AI that calls on your behalf in 82 languages

WHAT IS AN AI PHONE ASSISTANT?

An AI phone assistant is a software agent that uses artificial intelligence to make or handle a phone call.

AskLucien is an outbound calling assistant: you tell it what you want to achieve, it prepares the call, contacts the recipient and reports the result.

You do not need to take part in the conversation yourself.

An AI phone assistant can, for example:

• call a restaurant to book a table;
• check hotel room availability;
• contact a garage for information about a repair;
• ask for a quote;
• check a product’s price or stock;
• arrange or confirm an appointment;
• call several businesses to compare their answers;
• make a call in another language.

Can Lucien call a family member or friend, or only businesses?

Yes. Lucien can call private individuals, including family and friends, as well as businesses and organizations. You can ask it to relay a simple one-to-one message, ask a question or confirm an arrangement. Provide the person’s number and clear instructions; the number and destination must be supported.

Call my friend Alex, tell them I will arrive at 7 pm, and ask whether that still works for them.

HOW DOES AI CALLING WORK?

AskLucien works in three simple steps.

1. Describe what you are looking for

Specify whom to contact or explain what you need.

For example:

“Call three hotels in Rome and ask whether they have a room available on Friday night with late checkout on Saturday.”

You can specify dates, quantities, a budget, acceptable alternatives or any other important information.

2. Lucien prepares and makes the call

You can check the request, the language and important conditions before the call starts.

Lucien then contacts the recipient and conducts the conversation according to your instructions.

3. Review the result

After the call, you receive a written result.

Depending on the call, you can also review:

• a summary of the conversation;
• the transcript;
• a translation of the conversation.

This lets you check exactly what was asked and what the other person answered.

CAN AI REALLY CALL ON YOUR BEHALF?

Yes.

Phone AI can now handle certain calls independently when the task is sufficiently clear.

This works particularly well for requests such as:

• checking availability;
• obtaining information;
• asking for a price;
• arranging an appointment;
• making a reservation;
• comparing several businesses.

The user defines the objective and important conditions before the call.

The recipient remains free to answer, decline a request or ask for an additional step.

HOW DOES AN AI PHONE ASSISTANT DIFFER FROM AN AI RECEPTIONIST?

Both solutions use artificial intelligence to handle phone conversations, but they serve different purposes.

An AI receptionist generally answers a company’s incoming calls.

An AI phone assistant such as AskLucien instead makes outgoing calls on the user’s behalf.

For example:

• an AI receptionist answers someone calling a restaurant;
• AskLucien calls the restaurant for you to book a table.

To compare these options, read our comparison of phone call solutions.

CAN AI CALL SEVERAL BUSINESSES AND COMPARE THEIR ANSWERS?

Yes.

This is one of the most useful applications of an AI phone assistant.

You can ask Lucien to contact several businesses with the same questions to get comparable answers.

For example:

“Call four garages and ask for the price and lead time for replacing brake pads.”

Lucien can collect the information each business provides so you can compare:

• prices;
• availability;
• lead times;
• conditions;
• the alternatives offered.

This approach helps obtain information that is not always available or up to date online.

CAN AI MAKE A CALL IN ANOTHER LANGUAGE?

Yes.

AskLucien can make calls in 82 languages.

For example, you can ask it to call:

• a restaurant in Italian;
• a hotel in Japanese;
• a garage in German;
• a shop in Spanish;
• a professional in English.

You can then read the result translated into your language.

This is particularly useful when travelling or contacting someone abroad.

See the full list of languages supported by AskLucien.

CAN AI BOOK A RESTAURANT BY PHONE?

Yes, when the restaurant accepts phone reservations and has a table available.

You can specify:

• the restaurant;
• the date;
• the time;
• the number of guests;
• acceptable alternatives;
• special requests.

Lucien then makes the call and tells you whether the booking was confirmed.

However, sending a request to AskLucien does not automatically constitute a booking: only the restaurant’s answer confirms the outcome.

CAN AI CALL A HOTEL?

Yes.

An AI phone assistant can call a hotel to:

• check room availability;
• ask for a rate;
• confirm a reservation;
• request early check-in;
• request late checkout;
• check whether a cot is available;
• ask about parking or hotel services.

It can also contact several hotels and compare their answers.

CAN AI ARRANGE AN APPOINTMENT?

Depending on the professional and the type of appointment, an AI phone assistant can call to request or confirm a time slot.

Examples include:

• a hair salon;
• a garage;
• a tradesperson;
• certain practices;
• a shop offering appointments.

When the conversation involves an important decision or sensitive information, the user should check that this type of call suits the situation.

CAN CHATGPT MAKE A PHONE CALL?

An LLM such as the model behind ChatGPT can understand a request, search for information and prepare an action.

To actually make a phone call in the real world, it must be connected to a tool capable of placing that call.

AskLucien is designed as this kind of phone tool: it receives a structured request, makes the call and returns the result.

This lets an AI assistant go beyond finding information online and obtain information directly from someone by phone.

AI ASSISTANT, AI AGENT AND LLM: WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE?

An LLM is a model that can understand and generate language.

An AI agent uses a model and various tools to perform an action.

An AI phone assistant adds another capability: interacting with the telephone network.

AskLucien can therefore serve as a layer that lets an AI agent retrieve information that is not necessarily available on the web.

For example:

• the user asks to find several hotels;
• the agent identifies the properties;
• AskLucien calls the hotels;
• the answers are collected;
• the agent can then compare the information.

WHAT TYPES OF CALLS CAN YOU DELEGATE TO ASKLUCIEN?

AskLucien is best suited to calls with a clear objective.

Reservations

Restaurants, hotels or other establishments that accept phone bookings.

Appointments

Requesting, confirming or changing a time slot when the professional accepts this approach.

Price and availability

Checking the price of a product, stock or a service.

Quotes

Requesting information from a tradesperson, garage or another professional.

Travel

Calling hotels, restaurants or shops in another language.

Comparisons

Calling several businesses with the same questions to get comparable answers.

WHEN IS AN AI PHONE ASSISTANT LESS SUITABLE?

AI calling is not necessarily the best solution for every situation.

Human involvement may be preferable when:

• the conversation requires highly nuanced judgement;
• an important decision must be made immediately;
• the situation is urgent;
• the conversation involves particularly sensitive information;
• the recipient requires the user’s direct participation or identity verification;
• a payment or personal approval is needed.

For a conversation you want to take part in yourself, live phone translation may also be more suitable.

HOW MUCH DOES AN ASKLUCIEN CALL COST?

AskLucien uses prepaid credit and usage-based billing.

The cost can depend on:

• the destination called;
• the type of number;
• the duration of the call;
• the number of recipients contacted.

An estimate is displayed before the call so you can check the expected cost.

See the Pricing page to understand how billing works.

WHY USE ASKLUCIEN?

AskLucien lets you delegate phone calls without taking part in the conversation.

The aim is simple: describe what you need and receive an answer you can use.

This can be particularly useful when:

• you do not have time to call;
• you need to call several businesses;
• you are abroad;
• you do not speak the language;
• the information you need is not available online;
• you prefer a written answer to making the call yourself.