# Bea by Be Connect — AI receptionist for New Zealand and Australian businesses, answering calls 24/7 on monthly minute plans.

> Source: Receptionist Index — https://receptionistindex.com/bea (structured, researched, re-verified)
> Facts last verified: 2026-10-14

Bea is an AI phone receptionist sold to New Zealand and Australian small businesses by telco Be Connect. It answers inbound calls around the clock, captures caller details, books appointments and transfers calls under rules the business configures.

| Fact | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Website | https://hibea.nz/ |
| Price | from NZ$79/month (about $44) |
| Free trial | Partly |

Seven-day free trial, no credit card required, existing business numbers supported; the vendor's terms say the service stops at the end of a trial unless you subscribe, and trial data may be deleted. No standing free plan.

## What it costs at your call volume

**Cost at 100 calls a month** · Yes — 137.50 NZD (about $77) a month on Bea Starter for 100 calls of 2.5 minutes (250 billed minutes). Billing increment not stated: computed per second (2.5 min a call). If they round each call up to the minute (3 min), it is 149 NZD (about $83). Plus a one-time setup fee of 99 NZD (about $55), not included.

> NZ$79 /month (about $44)
> — https://hibea.nz/ · Pricing section, Bea Starter plan card price cell

**Cost at 500 calls a month** · Yes — 419 NZD (about $235) a month on Bea Pro for 500 calls of 2.5 minutes (1250 billed minutes). Billing increment not stated: computed per second (2.5 min a call). If they round each call up to the minute (3 min), it is 479 NZD (about $268). Plus a one-time setup fee of 99 NZD (about $55), not included.

> NZ$299 /month (about $167)
> — https://hibea.nz/ · Pricing section, Bea Pro plan card price cell

**What it bills by** · Yes — Every published plan meters an inclusive monthly allowance of AI minutes, so you are billed per minute of conversation rather than per call or per caller.

> 100 AI minutes / month
> — https://hibea.nz/ · Pricing section, Bea Starter plan card, allowance line under the price

**Past your allowance** · Yes — Calls past the allowance keep being answered and are charged at a published per-minute overage rate that falls as the plan gets bigger, billed after the fact.

> Minutes beyond your plan are charged at the per-minute overage rate for your plan, billed in arrears.
> — https://hibea.nz/terms-and-conditions/ · Section 8 Plans, fees and billing, bullet list

## What it does on the call

**Books appointments** · Partly — Booking into a connected calendar is real but needs the Business plan or above; without a supported calendar Bea only captures a structured booking request instead.

> Yes, with supported calendar integrations on the Business plan and above.
> — https://hibea.nz/ · FAQs, 'Can Bea book appointments?' answer

**Transfers to a person** · Partly — Transfers to your team are included from the entry plan and rule-driven, but the vendor nowhere describes a warm transfer where Bea briefs the person first.

> Yes. You configure rules for when calls should be transferred to your team.
> — https://hibea.nz/ · FAQs, 'Can Bea transfer calls?' answer

**After-hours rules** · Yes — Answering runs round the clock including public holidays, and after-hours call flows are configurable, though custom after-hours rules are listed on the Business plan.

> Yes. Bea answers calls 24/7 — including evenings, weekends and public holidays.
> — https://hibea.nz/ · FAQs, 'Can Bea answer after hours?' answer

**Urgent calls escalated** · Partly — Emergency recognition is configurable and escalation follows your rules, but the vendor warns it may fail to spot an urgent call and is not an emergency service.

> Bea can be configured to identify specific emergency situations and follow predefined escalation rules. She does not replace emergency services.
> — https://hibea.nz/ · FAQs, 'Can Bea handle emergencies?' answer

**Human receptionists as backup** · No — No human receptionists sit behind the AI: when Bea cannot answer she follows fallback rules that take a message or transfer the caller to your own team.

> Bea follows your configured fallback rules — which may include taking a message or transferring the caller to your team.
> — https://hibea.nz/ · FAQs, 'What happens if Bea can't answer a question?' answer

**Asks your questions** · Partly — What Bea asks and says is configurable on every plan and lead details are captured, but explicit lead qualification is listed only from the Business plan upward.

> Yes. Your business information, instructions, tone and call flows are all configurable.
> — https://hibea.nz/ · FAQs, 'Can I change what Bea says?' answer

**Answers about your business** · Yes — The vendor trains Bea on your own website, services, FAQs, hours and pricing so she answers routine caller questions from your real business information.

> Give Bea your website, services, FAQs, opening hours, pricing and call-handling rules.
> — https://hibea.nz/ · 'Trained on your business' section, body paragraph

**Texts your callers** · Partly — Bea can send an SMS during call handling and do SMS follow-up on Pro, but nothing on the site says she holds a two-way text conversation with a caller.

> Capture the lead, book the appointment, send an SMS or transfer the call straight to your team.
> — https://hibea.nz/ · How Bea works, step three 'Bea takes action'

## What you get after the call

**Call summary by text** · Partly — A written summary follows every call, but the entry plan lists summaries with email alerts only; instant SMS notification appears from the Business plan.

