Legal

Terms of Service

Last updated: September 2026

1. About these Terms

These Terms of Service (the "Terms") are the agreement between Contesso ("we", "us", "our") and the business that signs up for our services ("you", "your"). By starting a free trial, ticking the box to accept these Terms at checkout, paying for a plan, or using the service, you agree to them. If you do not agree, do not use the service.

Business use only. The service is for businesses, not for personal or household use. By accepting, you confirm that you are at least 18, that you are acting for a business, and that you have the authority to bind that business to these Terms.

How you accept. Accepting online, for example by ticking a box or continuing to use the service, is a legally binding signature. We keep a record of when and how you accepted, including the time, the version of the Terms, and the IP address.

These Terms work together with our Privacy Policy and our Refund and Cancellation Policy, which are part of this agreement. If they conflict, these Terms win, except that Paddle's own terms govern the payment itself (section 6).

2. Definitions

• Service means the AI receptionist we provide to you, which answers calls to your business, and the software, phone tools, dashboards and support that go with it, together with any Optional Feature you turn on.
• Optional Feature means any additional feature we may make available, such as outbound follow-up with leads or reactivation of past customers, which applies to you only if we offer it and you turn it on.
• Callers means the people who call your business and speak with the AI, and, if you use an Optional Feature that contacts people, the people the AI contacts on your behalf.
• Customer Data means the information you give us or that we collect for you through the Service, including your business details, customer and lead lists, and phone numbers.
• Call Content means the audio, recordings, transcripts, messages, and details captured during calls and messages handled by the Service.
• AI Output means anything the Service generates for you, including what the AI says or writes, summaries, and booking details.
• Plan means the paid plan you choose, with its included minutes, per-minute rate and any setup fee, as shown at checkout or on our website.

3. The service

We provide the Service as described on our website and at signup. The AI is software, not a person. When a Caller reaches your business line, it answers in your business's name, uses speech recognition, language models, and voice technology to talk with the Caller, answers questions from the information you give it, takes messages, flags urgent calls, and books appointments onto your calendar.

Optional Features. We may offer additional features later. They are not part of the Service unless we offer them to you and you turn them on, and section 9.4 adds requirements for any that contact people.

Setup. We aim to get you live quickly after you give us what we need, but any timeframe we mention is a target, not a promise, because it depends on you (for example, forwarding your calls) and on third parties such as phone carriers.

Changes. We improve the Service continuously. We may change, add, or remove features, models, or providers. If we remove a feature you pay for in a way that materially reduces the Service, we will tell you in advance and, if you cancel because of it, refund the unused part of your current paid period.

Beta features. Features we label as beta, preview, or test are provided as is and may change or stop at any time.

4. Your account and setup

• Accurate information. What you give us (business hours, services, prices, service areas, phone numbers, scripts and instructions) must be accurate and up to date. The AI relies on it. You are responsible for what the AI says because of what you told it.
• Phone numbers. You confirm you own or control every phone number you connect to the Service, and that you may forward or route calls from it.
• Call forwarding. If you forward your business line to the Service, you are responsible for switching that forwarding off when the Service ends. If you do not, Callers may reach a number that no longer answers.
• Numbers we provide. If we give you a phone number to receive forwarded calls, we or our carrier own or hold it. You get the right to use it only while the Service is active, and we may need to reclaim or release it after the Service ends. We will help you move a number you brought to us, and we cannot promise that numbers we supplied can be ported out.
• Security. Keep your login details confidential, use them only yourself or for people you authorise, and tell us promptly at [email protected] if you think someone else has access. You are responsible for activity under your account.

5. Free trial, plans and fees

• Free trial. New customers can run the Service on their real calls for 7 days before paying. Billing for your chosen Plan starts on day 8 unless you cancel before then (section 7). We may limit the trial to one per business, and we may end a trial early if it is abused. A trial is a Service under these Terms, including sections 9 to 13.
• Plans. Each Plan (Tier 1, 2 or 3) covers a set number of minutes of Service each month for a monthly fee. Minutes you use beyond the minutes included in your Plan are billed at the extra-minute rate of the Tier you chose, as shown in the table below. That rate differs by Tier. Unused minutes do not carry over to the next month. How usage is measured is shown in your account.
• Setup fee. If you pay month by month, a one-time setup fee of $275 applies. It is charged when your free trial ends, together with your first payment, and is separate from your Plan price. It is shown at checkout before you confirm. It is not charged at all if you prepay 3 or more months (3 or 6) in one charge.
• Prepaying. You may pay for 3 or 6 months upfront in one charge. Prepaying 3 or more months waives the setup fee, and prepaying 6 months also takes a discount off the monthly price, as shown in the table below and at checkout. A prepaid period is charged in full when it starts and covers that whole period. If you cancel during it, the Service continues to the end of the prepaid period and the prepaid amount is not refunded, except as section 8 allows. Prepaid periods renew, at the then-current price, for the same length unless you cancel first.
• Price changes. We may change prices or rates. We will give you at least 30 days' notice by email before a change applies to you, and you may cancel before it takes effect.
• Failed payments. If a payment fails, we may retry it and may suspend the Service until you pay. Amounts you owe remain due.

Month-by-month billing adds the one-time $275 setup fee. Paying 3 or 6 months upfront waives it. Prices may change under the price-change term above.

6. Payments, Paddle and taxes

Payments are processed by Paddle, which acts as our reseller and merchant of record. Paddle collects the payment and any applicable sales tax, VAT or similar taxes, and its buyer terms apply to the transaction. Prices may be shown before taxes; taxes are added at checkout where required. You are responsible for any taxes that Paddle does not collect.

