Our AI assistant and your calls
Cedar uses an AI assistant to answer some phone calls. This page explains what happens when it answers, on three kinds of lines: Cedar’s own line, our demo line, and the lines of businesses that use Cedar’s AI receptionist (Opening October).
At a glance
| Line | What you hear first | What we keep | How long |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cedar’s line, (425) 600-1917 | If Jeff can’t pick up, the assistant says it is Jeff’s AI assistant and that the call is transcribed. | A written transcript and summary for Jeff. No audio. | Up to 2 years after our last contact with you |
| Demo line, (253) 300-1076 | The assistant for Lantern Cove Plumbing, a made-up company, says it is an automated assistant and that the call is recorded and transcribed. The notice is also given in Spanish. | The recording and the transcript | Deleted within 90 days |
| A business’s AI receptionist (Opening October) | The same notice, in English and Spanish | The recording and the transcript | Audio 90 days, transcripts 6 months |
What does “Opening October” mean? The tool is built and has passed our tests, but it is not running for a client yet. We are setting up the first clients this month. You can book a spot now. You pay nothing until it runs for your business, and billing starts that day.
Cedar’s line: (425) 600-1917
Cedar’s line rings Jeff first. If Jeff picks up, you are talking to Jeff, and nothing is recorded or transcribed.
If Jeff can’t pick up, his AI assistant answers. It starts with this notice: “I’m Jeff’s AI assistant. This call is transcribed so I can pass your message to him.” The notice plays as soon as the assistant picks up, and it is the first line of the transcript Jeff gets.
The assistant turns your words into text, writes short replies, and takes your message. When the call ends, Jeff gets an email with the transcript and a short summary. No audio is saved.
We keep the transcript and summary for up to 2 years after our last contact with you, then delete them. Our phone company keeps its own log of the calling number, time and length.
Cedar’s line is a business line. It does not have a Spanish option or an emergency script. If anyone is in danger, call 911.
The demo line: (253) 300-1076
The demo line lets you hear the AI receptionist Cedar builds for businesses. It answers for Lantern Cove Plumbing, a Cedar demo. Lantern Cove Plumbing is a made-up company. Nobody will come to your house, and nobody will call you back about a job. Make up the details when you call. Please don’t give your real name, number or address. Demo calls are recorded and transcribed, and we delete the recording and the transcript within 90 days.
The assistant starts every call by saying it is an automated assistant and that the call is recorded and transcribed. The notice is also given in Spanish. The notice plays as soon as the call is answered, and it is part of the recording.
If you say something urgent, it tells you to hang up and call 911 first. If you mention a gas smell, carbon monoxide or a downed power line, it tells you to leave the building, then call 911 or the utility from outside. It cannot send help.
Demo calls are recorded and transcribed so Jeff can check how the assistant did. Within 90 days we delete the recording, the transcript, the summary and your phone number. We keep only a bare count of the call, with nothing that identifies you. We do not use them for marketing, and we never contact you because you called the demo line.
Please don’t share health, payment or other private details on a demo call. Make something up, the way a customer would.
AI receptionists for businesses (Opening October)
Cedar’s AI receptionist for businesses is Opening October: it is built and tested, and the first clients are being set up this month. When it runs for a business, here is how it works.
The notice. Every call it answers starts with a notice that you are talking to an automated assistant and that the call is recorded and transcribed. The notice is given in English and Spanish. It plays as soon as the call is answered, and it is part of the recording. The business cannot turn it off or change it.
A real person. If you ask whether you are talking to a person, it says no. It never uses a made-up human name. If it passes your call to someone at the business, recording stops at that point.
Spanish. Say “español” to continue in Spanish. Until a business’s Spanish setup has passed a live test, Spanish calls ring the business directly.
Emergencies. It is not an emergency service. It cannot call 911 or send help. If you say anything urgent, it tells you to hang up and call 911 first. If you mention a gas smell, carbon monoxide or a downed power line, it tells you to leave the building, then call 911 or the utility from outside. Then it tries to ring the business’s on-call person. That call can fail or go unanswered.
Prices. It quotes only “starting at” prices from a menu the business has approved. Your exact price comes from the business.
Texts. It texts you only if you ask for a text, or once after a missed call, with no links or offers in that first text. Reply STOP (or ALTO, PARA, BASTA or CANCELAR) and all texts from that business stop.
How long it is kept. Call audio is deleted after 90 days. Transcripts and chats are deleted after 6 months, and terms flagged as health information are removed when a transcript is saved. Records of your text consent and any STOP are kept for 5 years so we can always honor them.
Who controls it. The business you called controls your information, and Cedar handles it for them. To see or delete a recording or transcript, ask the business. You can also email [email protected] and we will pass your request to the business within 5 business days.
What it can get wrong
The assistant is AI, and AI makes mistakes. It can mishear a name, a number or an address. It can misunderstand what you asked, or give an answer that is wrong or out of date. Each call it answers is saved as a transcript so the owner can check what was said and fix it. If something you need is important, like a price, a time or an address, confirm it with the business.
Which companies run it
The assistant runs on a few outside services. Twilio carries the phone call. Cloudflare runs our software and the speech models (made by Deepgram) that turn your words into text and the assistant’s replies into a voice. Anthropic’s Claude writes the replies and the call summary. On Cedar’s line, the summary is emailed to Jeff through Resend and kept in Cedar’s Google Workspace email. Cedar does not train AI models on your calls. What each company’s own terms allow is on our Privacy Policy, under “AI and your data.”
If you don’t want to talk to an AI
Hang up anytime. You can reach Jeff by email at [email protected], or a business through its email or website form. If you called Cedar’s line, you can also call back later; Jeff answers when he can.
Cedar Digital LLC, 5114 Point Fosdick Dr Ste F PMB 1101, Gig Harbor, WA 98335. [email protected]. (425) 600-1917. A Washington limited liability company, UBI 606-166-553.