The AI receptionist, South Africa
An AI receptionist that answers the messages you are losing.
IndunAI is an AI receptionist for South African businesses. It answers customers on WhatsApp and on your website 24/7, books appointments into your real calendar, sends reminders, and prepares quotes and invoices. From R1 450 a month including VAT, plus a once-off R2 500 setup, set up around your business on its own instance.
No sign-up needed to try it. The live demo is at /demo, the medical version at /medical, and the bubble in the corner of this page is the same assistant answering for us.
online, replies in seconds
Hi, do you have anything open tomorrow afternoon?21:12
We do. Tomorrow 14:00 or 15:30 are both open. Which suits you?21:12
Tomorrow 14:00Booked for 14:00. You will get a reminder in the morning, and you can move or cancel it right here in this chat.21:13
An illustration of the pattern. The times come out of your own diary and the server checks a slot is still free before it is offered.
The job description
What an AI receptionist actually does all day.
The messages a South African small business loses are predictable: the 21:00 one, the one during a job, the weekend one. An AI receptionist answers those on the channel the customer already used, and then does the admin that follows.
Answers and books
On WhatsApp and your website, in the same minute, at any hour. Appointments go into your real calendar, per service and per staff member, and two people can never take the same slot.
Reminds and follows up
Reminders on the channel the customer actually reads, review requests after the job, and a nudge for the conversation that went quiet. None of it needs anybody at a desk to remember.
Quotes and invoices
Prices come only from your own price list and invoices are computed by the server from the finished booking. Nothing is made up by the AI.
Around the clock
A virtual receptionist, 24/7, without the salary.
An automated receptionist is only worth having if it does the whole job at 21:00 on a Sunday, not just the greeting. This one answers every message the minute it arrives, on WhatsApp, your website chat and email, and then finishes the task instead of promising that somebody will phone back in the morning.
Your hours, and the rest of them
Outside your hours it answers, books into the open slots in your calendar and sends the reminder. If you would rather your own people answer during the day, set team hours and the assistant covers the evenings and weekends.
A person when it matters
Anything it should not handle goes to your team with the conversation attached, and the customer is told when to expect an answer, taken from the hours you set rather than guessed.
It is software, not a call centre
There is no pool of remote receptionists reading your customers' messages. The handovers go to your own team, and you can step into any chat from the dashboard and reply yourself.
No shifts to cover
An AI receptionist for business does not take leave or call in sick. What it costs is on the page below, and what a human receptionist costs is worked out here.
By industry
The same receptionist, set up for your trade.
Every business gets the same engine, set up with its own services, prices, hours and wording. What changes from one trade to the next is the questions it asks before it books.
Medical practices
Its first message says it is an AI, it is designed never to give clinical advice, and a patient's forms can be sent and filled in before the visit. It answers in Afrikaans as well as English. There is a live practice demo at /medical, and more on AI for medical practices.
Salons and beauty
Bookings per service and per stylist, deposits through a payment link, a reminder before the appointment and a review request after it. How it works for salons.
Trades
For a plumber or an electrician on a ladder, it answers the message you could not, and on an urgent job it asks for the address before it offers a time. Missed calls on the job covers the rest.
Studios
For tattoo and similar studios it can ask for a reference photo, give a typical price range from the studio's own price list for the artist to confirm in person, hold the slot against a deposit and send the aftercare.
The honest answer
Can it answer phone calls?
Not today. IndunAI answers messages: WhatsApp, your website chat and email, and it transcribes and answers the voice notes people send on WhatsApp. It does not answer a phone line, it does not ring anybody back, and it is not a voice receptionist.
Answering WhatsApp voice calls is built and on its way, but it is not switched on for any business yet, and we do not sell something before it is switched on. If you are comparing us with a supplier that answers the phone, the comparison guide sets out what to ask each of them.
Why it can be trusted with a diary
The AI proposes. The software verifies.
The difference between an AI receptionist and a chatbot is what happens after the reply. Here, the things that matter are checked by software rather than trusted to the model.
Slots are claimed, not guessed
Availability is read from your calendar, and the booking write is a claim the database grants once. The AI never decides on its own that a time is free.
Prices come from your list
Loaded figures are quoted exactly as you wrote them, and anything not on the list becomes a quote request a person prices.
Hard questions go to a person
You set the no-go topics. Anything on that list is handed over with the whole conversation attached, and you can step into any chat and take over yourself.
Your data stays yours
One isolated instance per business in a Johannesburg data centre, your own privacy notices in your own name, and we do not train models on your conversations — on our provider account its API terms say the same.
The price, on the page
From R1 450 a month, set up around your business.
