistant that picks up for you. It is also called a virtual receptionist or AI phone answering service. It understands what the caller says and answers within the frame you set. For the rest, it passes you the message. It does not decide for you: it takes the calls that kept you from working.
For an SMB or a practice, the need is rarely “a talking robot”: it is to stop losing the client call that lands during a consultation, a job site or a hearing, and to stop paying a full-time role for a task that takes two hours a day. That is exactly what this assistant does, and nothing more.
Four things it does, in this order
1. The AI announces itself from the first second
“Hello, you have reached [your company], I am the practice's AI assistant.” No human first name, no ambiguity. The EU AI law (AI Act, art. 50) requires it: callers must know they are talking to an AI. It also puts them at ease.
2. It understands the request and takes a clear message
Who is calling, why, whether it is urgent, how to call back. You get the message by SMS and in your client portal, in a few lines. No recording to replay.
3. Urgent calls are transferred to a human
You set the rules: certain words (“urgent”), certain hours, certain clients. The call is then passed to your line, a colleague or an on-call service. The assistant does not improvise: anything outside the frame, it flags to you.
4. It offers and confirms an appointment
If you wish, the assistant offers free times from your calendar, confirms by SMS and sends a reminder. No medical reason, no sensitive data: a time, a name, a number.
You keep your number. Your clients dial the same one.
In practice, we use “call forwarding”. It is a setting on your line, like on a mobile phone: your calls are sent to the assistant instead of ringing out. You can turn it on and off whenever you want.
1
The same number for your clients
They dial the number on your business cards, your website and your invoices. Your number stays with your operator: nothing to cancel, nothing to transfer.
2
You choose when the assistant takes over
Either for every call, or only when you do not pick up after a few rings, when your line is busy or outside your hours. What is possible depends on your line: we check it with you.
3
We set up call forwarding with you
Call forwarding sends your calls to the assistant instead of letting them ring out. We give you a number dedicated to your practice for this. It is set with your operator (Proximus, Orange, Telenet, VOO…) or on your phone system (the equipment that manages your office lines), often with a code to dial or an option in your customer area. We do it together, on the phone.
4
Test calls before go-live
On your real number, listened to with you. Nothing goes live without your approval.
5
Roll back at any time
You turn the forwarding off and your line rings as before. Your number stays yours.
Good to know: depending on your subscription, your operator may charge for the leg of the call forwarded to the assistant. We look at your subscription with you during setup.
The included minutes, and the price if you go over
Essential Reception
Setup €490 excl. VAT
300 call minutes included per month
One service of your choice: your calls or your unpaid invoices
Practice Reception
Setup €990 excl. VAT
600 call minutes included per month
Both services: your calls and your unpaid invoices
Practice System
Setup €1,490 excl. VAT
1,000 call minutes included per month
Both services, plus CRM tracking (visual dashboard) included
Custom
Setup from €2,990 excl. VAT
Included minutes according to what we take on
Several sites, your industry's software, repetitive tasks
If you go over the included minutes: €0.50 excl. VAT per minute, billed the following month. We warn you when you have used 80% of your minutes. You can move to a higher plan at any time. No call is cut off mid-conversation.
Salaried secretary, human answering service, AI assistant run by us
| Criterion | Salaried secretary | Human answering service | Secondia |
|---|---|---|---|
| Monthly cost | ≈ €3,200 – 4,200 total employer cost (gross + social charges + holiday pay) | From €129/month + €1.29 – 2.10 per handled call (2026 market survey) | €149 – €449/month excl. VAT + setup |
| Availability | Office hours, minus leave and absences | Contracted slots, often 8am-7pm weekdays | On your rules: all day or as overflow, including evenings, weekends and public holidays |
| What the caller hears | A person | A person (external provider) | “Your company's AI assistant”, from the first second |
| Volume | One call at a time | Billed per call, queues at peak times | 300 to 1,000 min included per plan, several calls at the same time |
| Time to live | Hiring + training: several weeks | A few days to a few weeks | Within 5 business days, configuration personally validated |
| Beyond the phone | Calendar, mail, front desk | Calendar sometimes | Reminders for unpaid invoices, help for your clients, website, being found on Google near you (plans) |
| Limits | Absences, staff leaving, fixed cost | Quality varies by operator, no nights | No front desk, no complex relationships, no health data |
Indicative benchmarks, not promises: ≈ €3,500/month total employer cost for a full-time secretary in Belgium (range €3,200 – 4,200 by joint committee and seniority); answering-service rates taken from Belgian providers' public sites in 2026. Details in our comparisons vs secretary and vs answering service.
