ILLINOIS

AI Receptionist for Illinois Businesses

Yes, an Illinois business can use an AI receptionist. Illinois makes it a crime to secretly record a private conversation without everyone’s consent, so the safe setup is to say at the start of the call that it is recorded. Awava puts that notice in the greeting, along with missed-call text back and review requests. The AI Receptionist is included in AI Pro ($1,997 setup plus $397 a month), or $97 a month added to the Website or Core plan.

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ILLINOIS AT A GLANCE

  • Recording callsAll-party consent (720 ILCS 5/14-2)
  • Sales calls and textsRecorded and live sales calls (815 ILCS 305, 413), plus the federal TCPA
  • AI voicesOutbound AI calls need prior consent (FCC, 2024)
  • Last checkedOctober 2026
THE RULES

What Illinois law means for an AI front desk.

The three rules that shape how an AI receptionist is set up in Illinois, each with the statute it comes from.

RECORDING CALLS

All-party consent

Illinois’s eavesdropping law makes it a crime to record a private conversation you are part of “in a surreptitious manner” without the consent of all the other parties. Surreptitious means done by stealth, deception or concealment, so a recording announced at the start of the call is not the kind the statute targets.

720 ILCS 5/14-2

SALES CALLS AND TEXTS

Illinois auto-dialer and solicitation rules

The Automatic Telephone Dialers Act covers auto-dialed calls that play a recorded message: consent is needed before the message plays, and no such calls between 9 p.m. and 9 a.m. It exempts calls a person asked for and calls to someone with an existing business relationship. Neither it nor the Telephone Solicitations Act mentions texts, so texts follow the federal rules.

815 ILCS 305

FEDERAL

AI voices and the federal rules

On 8 February 2024 the FCC ruled that AI-generated voices count as “artificial” under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act, so calls a business places with an AI voice need the called person’s prior express consent. That ruling is about calls you place. An AI receptionist answers calls people place to you, and Awava does not use it to dial lists.

FCC Declaratory Ruling FCC 24-17

HOW AWAVA SETS IT UP

Built around the rules from the first call.

Awava installs the AI receptionist, connects it to your number and manages it for you. These are the defaults for Illinois businesses. How the AI Receptionist works

  • When calls are recorded, the greeting says so first, so no recording is secret.
  • The AI receptionist answers calls people place to you. It does not auto-dial anyone.
  • Missed-call text back answers someone who just called you, and replying STOP ends the texts.
  • Campaign texts go only to customers who gave you their number and agreed to hear from you.
  • If a caller asks, the AI says it is an AI and offers to have you call back.
FAQ

Questions Illinois businesses ask us.

Yes. Illinois law does not ban AI call answering. The rule that matters is the eavesdropping statute, 720 ILCS 5/14-2, which bans secretly recording a private conversation without everyone’s consent. Awava announces recording at the start of every call.
Illinois is usually described as all-party consent. Since 2014 the statute targets recordings made “in a surreptitious manner”, meaning secretly, without the consent of all parties. Telling callers at the start that the call is recorded keeps it out in the open.
Illinois’s Automatic Telephone Dialers Act (815 ILCS 305) and Telephone Solicitations Act (815 ILCS 413) are written around calls and do not mention texts, so texts to Illinois numbers follow the federal TCPA. Awava only texts people who called you or agreed to hear from you.
Yes. Awava works remotely with businesses across the United States. Everything is set up and managed for you, and there is no software for you to learn.
No. This page is general information, checked October 2026. Laws change, and how they apply depends on your business, so check with a lawyer licensed in Illinois before relying on it.

General information, not legal advice. Checked October 2026 against the official statute text linked above. Laws change, and how they apply depends on your business; check with a lawyer licensed in Illinois.

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