# Beside (M1): AI Receptionist — user reviews > 510 indexed App Store user reviews of Beside (M1) by Interface, Inc., rated 4.80/5 from 9,005 ratings. - Source: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/beside-m1-ai-receptionist/id6453521926/reviews - App overview in markdown: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/beside-m1-ai-receptionist/id6453521926.md - Rating breakdown: 5★ 8,256 · 4★ 232 · 3★ 144 · 2★ 60 · 1★ 313 ## What do users think of Beside (M1)? Overall sentiment: positive **Pros** - 🚀 Efficient AI assistant - 📝 Detailed call summaries - 📆 Calendar integration - 🔍 Searchable call history - 🤖 Intuitive AI features - 💼 Helpful for businesses **Cons** - 🔊 Call quality issues - 🚫 Inability to delete conversations - 🕰️ Slow chat response - 🤖 AI limitations (can't make calls, limited knowledge) - 🔒 Difficulty contacting support **Commonly reported bugs** - Calls randomly stopping - Inability to use app with Verizon - Account lockouts and number porting issues - Unreliable outgoing call functionality **Most requested features** - Allow PDF uploads to increase knowledge base - Ability to pick up calls directly without calling back - Business hours and auto attendant features - Multilingual support - Download audio recordings ## Newest reviews (11 of 510) ### 3/5 — Call quality *2026-08-17, version 2.21.0* Call quality through App is very muffled and hard to understand ### 4/5 — I wish I could give 5 stars *2026-07-10* This app is great, except, anytime I answer my phone using Beside, my phone plan from Telus charges me CRAZY amounts of money. Since getting Beside, my phone bill is nearly 4 times the usual amount, it was once nearly 800$. I am hemorrhaging money due to this app. I wish this was not the case! **Developer response:** Thank you for your review, and we’re truly sorry about your experience. This was a known issue affecting some Canadian carriers, and it has since been resolved. If you were impacted by these unexpected charges, please reach out to our Support team through the app. We’ll be happy to review your case and guide you through our reimbursement process. • Beside Team ### 3/5 — A good start but room to improve *2026-07-10, version 2.18.0* It’s kind of useful but very you can’t train it from the received calls and the text responses are not editable. If it “schedules” an appointment it’s not easy to review your scheduled appointments. You can’t answer your calls even if it’s set to ring a few times before taking over. I answer it but it never connects. Not once in 20 tries. Not exactly business ready ### 3/5 — Great potential but poor cellular coverage *2026-07-10, version 2.18.0* I really wanted to like Beside/M1 because the AI features have a lot of potential, but I've had a persistent issue with call forwarding that has never been reliably resolved. When someone calls my business line and I attempt to answer through the Beside/M1 app, the app frequently gets stuck on "Connecting..." and never actually connects the call. At that point, I have no idea whether the caller hung up, the app failed, or I just lost a potential customer. I've reported this issue multiple times, tried troubleshooting, switched between Wi-Fi and cellular, making sure the app is updated, and the problem continues. The only reliable workaround is to disable call forwarding entirely and answer calls normally, which defeats the entire purpose of using the app in the first place. I have been using M1/Beside for 2 years now. For a business that depends on answering customer calls, reliability has to come before AI features. Missing even one legitimate customer because the app hangs on "Connecting..." is unacceptable. I genuinely hope the team addresses this because the concept is excellent, but in its current state, I can't depend on it for business communications. ### 4/5 — Functions great-EXCEPT *2026-07-06* I absolutely love how it functions and how you can train it to answer all of your questions. My AI receptionist answers questions probably better than if I had one of my younger staff members answering the phone. Two things that I wish they would update however, are how choppy the conversation can get when the customers talk at the same time as the AI receptionist. The receptionist, then lags which results in the Customer repeating themselves, which is generally when the AI finally speaks again so then it lags again and it just becomes a vicious circle of ‘I’m sorry are you there still?’ or ‘what?! I just wanna talk to a human.’ My second complaint is that because I liked the product so much, I decided to use it for my other business. This is now causing a bit of issue because there’s no way to toggle back-and-forth between the two businesses within the app. I have to have the app on two different phones in order to check the messages and respond. This is super frustrating because the whole point of this was to be able to function off of my personal phone rather than have all three of my phones with me at all times. Would love for them to fix this so I can have one app on my personal phone that I can toggle between the two businesses and call back/respond accordingly. As advanced as this application is, this should be an easy fix. Not sure why it’s not already available. **Developer response:** Thanks so much for your thoughtful review! We’re really happy to hear Beside has been such a valuable addition to your business. Regarding the conversation lag, our team is continuously improving the calling experience, and feedback like yours is very helpful. As for managing multiple businesses, you actually shouldn’t need two phones. Beside supports switching between multiple inboxes/accounts. Please