Skip to main content
This page covers the most common questions from Zela customers. Whether you’re just getting started or looking for answers about how calls, bookings, or billing work, you’ll find clear answers below. If your question isn’t listed here, reach out to the Zela support team at support@zela.ai.

​
Getting Started

Zela is an AI-powered voice receptionist built for local home service businesses. It automatically answers your inbound calls, collects caller details, and books appointments on your behalf — 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Zela handles the front desk so you can focus on the job.
Zela is available in the following countries:
  • 🇺🇸 United States
  • 🇨🇦 Canada
  • 🇬🇧 United Kingdom
  • 🇦🇺 Australia
  • 🇳🇿 New Zealand
When you sign up, Zela provisions a local phone number in your country. Customers call that number and Zela answers on your behalf.
No. Zela is designed for business owners with no technical background. Everything is managed through your Zela dashboard — from setting up your agent’s greeting to configuring your availability. No coding, no complex integrations, and no IT knowledge required.
Most businesses are up and running in under 30 minutes. The setup process walks you through configuring your agent name, greeting, business hours, and call handling preferences. Once your Zela number is active, simply forward your existing business number to it and you’re live.

​
Calls and Agent

Yes — if your agent is set to 24/7 mode, Zela answers every inbound call regardless of the time or day. If you prefer to restrict answering to specific hours, you can configure business hours in Agent > Configuration and Zela will only pick up during those windows.
If a caller requests to speak with a real person, Zela will attempt to transfer the call to your nominated transfer number. If that number is unavailable or no transfer number has been set, Zela will take a message and store it in your dashboard for follow-up.
Yes. You have full control over how your agent speaks and what it knows. Customise your agent’s greeting, add entries to your knowledge base, and set up FAQ responses — all from Agent > Configuration in your dashboard. Changes take effect on the next incoming call.
Zela currently supports English, with regional accent options to match your location (US, UK, Australian, and more). Support for additional languages is on the roadmap and will be announced when available.
Yes. Zela can handle multiple concurrent calls simultaneously, so your business never misses a call — even during busy periods. There’s no queue and no engaged tone for your customers.

​
Bookings

Zela books appointments based on the availability rules you configure in your dashboard settings. It does not sync with an external calendar by default — you manage your available time slots, blocked dates, and booking windows directly within Zela. This keeps things simple and fully under your control.
Yes. Go to Dashboard > Bookings, find the relevant booking, and open it to make changes. From there you can update the date, time, customer details, or cancel the booking entirely. Any changes are reflected immediately in your dashboard.
Confirmation SMS is available as a paid add-on. By default, booking details are stored in your Zela dashboard for your reference, but no outbound message is sent to the customer. Enable the SMS Confirmation add-on from Settings > Add-ons if you’d like customers to receive an automated text after booking.

​
Credits and Billing

When your credit balance reaches zero, your agent pauses and stops answering inbound calls. Callers will hear your fallback behaviour (e.g. ringing through to your personal number) until you top up. To avoid interruptions, enable auto-refill in Billing > Credits — this automatically purchases a top-up when your balance drops below a threshold you set.
No. Credits included in your monthly plan reset at the start of each billing cycle — any unused balance does not carry over. However, credits purchased separately as a top-up do not expire and remain in your account until used.
Yes. You can upgrade or downgrade your plan at any time from Billing > Plan. Upgrades take effect immediately and you’ll be charged a prorated amount for the remainder of the billing period. Downgrades take effect at the end of your current billing period, so you retain your current plan’s features until then.
Zela accepts all major credit and debit cards, including Visa, Mastercard, and American Express. Payments are processed securely through Stripe. Zela does not store your card details directly.