Ace Medical Company in Cincinnati, Ohio makes and sells surgical instruments to surgeons, hospitals and clinics. About a third of its daily calls are real customers; the rest are pranks, vendors and sales pitches. Its old answering service handed off any detailed question. The company loaded product and FAQ details from its website into Upfirst, which now answers product questions, asks qualifying questions, offers a quote, and passes ready buyers to the team.
Business type: Retail shops. Tool used: Upfirst (AI receptionist). Result: The owner says it weeds out most sales and junk calls, real buyers get answers fast, and many callers can't tell it's AI. The source says it costs a fraction of the old service but gives no numbers.
Source: Upfirst (Company case study) · Added Fri, Oct 30 · Last updated 2026-10-30
The owner says it weeds out most sales and junk calls, real buyers get answers fast, and many callers can't tell it's AI. The source says it costs a fraction of the old service but gives no numbers. (as reported by the source)
Guide: AI receptionist for small business: real examples and how to set one up
More businesses doing this job: Which AI tools replace voicemail or an answering service · Which AI tools help small businesses with quotes and estimates
Ace Medical Company in Cincinnati, Ohio makes and sells surgical instruments to surgeons, hospitals and clinics. About a third of its daily calls are real customers; the rest are pranks, vendors and sales pitches. Its old answering service handed off any detailed question. The company loaded product and FAQ details from its website into Upfirst, which now answers product questions, asks qualifying questions, offers a quote, and passes ready buyers to the team.
Upfirst (AI receptionist).
The owner says it weeds out most sales and junk calls, real buyers get answers fast, and many callers can't tell it's AI. The source says it costs a fraction of the old service but gives no numbers. (as reported by the source)
Forward your main line to the AI receptionist. Load product and FAQ details from your website into its knowledge. Have it ask qualifying questions and offer a quote to real buyers.
Answers come only from the source. Questions it doesn't answer are left out.
Our own prompt for copying this setup. Swap in your details. Not quoted from the source.
You answer calls for [company], which sells [products]. Answer product questions only from this info: [product sheet]. Ask what they need, how many and by when, then offer a quote and take their name, facility and email. Politely take a message from vendors and sales calls.
Is this your business? Show you're featured. Paste this code into your website. The badge links back to this page.
<a href="https://smallbizagentusecases.com/use-cases/medical-device-maker-ai-answers-product-questions/" title="Featured on Small Biz Agent Use Cases"><img src="https://smallbizagentusecases.com/badge/featured.svg" alt="Featured on Small Biz Agent Use Cases" width="250" height="56"></a>About the badge
Karako Suits is a family-owned men's formal wear business in New York with several stores. Lots of calls came after 6 PM and on weekends and went to voicemail. Now an AI receptionist takes over when the office closes: it answers fit and fabric questions, handles vendor calls, and transfers callers to the right store.
M. Solomon Casket Company in Cranston, Rhode Island supplies caskets to funeral homes, who call at all hours. Its human answering service kept changing staff, and the script wasn't being followed. The company switched to Upfirst, which answers calls, transfers the ones that need a person, and uses Zapier to post every call recording and message into a Slack channel so the whole team sees it.
A voice agent takes phone orders from a live menu, suggests add-ons, adds tax and reads back the total, then the order appears in a Google Sheet the kitchen watches.