reach out to our Support team through the app, we’d be happy to help you get that set up. • Beside Team ### 3/5 — Great app small business *2026-06-29, version 2.17.0* I would love to see this app build an extensions feature like grasshopper phone service. In addition, make calls on your behalf as a representative. Those two features will make this app the best ai receptionist on the market. In addition, the devs need to decide on having full A2P 10DLC in addition to other automation functions as their are other AI companies that you can use to get these functionalities working. Tech is moving fast integrations have to come faster and better or customers will find providers somewhere else. Update: 6/28 - App is getting better but ai advancements are happening everyday as we step further in agentic era, I think your focus should be be more into becoming a connector to Anthropic, or Open AI and developing the integrations it will set you completely apart from your competitors……. ### 4/5 — It’s good but this indentity things is too much *2026-06-26, version 2.16.0* They what you to upload a license and a Delphine for the FCC. 😒 when did the us become so authoritarian ### 3/5 — Static calls - AI no response *2026-06-19, version 2.16.0* Currently any calls that are coming through that the AI picks up will not recognize the caller, it doesn’t register anything said to it. Even though the caller countries to try verbal contact, the AI responds as if no one is there on the phone with it. When I look at the transcript and playback audio, it’s all static. Customer service stated it’s a known issue and advised that I change the pick up from x amount to rings to direct pick up. Which did provide a temp solution. However I need the specific feature that if the call isn’t picked up in 4 rings by a human, then AI to come in for the assist. ### 2/5 — What happened with Jordan voice *2026-06-17, version 2.15.3* Why is Jordan the British voice gone? That’s the best one ### 5/5 — WiFi calling *2026-06-11, version 2.15.1* In love this service, I just wish the WiFi calling and or when you’re in a situation that it’s trying to switch back and forth between the two it seems to cause some problems. It may seem like a problem that shouldn’t happen a lot but on bigger properties where WiFi doesn’t reach everywhere is where I find it becoming an issue ### 3/5 — Needs work *2026-06-11, version 2.15.1* The app is OK There are a lot of kinks that they need to work out. ## Most critical reviews (10 lowest-rated) ### 1/5 — They force you to send ID *2026-08-19, version 2.21.0* They force you to send ID claiming it’s a regulation - however, the regulation is for robo calling, a service beside does not provide. Not to mention beside doesn’t provide customer support in a timely manner. You have to wait an entire day for a single response, communicating back and forth takes DAYS. Use a different reception VoIP app that actually cares about your privacy and has actual support. ### 1/5 — Terrible Service *2026-08-05, version 2.20.0* I ported a number over a few weeks ago and still my phone is not ringing. They are claiming to be working on it and I’m losing thousands of dollars in jobs cause of this. Would not recommend this to any small business owner. This app alone is ruining my sales and customer service. ### 1/5 — Not happy *2026-08-04, version 2.20.0* Almost every call to my cell does not ring and goes right to ai 99% of the time and if I do ketch a incoming call and answer it pends connecting to ai and never connects. Months of paid subscription from an app that I have I’m now finish out is costing me business. I have checked all of the setting and found nothing wrong. The app worked fine before it was renamed for whatever reason. ### 1/5 — Terrible call quality *2026-07-26, version 2.19.1* Great futures but call quality is awful and support is awful. I am not renewing my subscription. Looking for other options. ### 1/5 — Why? *2026-07-20, version 2.19.0* It charges you before you even use the app, why would I pay when I don't even know if I would like it or not? ### 1/5 — Total waste - read till the end *2026-07-09, version 2.18.0* While the concept is great if it worked and provided service where it is most important… to the CUSTOMER. My experience is the company relies on ai to answer questions and offers a human response email in 24hrs. The experience has been very disappointing and frustrating. You are better off utilizing a simple combination of other reliable providers and maintain control, privacy and add features you want or need when you want. example: Replace Beside Stack 1. Telephony and phone numbers Telnyx 2. Vapi.ai 3. Telnyx records every call and Deepgram transcribes in real time. 4. Brain/- Claude ai 5. Email and Calendar API’s from Google and or outlook 6. Database and memory - Supabase 7. Dashboard React PWA Estimated cost $15 to $20 per month far cheaper than Beside and you can have as many users as you like any where in the world rather than Besides restrictions only USA/Canada and their lack of priority customer service. ### 1/5 — Works 60% of the time *2026-07-08, version 2.18.0* Contacts never synced, incoming calls would work 80% of the time. Outgoing calls worked about 50%. Horrible experience until I found Allo - the competition ### 1/5 — Supported, encouraged, double charge, ripped off, and enraged. *2026-06-29, version 2.17.0* I spent $300 on this app initially, offered my two cents on having just a one tier fits all option and you guys did it, I get double charged, I don’t know how to remove it, nobody is helping me, the integration suck, can I continue the list other than getting scammed out