IndunAI costs from R1 450 a month including VAT for up to 300 conversations, plus a once-off R2 500 setup for the assistant as it is, set up around your business on its own instance. Fully managed is R4 995 a month with setup included. Bigger work is scoped in writing and priced once you have signed up, and software that does something IndunAI does not do at all is priced per project. Meta's WhatsApp message fees are Meta's, and separate.
R1 450 / month, including VAT
+ R2 500 once-off setup
- Up to 300 conversations a month: 24/7 answering, bookings, reminders, quotes, invoicing, review requests
- 300 to 500 conversations: R2 250 a month
- Managed, fully looked after: R4 995 a month, setup included, 2,000 conversations, build items within reason
- Set up around your business, on its own isolated instance in Johannesburg
- Bigger work is scoped in writing and priced once you have signed up
- Month to month, cancel anytime
The whole price list, including how Meta's WhatsApp fees work and what is priced on top, is published at AI receptionist pricing in South Africa. Needs that go past the front desk, such as a specific workflow, a document your business generates or a CRM it does not connect to yet, are custom AI agents, built on top of the same assistant by IndunAI, a South African AI company in Durban.
FAQ
Fair questions.
What does an AI receptionist cost in South Africa?
IndunAI is from R1 450 a month including VAT for up to 300 conversations (R2 250 a month for 300 to 500), plus a once-off R2 500 setup for the assistant as it is, set up around your business on its own instance. Fully managed is R4 995 a month with setup included, 2,000 conversations and build items within reason. Bigger work is scoped in writing and priced once you have signed up, and software that does something IndunAI does not do at all is priced per project. Meta's WhatsApp message fees are Meta's, and separate.
Whose WhatsApp number does it answer on?
Your own business number. Customers message the number they already know and see your business name; replies just come instantly. Connecting it is one tap in the dashboard, which opens Meta's own window, and you can bring your own number or take a new one there.
Does it work on my website as well as WhatsApp?
Yes. A chat bubble goes on your website with one line of code, and it is one conversation across both: somebody who starts on your site and carries on over WhatsApp is not made to start again.
What happens when it does not know the answer?
It hands the conversation to a person with everything already asked, and your team gets the alert. You set the no-go topics, and the things that matter are checked by software rather than trusted to the AI: appointment slots are verified against your real calendar, prices come only from your own price list, and invoices are computed server-side.
Do you set it up for businesses outside Durban?
Yes. IndunAI is built in Durban and hosted in Johannesburg, and setup needs no visit, so a business in Johannesburg, Pretoria, Cape Town or anywhere else in South Africa is set up the same way: WhatsApp is connected in Meta's own window from the dashboard, the website chat is one line of code, and the rest is done with you over WhatsApp or email.
Where does my customers' data live?
In your own isolated instance in a Johannesburg data centre, with its own database and its own privacy policy, terms and PAIA manual published in your business's name. We do not train models on your conversations. Replies are generated by an AI provider outside South Africa. On our provider account, its API terms provide that content sent through the API is not used to train their models; on a client's own AI key, that provider's terms apply instead.
Can I try an AI receptionist before paying for one?
Yes, twice over. There is a live public demo at /demo and a live medical receptionist demo at /medical, no sign-up and no email address needed. And when you book a demo, we show you the assistant on your own questions before you sign up.
Can an AI receptionist answer phone calls?
Not today. IndunAI answers WhatsApp messages, your website chat and email, and it transcribes and answers WhatsApp voice notes. It does not answer a phone line and it does not make calls. Answering WhatsApp voice calls is built and on its way, but it is not switched on for any business yet, so we do not sell it.
Is it a virtual receptionist service with people?
No. IndunAI is software, not a call centre, and there is no team of remote receptionists reading your messages. When a conversation needs a person it goes to your own team with the whole conversation attached, and anybody on your side can reply in the chat from the dashboard; while they do, the assistant stays out of it.
What happens after hours?
It keeps answering. Outside your hours the assistant replies, books into open slots in your real calendar and sends reminders as usual. Anything it should not handle is handed to your team, and the customer is told when to expect an answer, worked out from the hours you set. You can also set team hours, so your people answer during the day and the assistant covers the rest.
See it answer your own questions.
Book a demo and we show you the assistant on your own questions. It is then set up around your business on its own instance: your WhatsApp number is connected in Meta's own window from the dashboard, the website chat is one line of code, and your services, prices and hours are drafted from your price list or website for you to check before anything is saved. Or start with the live demo and ask it the questions your customers ask you.
The plain-English guides, written the same way: what is documented, what is not, and how to check it yourself.