> Get an instant text when Bea handles an important call.
> — https://hibea.nz/ · Features grid, 'SMS Notifications' card

**Recordings and transcripts** · Partly — Recordings and transcripts are a Business-plan feature and recording is off by default, to be enabled only where consent requirements are met.

> Call recordings & transcripts
> — https://hibea.nz/ · Pricing section, Bea Business plan card, feature list

## What it connects to

**Your trade’s software** · Partly — The only named third-party business system is Xero accounting on the Pro plan, and even that is qualified; no trade or practice software is named.

> Xero integration (where supported)
> — https://hibea.nz/ · Pricing section, Bea Pro plan card, feature list

## Trying it, starting and leaving

**Free trial or free plan** · Partly — A seven-day free trial lets you run Bea on your existing business number before paying, but there is no standing free plan afterwards.

> 7-day free trial · No credit card required · Existing business numbers supported
> — https://hibea.nz/ · Closing call-to-action, line under the 'Try Bea Free' buttons

**Card required to start** · No — The trial is advertised without payment details, and the vendor repeats the no-credit-card line on its industry landing pages as well as the home page.

> 7-day free trial · No credit card required · Existing business numbers supported
> — https://hibea.nz/ · Closing call-to-action, line under the 'Try Bea Free' buttons

**Sign up without a sales call** · Partly — Prices and plans are public and a plan finder recommends one, but the terms allow subscription by written quote and the plan buttons lead to contact rather than checkout.

> Plans and prices are those shown on hibea.nz at the time you subscribe, or as set out in a written quote we give you.
> — https://hibea.nz/terms-and-conditions/ · Section 8 Plans, fees and billing, first bullet

**Setup fee** · Partly — A one-off setup fee applies to every plan by contract, listed at NZ$99 (about $55), but it is struck through and waived for the current launch promotion.

> A one-off setup fee applies to all plans. Where we are running a launch promotion, the setup fee is waived on the terms of that promotion.
> — https://hibea.nz/terms-and-conditions/ · Section 8 Plans, fees and billing, second bullet

**Contract and cancelling** · Partly — Billing is month to month with no annual lock-in, but canceling takes 30 days written notice by email rather than a self-service switch-off.

> You may cancel at any time by giving us 30 days’ notice in writing to sales@bedigital.co.nz.
> — https://hibea.nz/terms-and-conditions/ · Section 10 Term, cancellation and what happens to your data, second bullet

## Which languages it speaks, and how it sounds

**Hear it before you buy** · Partly — The site embeds switchable recorded demo scenarios and a 'Talk to Bea' widget, but publishes no demo phone number a buyer can ring.

> Switch between scenarios to see how Bea handles different kinds of callers.
> — https://hibea.nz/ · 'Hear Bea in action' section, intro line above the demo player

## Your phone number and where it works

**Keep your number** · Yes — You keep your existing business number and forward it to Bea; the vendor says forwarding gets you live in minutes and your carrier's charges still apply.

> Yes, subject to your telephony setup. Calls can be forwarded or integrated with your Be Connect business voice service.
> — https://hibea.nz/ · FAQs, 'Can Bea use my existing business number?' answer

**Move your number in** · Partly — Numbers Bea supplies are licensed not owned, and porting is left to regulator and receiving-carrier rules rather than promised by the vendor.

> Number portability is subject to the rules of the relevant telecommunications regulator and the receiving carrier.
> — https://hibea.nz/terms-and-conditions/ · Section 11 Phone numbers

**Australia** · Yes — Bea is sold only in New Zealand and Australia, priced in NZD and AUD, with support and terms written for those two markets and no US, UK or EU offer.

> Bea is the AI receptionist for New Zealand & Australian businesses.
> — https://hibea.nz/ · Home page meta description and hero positioning

## Who it is built for

**Industries it is set up for** · Yes — Dedicated pages and call-handling examples exist for trades, clinics, property, automotive, professional services, law, salons and hospitality.

> Built for businesses that can't always answer.
> — https://hibea.nz/ · Industries section heading with the per-trade cards beneath it

**Several locations or numbers** · Partly — One number is included on the entry plan, up to three on Pro with departmental routing, and multiple locations are pushed to Enterprise from NZ$599 (about $335).

> Up to 3 business numbers
> — https://hibea.nz/ · Pricing section, Bea Pro plan card, feature list

## Getting set up and getting help

**Setup help** · Partly — The vendor claims go-live in minutes by call forwarding and includes business-specific training on every plan, but priority onboarding is a Pro-plan feature.

> Live in minutes with call forwarding
> — https://hibea.nz/ · 'Trained on your business' section, checklist item

**Support** · Partly — Support is email-only during New Zealand business hours, with priority support reserved for higher plans and no published phone or chat channel or uptime guarantee.

> Support is provided by email at sales@bedigital.co.nz during New Zealand business hours. Priority support is included on higher plans.
> — https://hibea.nz/terms-and-conditions/ · Section 15 Availability and support

## What changed

- 2026-10-14 — Capabilities · Free tier · Plan limits · Price · Terms

## Corrections

If you represent Bea by Be Connect, or anything here is wrong or out of date, send a correction with a source. The operations this site accepts from an agent are listed at https://receptionistindex.com/.well-known/agents.json — that catalog needs no key to read, and each entry states its own auth.