Funeral home answering service
Funeral home answering service: Victoria, our AI receptionist, answers first calls 24/7 in English or Spanish and puts them through to your director on call.
Talk or type with Victoria. Your price in about 2 minutes.
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Calls Victoria answers for you
- “This is the hospice nurse with the Lane family. The patient passed at 1:40 this morning.”
- “My mother just died at home. I don't know what to do.”
- “Mi papá falleció en el hospital. ¿Ustedes lo pueden recoger?”
- “What time is the visitation for the Alvarez family tonight?”
More calls (4)Fewer calls
- “We'd like to plan ahead for my husband and me. Can someone meet with us?”
- “How do I get to the chapel from the freeway?”
- “Can you tell me your prices for cremation?”
- “I'm calling from the hospital. We have a release for your funeral home.”
Here's how a call goes
A typical call, then the summary you get when it ends.
What you get
- First call
- Walter Ashby
- Where
- At home, 4120 Marivale Lane
- Pronounced
- Yes, by hospice
- With him
- Joan (wife) and their son
- Caller
- Renata, hospice nurse
- Callback
- The number she called from
- Put through to your director on call
Your rules send every first call to the director on call, at any hour.
- First calls put through to your director on call
- A calm voice, in English or Spanish
- Service times and directions answered
- Victoria:
Thank you for calling your funeral home, this is Victoria. How can I help you?
- Caller:
Hi, this is Renata, the hospice nurse with the Ashby family. Walter Ashby passed at home at 1:50 this morning. The family has chosen you.
- Victoria:
Thank you for letting us know, and I'm sorry for the family's loss. I'll put you through to our director on call. So they have it in front of them, what's the address, and who's with him now?
- Caller:
4120 Marivale Lane. His wife Joan and their son are here. I've already pronounced.
- Victoria:
Thank you. Is this the best number to reach you?
- Caller:
Yes, this one.
- Victoria:
Thank you, Renata. I'm putting you through to the director on call now.
An illustration of a typical call, not a real customer.
How it works
- 1
Take the free assessment
A few questions about how your business runs today.
- 2
Get your price
See it on screen before you commit to anything, and email it to yourself.
- 3
We set it up
One setup call with Nathaniel, in person in the Santa Barbara area or by phone or video.
Questions people ask
Don't see yours? Ask Victoria during the assessment, or call (805) 970-2936.
What does a funeral home answering service cost?
Your price is set by your calls (extra calls are billed per call), with Spanish and after-hours calls included, for just calls or for texts, email, chat and DMs too. The free 2-minute assessment works out your price from your calls. If you're not happy in the first 30 days, we refund your first monthly payment.
Will families know they're talking to an AI?
Victoria is an AI. If anyone asks, she says she's the funeral home's AI assistant; she never claims to be a person. Anyone who would rather speak with someone from your home is put through or gets a callback, by your rules.
What does she ask on a first call?
Whatever your first-call sheet asks. A first-call sheet usually asks for the name of the deceased, where they are, whether the death has been pronounced, who's with them, the caller's relationship and a callback number. She doesn't decide when or how a removal happens; that goes to your director on call.
What if the caller needs emergency help?
She gives no advice. By your rules, she puts the call straight through to your director on call, or reads the wording you write for these calls, such as telling the caller to dial 911.
More questions (4)Fewer questions
Can she answer price questions?
Yes. When someone asks, she reads prices from your price list exactly as you write them, and she never asks for the caller's name or number before giving them. The FTC's Funeral Rule requires price information by phone on request, without requiring the caller's name, address or number first (FTC, Complying with the Funeral Rule). A director calls back only for questions your list doesn't answer. Your own counsel confirms how your home meets the rule.
Does she speak Spanish?
Yes. Victoria speaks English and Spanish and switches within a call when a family does. When a caller speaks another language, she takes their name, number and the language, so your staff can call back with an interpreter.
Can she call families back?
Yes. Victoria makes calls as well as answering them, such as calling back a family who asked for a call. A call about planning ahead with an AI voice is a sales call, so under federal rules (the TCPA) it needs the person's prior written consent, usually a consent line on your contact form; your counsel confirms the wording. Victoria makes that call only to people who gave that consent. Anyone else who left a message about planning ahead gets a call back from someone at your home. Every call is logged in the CRM we set up for your home.
Who sets this up?
Nathaniel Ross, the founder, sets it up himself. He's based in Santa Barbara and meets in person in the Santa Barbara area, or by phone or video anywhere else in the U.S. Bring your first-call sheet, your on-call schedule, service details and the words you want families to hear. You can call in and hear Victoria, in English and Spanish, before she answers a single family.
The details
In short
Funeral home answering service for the calls that can't wait for morning: a hospice nurse reporting a death at 2 am, a daughter who doesn't know what to do next, a family asking what time Saturday's service starts.
Victoria answers in English or Spanish, speaks in the words you choose, takes the first-call details your home asks for and puts the call through to your director on call.
She's an AI, and the decisions your staff make stay with your staff.
What gets in the way
Deaths don't keep office hours.A grieving family shouldn't hear a phone menu.One phone wakes your director for everything.Price and planning calls come during arrangements.
Deaths don't keep office hours
Hospices, hospitals and families call when a death happens, and many happen at night. If the line rings out, a nurse and a grieving family are left waiting for someone to call back.
A grieving family shouldn't hear a phone menu
A phone tree or a rushed message at 3 am feels cold to someone who just lost a parent.
They need a calm voice, a few clear questions, and to know someone from your home will be with them soon.
One phone wakes your director for everything
The same phone that rings your director for a first call also rings for someone asking what time the service starts.
Service times, directions and obituary questions don't need to wake anyone.
Price and planning calls come during arrangements
The FTC's Funeral Rule says a funeral home must give price information over the phone when someone asks, without first asking for their name, address or number (FTC, Complying with the Funeral Rule).
Those calls, and families asking about planning ahead, often come while your staff is sitting with another family.
What we do about it
First calls put through to your director on call.A calm voice, in English or Spanish.Service times and directions answered.Price and planning questions handled your way.
First calls put through to your director on call
Victoria takes the details your first-call sheet asks for, such as the name of the deceased, where they are, who's with them, the caller's name and relationship, and the best number to call back.
Then she puts the call through to your director on call by your rules. When and how a removal happens is your staff's decision, never hers.
A calm voice, in English or Spanish
She uses the words you write: your condolences, how she introduces your home, what she says before putting someone through. She switches to Spanish when a family does.
Service times and directions answered
Visitation and service times, directions to the chapel, where to send flowers: she answers from what you give her, so these calls don't wake your director at night or pull staff out of an arrangement conference.
Price and planning questions handled your way
When someone asks about prices, she reads them from your price list exactly as you write it, without asking for their name or number first.
A director calls back only for questions the list doesn't answer. Families asking about planning ahead get a meeting on your calendar.
How your home meets the Funeral Rule is your decision, with your own counsel.
By Nathaniel Ross, founder · Updated
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