A front of house
that never breaks sterile.
Trained on your shop — your artists, the styles they take, your deposit policy, your hours, your aftercare sheet, and the way you talk to people.
Six things, all day, without you.
Answers the shop line while every chair is running and nobody can break sterile
Screens the 'how much for this' calls out — it takes the details instead of guessing a number
Asks what the piece is, how big, where on the body, and what style they're after
Routes them to the right artist — fine line, traditional, realism, cover-ups, piercing
Books consultations straight onto your calendar while they're still keen
Sends you the whole call in writing, so you can quote it properly that evening
The shop phone, sorted.
These are the calls a studio actually gets in a week, and what your receptionist does with each one.
The price shopper
Takes the brief — piece, size, placement, style — and says the artist prices it once they've seen the reference. Never a number, never a range.
The cover-up
Asks what's already there and how big, flags it as a cover-up on the ticket, and books a consult rather than promising anyone it can be done.
The artist request
“Is Marisa taking bookings?” goes to Marisa's calendar. A style with no match in the shop gets an honest answer and a message taken.
The walk-in question
Answers whether you take walk-ins, on which days, and what the wait usually looks like — from what you told it, not from a guess.
The deposit question
Explains your deposit policy in your own words and points them at your booking link. It will not take card details over the phone.
The touch-up
Finds out what the piece is, how long ago it was done, and who did it — then books it or routes it to the artist whose work it is.
The aftercare call
Reads back only the aftercare instructions you've written. Anything that sounds like an infection gets sent to a doctor and flagged to you.
The gift certificate
Takes the enquiry, the amount they're after and a callback number, so it's waiting for you instead of dying in a voicemail box.
The supply rep
Politely declined and asked to remove you from the list. It never reaches you as a message.
You get the brief, not a voicemail.
A missed call tells you a number rang. This tells you what they want, how big, where it's going, who they asked for, and whether they're old enough to sit.
Captured on every call
- The idea, the size, and where on the body it's going
- New piece, cover-up, or touch-up
- Which artist or style they asked for
- Whether they confirmed they're eighteen or over
- A callback number, read back and confirmed
Plus the recording and a full transcript, in your dashboard.
The lines it will not cross.
Not guidelines. These are written into the receptionist itself, at the same weight as the rules that stop it inventing an appointment.
It never quotes a price over the phone
Not a number, not a range, not a ballpark. Size, placement, detail and skin all move the price and none of them survive a phone description. It takes the brief properly and says the artist prices it once they've seen the reference — which is what you'd say.
It will not book a tattoo for anyone under eighteen
In New York, tattooing a minor is a crime under Penal Law §260.21 and parental consent is not an exception. It asks early, it does not negotiate, and it does not take a booking it would have to cancel. Piercing is a different law and it knows the difference.
It never gives medical advice about a healing tattoo
No opinion on whether something is infected, no telling anyone what to put on it, no 'that's normal'. Anything that sounds like an infection gets told to see a doctor, and gets flagged to you the same day.
It never promises an artist will take the piece
Not a cover-up, not a style outside what they do, not a date it hasn't checked. It gathers the brief and books the consult; the artist decides whether it's their work. A yes it can't keep is a refund and a bad review.
It never takes card details for a deposit over the phone
It explains your deposit policy in your own words and sends them your link instead. Card numbers read aloud to a receptionist are a chargeback waiting to happen.
Why the age question comes first
In New York, tattooing a minor is a crime — and a parent cannot consent to it.
Penal Law §260.21 makes it a class B misdemeanour, with no parental-consent exception — unlike most states. Piercing is the opposite: Public Health Law allows it under eighteen with written consent from a parent or guardian, and ear piercing needs none at all. Those are two opposite answers to what sounds to a caller like the same question. Your receptionist knows which is which, asks before it books anything, and doesn’t negotiate.
Hear it handle
your worst caller.
Call the line and try to trip it up. It's the same AI that would answer for you.