AI voice agent

AI answering service for funeral homes

The first call usually comes at the worst hour of a family’s life — from a hospice at 2am, a hospital corridor, a kitchen table. It deserves to be answered immediately, calmly and exactly as you would answer it. Telenow picks up on the first ring, follows your approved words without rushing, and brings your director in the moment a person is needed.

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Last updated 2026-09-16

The calls you’re losing today

The 2am first call

No family should reach voicemail. The agent answers immediately with your condolence-forward script and gathers only what is needed.

Directors can’t be on call forever

Routine calls — service times, directions, where to send flowers — stop interrupting arrangement conferences and removals.

The busy days around a service

Visitation hours, livestream links and obituary questions answered consistently while your staff stays with the family.

What the agent handles

1
The first call
Answered gently in your firm’s name; the agent takes the caller’s relationship, the decedent’s name and location, and a callback number — then transfers or pages your on-call director immediately.
2
Questions around services
Service and visitation times, directions, flower and donation preferences answered from your knowledge base, exactly as written.
3
Arrangements & aftercare
Arrangement-conference bookings into your calendar, reminders for families who asked for them, and a complete summary of every call for your staff.

Works with the tools you already use

Google CalendarGoogle SheetsWhatsAppCustom API webhook

Answering with care

Every word the agent says is written and approved by you — an unhurried, condolence-first script that never sells and never rushes a grieving caller.
A family asking for a person is transferred to your on-call director immediately, at any hour. The agent exists to make that connection happen — never to stand in its way.
Your director sees the full transcript before calling back, so the family never has to repeat what was already hard to say once.
Calls and transcripts are encrypted with org-scoped access and configurable retention — discretion by default.

Ready-made agent templates

General front-desk receptionist

A polished virtual receptionist that greets callers, answers basic questions, takes messages, and routes calls to the right person or department.

Smart IVR receptionist

A modern phone menu that understands both keypresses AND natural speech: "press 1 for sales" or just "I need to pay my bill" both route correctly. Press 0 (or ask) for a human from anywhere — no rigid, frustrating tree.

Frequently asked questions

Is an AI appropriate for a first call?+

That’s your judgement to make. Many homes start by using it as after-hours cover with immediate transfer to the on-call director: the agent answers instantly, speaks your approved words with care, takes the essential details and gets your director on the line. Make a test call and judge the tone yourself before putting it in front of families.

What happens when a caller asks for a person?+

Immediate warm transfer to your on-call director, at any hour, with the details already gathered passed along — the family doesn’t have to start over.

Can it handle the routine calls too?+

Yes — service times, directions, flower and donation wishes, pre-need appointment requests and vendor calls are answered or routed by your rules, keeping your staff present with the families in front of them.

How much does a funeral home answering service cost?+

Telenow bills per minute of actual talk time with itemized, component-level pricing (model, speech, telephony, platform fee). Unanswered and failed calls are not billed. There are no per-call fees and no long-term contract.