of $400 and my original $260 or $300 which would’ve had I think up to three members extra I could add to my team and now zero and I’m double charged? How is this happening and why aren’t you doing anything about? ### 1/5 — Worst AI app *2026-06-24, version 2.16.0* Phone doesn’t ring or app answers before it alerts you . Makes a schedule or appointments with clients you know nothing about very frustrating . ### 1/5 — Dont get it! *2026-06-10, version 2.15.1* Didnt work and pay for it contact customer service couldnt get refund!!!!! ## Most praised reviews (10 highest-rated) ### 5/5 — It’s worth it! *2026-08-11, version 2.21.0* I’ve been using Beside for a year now and it has helped my business extremely. People can leave messages and it seems human like they often compliment my office staff and then I tell them the story about how it’s my AI assistant. It works well there is some features I’d like to see. Today I tried to download a recorded phone call to send to staff and there’s no download option. I had to manually sit there for nine minutes and record the call and then send an audio file. Other than some minor fixes, it is great five stars all around. Definitely worth it. Great value for the price. ### 5/5 — Delay *2026-08-03, version 2.20.0* Everything is delayed. The whole conversation is in delay. ### 5/5 — Best Ai Receptionist app *2026-07-23* Beside has completely changed the way I handle calls for my business. The AI sounds natural, answers questions professionally, books appointments, and follows up with customers without missing a beat. It has helped me capture leads I would have otherwise lost from missed calls and has saved me a ton of time. The setup was straightforward, and the team is constantly improving the platform with new features. We’ve integrated it into our AI systems, and it’s become one of the core tools we recommend to clients because of how reliable it is. If you’re looking for an AI receptionist that actually helps you grow your business instead of just answering the phone, I highly recommend Beside. It’s one of the best AI tools I’ve used. **Developer response:** Thank you so much for your thoughtful review! We’re thrilled to hear that Beside has become such an important part of your business and is helping you capture more opportunities while saving you time. It’s especially great to know the AI, appointment booking, and integrations have been valuable for your workflow. We truly appreciate your support and look forward to continuing to improve Beside with even more features. Thanks for being part of the journey! • Beside Team ### 5/5 — I love it *2026-07-16, version 2.19.0* This is a great tool for any business ### 5/5 — Holy WOW! *2026-07-10, version 2.18.0* This ai receptionist beats all others by far. I have used several and was paying over $200/mo for another service that was just mediocre. The price is right, the customer service is amazing, and the app is outstanding. In particular, the pauses between the live person speaking and the AI response is minimal to none, and I’ve found that I could change the whole conversational style of the AI by simply changing punctuation in my greeting. The text replays have been spot on too! I just started using that feature this week and my clients were unaware that they were exchanging conversation with a non-human. Hands down the best! ### 5/5 — I can’t live without her *2026-07-08, version 2.18.0* I have grown accustomed to having an AI assistant to Make appointments ### 5/5 — Great app *2026-07-06, version 2.18.0* The receptionist was very helpful. Related all the correct information . Handled all calls properly. Customer service support was nice and productive as well. ### 5/5 — Great for small business *2026-07-06, version 2.18.0* Great for small businesses, my patients love the experience. Great on the admin end as well. The office is very responsive to issues that arise and always making improvements. ### 5/5 — I call and talk to THOUSANDS of AI assistants a month *2026-06-15* For my job, I’m a film sales representative and these AI assistants are prime for owner/operators who are too busy to answer a call 24/7. That being said, I talk to ALOT of useless AI assistants and have used a fair share of useless ones myself, Beside is THE ABSOLUTE BEST AI assistants $20 a month can get you and at that you feel like you are ROBBING them for how USEFUL and good this assistant is at capturing leads. I kid you not it is so informative I do not even tell it information about my business and with every phone call I answer it just learns and gets better at handling actual calls. Talk to it yourself as much as you can and it will only learn from every conversation. I cannot say enough hood if you are a window tint/PPF/shop owner this is A+++ **Developer response:** Thank you for the amazing review! Coming from someone who interacts with AI assistants every day, that means a lot to us. We’re thrilled to hear Beside is helping you capture leads and support your business so effectively. • Beside Team ### 5/5 — Game Changer *2026-06-12, version 2.15.1* I’m a realtor and have my phone number out there online everywhere, I got so much spam. I couldn’t even answer my phone anymore without being afraid. Now I have this amazing service with Beside who not only takes notes schedules calls, but I don’t have to worry if I can’t get to my phone or take a number down while driving. It’s truly amazing! --- *Data collected daily from the US App Store and indexed by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/). User reviews are verbatim App Store reviews. Ratings, prices and chart positions refresh continuously; this snapshot is from 2026-08-29.*