What the agent handles
- Speaks gently and without rushing
- Shares visitation and service times
- Books arrangement meetings
- Takes pre-planning enquiries
- Gives directions and parking details
Public and community
AI receptionist for funeral homes
Answers calls from grieving families at any hour with patience, gathers first details for the funeral director, and shares visitation and service times with the public.
CallerMy mother just passed at home. I don't know what I'm supposed to do now.
CallerWhat time is the visitation for Mr. Novak tomorrow?
CallerI'd like to talk about pre-planning my own funeral so my kids don't have to.
Where calls go
Funeral directorsPre-planningOfficeReception
Warm transfer: When a family calls to report a death, the agent gathers only the essentials and warm-transfers to the funeral director on call.
What it books
Arrangement and pre-planning meetings
Why funeral homes miss calls, and what an AI receptionist changes
A funeral home's phone never really closes. A family calls at 3 a.m. from the bedside after a long illness, a nurse from a long-term care home calls at 6, and by mid-morning the line is busy with friends asking when the visitation is, florists asking where to deliver, and a nephew looking for the obituary. The funeral director who should take the family's call may be leading a service, sitting with another family in the arrangement room, or out on a transfer.
RealVoice gives the funeral home an AI receptionist that answers these calls with patience. When a family reports a death, it slows down, offers condolences and gathers only the first details your director asks for: the name of the person who died, where they are, whether a doctor or nurse has attended, and the best number for the family. Then it warm-transfers to the funeral director on call. For the public, it shares visitation, service and reception times, directions, parking, the livestream link and the charity chosen for memorial donations. Arrangement meetings and pre-planning conversations are booked into the schedule.
It does not quote prices you haven't given it, explain options as though it were a director, or ask anyone to decide anything on the phone. Questions about cremation, burial, a religious service or a pre-arranged plan become a conversation with your staff. If no one can take the call, the family hears plainly that the director on call has been sent their details and will phone them back.
Example call, start to finish
- CallerHi. My dad just died. He was at home, on palliative care. The nurse said to call you.
- AI receptionistI'm so sorry about your father. Please take your time. May I have his name, and the address where he is now?
- CallerWalter Haddad. Forty-two Lakeshore Road in Oakville. I'm his daughter, Nadia.
- AI receptionistThank you, Nadia. Has the palliative nurse been to the house since he passed?
- CallerShe's here now. Oh, and I think he made arrangements with you years ago, after my mom died. I have no idea where the papers are.
- AI receptionistThat's alright, you don't need any papers tonight. I've noted that he may have arrangements with us so the director can look for them. I'm connecting you with Michelle, our funeral director on call.
- AI receptionist(privately, to Michelle) Walter Haddad has died at home under palliative care, 42 Lakeshore Road, Oakville. The nurse is there. His daughter Nadia is on the line. He may have pre-arranged with us after his wife's death. Connecting.
After the call: Michelle answers already knowing the address, that the nurse is with the family and that a pre-arrangement may be on file. The office gets a text and email with the same details, and the call summary and recording are kept in the RealVoice portal. Once Nadia's arrangement meeting is booked, she receives a short confirmation text with the date, time and address.
How it fits your day
- First calls overnight
- Deaths at home, in hospice and in long-term care are reported at every hour. The director on call is reached with the essentials already gathered, so the family isn't asked the same questions twice.
- Visitation days
- Friends asking about visitation hours, the service, the reception and where to send flowers get the details for that family, while staff stay with the family in the chapel.
- Arrangement meetings
- Families are booked with a funeral director, usually within a day, and get a text with the address and the items on your checklist, such as clothing and a photograph. If the family would like to share a photograph for the obituary sooner, they can text it to your number and it is kept with their call in the portal.
- Pre-planning enquiries
- People thinking about their own arrangements often call in the evening or after attending a friend's funeral. They get answers from your information and a pre-planning meeting, without any pressure.
Your software
Today it books arrangement and pre-planning meetings into the RealVoice schedule in the portal, keeps every first-call note and summary there for your directors, and texts families a confirmation. If your funeral home runs Passare, FrontRunner Professional or Osiris, the team can set up a connection to it; custom integrations are quoted separately.
What a missed call costs
Families rarely compare funeral homes in the hours after a death. They call the one a relative used, or the one nearest to them, and when nobody answers they call the next name they know. One family served can be worth $8,000 or more to the home, and families who were treated well tend to return when the next generation needs help. If a single first call a month goes to an answering machine and that family goes elsewhere, that is twelve families a year. The missed-call calculator on our homepage will work it out with your own average.
Questions funeral homes ask
Isn't an AI too impersonal for a funeral home?
It speaks gently, never hurries anyone, and hands the family to a person as soon as it has the essentials. For a family calling at 3 a.m., a calm voice that reaches the director on call is kinder than a recorded greeting.
What does it ask when a family reports a death?
Only what your director needs for the first call, usually the name of the person who died, where they are, whether a doctor or nurse has attended, and how to reach the family. Everything else waits for the arrangement meeting.
Can it give out visitation and service times?
Yes, for the families whose details you've posted, including the reception, livestream link and memorial donation charity. It shares nothing a family has asked you to keep private.
Will it quote funeral or cremation prices?
Only figures you choose to give it, or where to find your price list. Questions about costs, options or a prepaid plan become a message or a meeting with a director.
Can it answer funeral home calls after hours and on holidays?
Yes. Nights, weekends and statutory holidays are answered the same way as a Tuesday morning, and first calls go to the director on call following your rotation.
Can it take calls from hospitals and long-term care homes?
Yes. Nurses and care home staff reporting a death are asked for the details your director needs and put straight through to the director on call.
Hear it as your own funeral home's front desk
Request a free demo call and the agent will phone you, set up as a business like yours.