Its limits, in black and white
- —It does not replace a physical front desk or a delicate negotiation: a human remains better there. The two combine well.
- —It processes no health data: no consultation reason, no symptom recorded. A medical practice uses it for appointments, reminders and administrative questions.
- —It never phones anyone to sell: no cold calling, no invoice reminders by phone. Invoice reminders go by email.
- —It does not record audio. It produces a transcript and a summary, kept 30 days then deleted.
- —When it does not know, it says so, takes the message and passes it to you. It does not make up an answer.
Compliance: EU AI law, data protection, Belgian telephony
The EU AI law (AI Act, art. 50) requires telling callers they are talking to an AI. This rule has applied since 2 August 2026: our assistant says it from the first second. No audio recording (in Belgium, every party to the call must agree). The text of the call and its summary are kept 30 days. No health data, by contract (the DPA, the agreement covering your data). Sub-processors, callers' rights and legal basis are detailed on a dedicated page.
Read the compliance page →The questions we get before signing
What exactly is an AI phone receptionist?
A service that answers your calls with a voice assistant: an artificial intelligence that speaks and understands. It says it is an AI, understands the request in French or English, takes a clear message, passes urgent calls to a human and can offer an appointment. At Secondia, we set it up and run it for you: you have nothing to configure.
Do I need to change my number?
No. Your clients dial the same number. We set up call forwarding with you (your calls switch over to the assistant), with your operator or on your phone system. For every call, or only when you do not pick up. You can switch it off at any time. The steps are in the “Your current number” section.
Is Secondia a Belgian company?
Not yet in the legal sense. Secondia is currently the trading name of a sole trader registered in Australia; a Belgian company is being incorporated and will take over the service for European clients once registered with the Crossroads Bank for Enterprises. The service is built for Belgium (prices in euros excl. VAT, local vocabulary and practice) and its founder is directly reachable. Details are in our legal notice.
Who runs the assistants?
Secondia is an independent studio founded by Enzo Vanes. Every setting is prepared by us, then personally validated with you before go-live. After that, we follow the service: you get a report every month, and the assistant hands over to you on your rules. The artificial intelligence used is provided by Anthropic (a sub-processor named in our DPA, the agreement covering your data).
What happens if the assistant makes a mistake?
First, it is designed not to improvise: outside the frame you set, it takes the message and passes it to you. If an error still occurs, you report it from your client portal. We reply within 24 business hours, fix its instructions, and the continuity guarantee applies. If the agreed objective isn't met, we keep working without billing the subscription until it is. The installation, however, remains due. There is never a long-term commitment.
How many minutes are included, and then?
300 call minutes per month with Essential Reception, 600 with Practice Reception, 1,000 with Practice System ; custom plan: according to what we take on. Beyond that, €0.50 excl. VAT per minute, billed the following month. We warn you when you have used 80% of your minutes, and you can move to a higher plan at any time.
Does it work in Dutch?
Today the agents work in French and English; Dutch is in preparation. If Dutch is your top criterion, say so during the diagnostic: we will answer frankly.
Are calls recorded?
No. No audio recording: this is deliberate, from the design stage. The assistant only keeps the text of the call (the transcript) and a summary to send you. They are kept 30 days then deleted. Details (legal basis, rights, sub-processors) are on our compliance page.
Do you operate in Namur, Liège, Charleroi or Brussels?
Yes: the service is remote and works everywhere in Belgium: Wallonia, Brussels and Flanders alike (in French or English for now).
How many calls slip past you each week?
Book the free diagnostic: a first 30-minute meeting. We tell you honestly whether an AI assistant, a human answering service or a hire makes sense for the number of calls you get. Written proposal within 3 business days.
By trade: doctors, lawyers, trades, accounting firms — all sectors on /secteurs. And for unpaid invoices: the Follow-ups service (invoice reminders).