The answering machine
that talks back.
Voicemail and the classic answering machine record — fonea answers. Instead of “please leave a message after the tone”, fonea holds a real conversation: answers questions, books appointments into your calendar, and transfers urgent calls to you immediately.
What is an AI answering machine?
An AI answering machine is the evolution of voicemail: instead of recording a message, it holds a natural conversation — answering questions, booking appointments, and transferring urgent calls to a human, around the clock.
The problem with the tone
Why the classic answering machine costs you customers
Callers don’t talk to machines — they hang up
Whoever hears the beep rarely leaves a message. New customers almost never do: they simply dial the next number in the search results. For many callers, the voicemail greeting is the end of the conversation, not the beginning.
Hung up instead of spoken
A message is work, not a solution
Every message left means: listen, note down, call back, reach nobody, try again. A two-minute request becomes days of phone tag — for you and the customer.
Every message = one open callback
The machine knows neither calendar nor prices
A recording can’t offer an appointment, state an opening hour, or answer a question. Everything the caller wanted stays unresolved — documented at best, lost at worst.
Recording ≠ resolving
What changes
From recording to conversation: what fonea does differently
Picks up instead of recording
Every call is answered within seconds in your company’s name — in dialogue, not by announcement. The caller is served, not deferred.
Books appointments directly
fonea sees your Google or Microsoft 365 calendar in real time and books during the call. Instead of a message saying “call back about an appointment”, the appointment is set.
Escalates urgent calls instantly
You define what counts as urgent — those calls go straight to your mobile. Everything else arrives as a structured summary instead of a voicemail to listen through.
Understands Swiss German
Your callers speak dialect, fonea understands them — and answers in High German, French, Italian, English, or Spanish. Around the clock, no surcharge.
Set up in hours
How to replace your answering machine
Call forwarding instead of voicemail
Forward calls to fonea via standard call forwarding — always, when busy, or when unanswered. Works with Swisscom, Sunrise, and Salt, no number change.
Add your knowledge
Opening hours, services, prices, frequent questions, urgency keywords. That becomes your personal assistant instead of a standard greeting.
Connect your calendar
Google Calendar or Microsoft 365 — fonea books in real time, without double-bookings.
Test call and go live
Call your number, test your scenarios, switch on. From now on, calls are answered, not recorded.
Typical call scenarios
Where the tape fails — and fonea delivers
New customer over lunch
Over lunch, voicemail would have answered here — and the new customer would have landed at the next provider. Instead, the appointment is set.
Question after closing time
A simple piece of information no recording could ever give — answered at 9 pm and turned into a reservation.
Emergency instead of a greeting
Urgent matters don’t land on tape but with the on-call team — address and context already captured.
Swiss hosting and data protection
An upgrade, not a risk
Data stays in Switzerland
Persistent data is hosted in Switzerland, FADP-compliant, with a data processing agreement, encryption, and configurable retention periods.
Voicemail can stay as fallback
You decide when fonea takes over: always, only when busy, or only outside opening hours. Call forwarding is reversible in minutes at any time.
Transparent AI disclosure
Every caller learns at the start of the call that a digital assistant is answering. This announcement cannot be disabled.
No voice profiles, no biometrics
fonea creates no voiceprints. Calls are transcribed in real time and the audio discarded; transcripts are deleted on your schedule.
Pricing
Transparent pricing
Included
- 120 minutes AI talk time included
- DE, FR, IT, EN, ES + Swiss German
- Calendar integration & appointment booking
- AI answering machine 24/7
- Interactive AI for customer service
- Email & SMS notifications
- Cancel monthly, no commitment
Included
- 500 minutes AI talk time
- 3 concurrent calls
- 3 phone numbers
- Unlimited assistants
- Unlimited users
Features
- Everything in Basic
- Outbound calls
Included
- From 2,000 minutes
- Custom concurrent calls
- Custom phone numbers
- Unlimited assistants
- Unlimited users
Features
- Everything in Professional
- Custom voice
- Zero Data Retention
- Custom SLA
Frequently asked
AI answering machine — the key answers
What is the difference between fonea and voicemail?
Voicemail records messages — fonea holds conversations. Instead of a greeting and a beep, the caller gets a real answer: information on opening hours and prices, a booked appointment, or — for urgent matters — a direct transfer to you. Afterwards you receive a structured summary instead of a voicemail to listen through.
Does fonea replace my answering machine completely?
You decide via call forwarding: forward all calls and fonea replaces the answering machine entirely. Forward only when busy or outside opening hours, and daytime stays as it is. The switch is reversible in minutes at any time.
Do I keep my phone number?
Yes. fonea works via the standard call forwarding of your line with Swisscom, Sunrise, or Salt — landline or mobile. No porting, no number change, no contract change with your carrier.
Does the AI answering machine understand Swiss German?
Yes. fonea understands Swiss German dialects and answers in clear High German or the caller’s language — French, Italian, English, or Spanish. Callers never press buttons or navigate a menu.
What happens with urgent calls?
You define keywords and scenarios that count as urgent — emergencies, outages, incidents. fonea connects such calls immediately to your mobile or on-call service. Everything else is resolved or delivered as a structured summary by email or text.
What does it cost compared to voicemail?
Voicemail is usually included with your carrier — but it resolves nothing: every message means listening and calling back, and many callers leave none at all. fonea costs CHF 90 per month with 120 minutes included and turns calls into appointments and resolved requests. Cancel monthly, with a 30-day money-back guarantee.
Further reading
Swisscom Combox: einrichten, abhören, Ansage ändern – der komplette Guide
Swisscom Combox einrichten, abhören und Ansage ändern: alle Schritte, GSM-Codes für die Klingeldauer, Nutzung im Ausland, Kosten und Lösungen für häufige Probleme.
Combox deaktivieren: so schalten Sie die Voicemail aus (Swisscom, Sunrise, Salt)
Combox deaktivieren bei Swisscom, Sunrise und Salt: GSM-Codes wie ##002#, App-Einstellungen, was danach mit Anrufen passiert und welche Alternativen es gibt.
Combox und Voicemail: Warum Sie Kunden verlieren
Anrufbeantworter Alternative Schweiz: 85% hinterlassen keine Nachricht auf Combox oder Voicemail. Was zwischen Mailbox und Empfangskraft möglich ist.
No more “after the tone”.
Live in hours, your number stays, cancel monthly. 30-day money-back guarantee.
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