7. Renewal and cancelling

• Automatic renewal. Plans are month to month. Unless you cancel first, your Plan renews automatically at the end of each period (monthly, or the prepaid length you chose) and Paddle charges your payment method the then-current Plan price plus any usage charges and taxes.
• How to cancel. You can cancel at any time by emailing [email protected] from the address on your account, or through your account if a cancel option is available there. We will confirm your cancellation in writing.
• Notice for prepaid plans. A 3- or 6-month prepaid plan renews for the same length unless you cancel at least 30 days before the current prepaid period ends. The discount and the waived setup fee on prepaid plans are given in return for that commitment to the full prepaid period.
• When it takes effect. Cancelling stops the next renewal. The Service continues until the end of the period you have already paid for (for a prepaid plan, the whole prepaid period), and then ends. Cancel before the renewal date, and for prepaid plans at least 30 days before it, to avoid the next charge.
• After cancelling. Remember to switch off call forwarding (section 4). See section 13 for what happens to your data.

8. Refunds

The 7-day free trial is how you decide before you pay. After that, fees are non-refundable, including for minutes already used, for a period you did not use, and for prepaid periods you cancel part-way. Exceptions: if we billed you in error, if the law requires a refund, or if we end the Service without cause during a paid period (we will refund the unused part). Details and how to ask are in our Refund and Cancellation Policy.

9. Your legal responsibilities

You decide what the AI says for your business and what you do with the calls, messages, and leads it hands you. So the legal duties that come with talking to your customers on the phone are yours. We build the Service to help you meet them, but we are a technology provider, not your legal adviser, and the following are your responsibility.

9.1 Call recording and transcription. Laws on recording calls vary. In many US states, including California, Florida, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Montana, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania and Washington, everyone on the call must consent, and other states can differ by situation. The Service can tell Callers that a call may be recorded, but you are responsible for making sure recording and transcription are lawful for your business and your Callers, and for any notice or consent that requires. Do not turn recording on, or keep it on, where you are not permitted to.

9.2 Telling people they are talking to an AI. Some laws require telling people they are speaking with an AI, and more are being passed. The Service is designed to say it is an AI assistant. You must not tell the AI to claim to be human, and must not remove or weaken the disclosure. If someone sincerely asks whether they are speaking with a person, the AI must be allowed to answer truthfully.

9.3 What the AI says about your business. You are responsible for the accuracy and legality of what the AI is set up to say for you, including prices, availability, warranties, licences and insurance. Do not instruct the AI to make claims you cannot support, and do not use it to misrepresent who you are or your qualifications. You are responsible for honouring appointments and commitments the AI reasonably makes on your behalf.

9.4 Optional outbound features. The Service answers calls that people make to you. If we offer an Optional Feature that makes outbound calls, texts, or emails for you (such as lead follow-up, reactivation, or reminders) and you turn it on, you are the sender and you are responsible for compliance with the laws that apply, including the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA), the Telemarketing Sales Rule, state telemarketing and mini-TCPA laws, the CAN-SPAM Act, and carrier and messaging-industry rules. The Federal Communications Commission has ruled that AI-generated voices are "artificial or prerecorded voices" under the TCPA. So, at minimum, you must:

• have the consent the law requires from each person before the AI contacts them, and keep proof of it (who, when, how, and what they agreed to) for at least five years. For marketing or advertising calls and texts that generally means prior express written consent that names the business and covers automated or AI-generated calls;
• check numbers against the National Do-Not-Call Registry, applicable state lists, and your own do-not-call list before contacting anyone who has not given the required consent, and honour opt-outs promptly, including opt-outs given in any reasonable way;
• contact people only during the hours the law allows, in the recipient's local time (in general, not before 8 a.m. or after 9 p.m.), and follow stricter state rules;
• identify your business and the purpose of the call, and give a working way to opt out;
• never contact emergency lines, hospital patient rooms, or numbers you know are not allowed to be called.

You must give us only contact lists you are legally allowed to use for this purpose. If you are not sure you have the right consent, do not use the Service to contact that person. We may pause any outbound activity we reasonably believe may break the law, breach carrier rules, or draw complaints.

9.5 Licences and industry rules. You are responsible for holding the licences and permits your work requires and for following any rules that apply to your trade.

9.6 Sensitive information. Do not use the Service to collect or process payment card numbers, bank details, government ID numbers, passwords, or health or other sensitive personal information. The Service is not built for regulated data such as protected health information. If a Caller volunteers it, you are responsible for how you handle it.

9.7 Changes in the law. The law here moves quickly. We may update or restrict features to keep the Service lawful, and you agree to review our notices about legal changes that affect your use.

10. Acceptable use

You must not, and must not let anyone else, use the Service to:

• break any law or regulation, or another person's rights;
• send spam, run scams, phish, harass, threaten, or deceive people, or make unsolicited marketing calls or texts without the consent the law requires;
• impersonate a real person, clone or imitate a real person's voice without their explicit permission, or create deepfakes;
• make calls or send messages about debt collection, political campaigning, gambling, adult content, or other categories we notify you are not permitted;
• rely on the Service to dispatch emergency help or for any life-safety, medical, or safety-critical purpose (see section 12);
• collect data about people in ways that violate their privacy or the law;
• reverse engineer, copy, scrape, or probe the Service, remove its notices, or try to get around limits or security;
• overload or interfere with the Service, our providers, or phone networks;
• resell or provide the Service to others as your own product without our written agreement;
• use the Service from, or for, anyone in a country or on a list subject to sanctions or trade restrictions that prohibit it.

We may investigate suspected misuse and take action under section 19.

11. How the AI works, and its limits

• The AI can be wrong. It can mishear names, numbers, or addresses, misunderstand a request, say something inaccurate, or fail to book a job. AI Output is generated automatically and may not be correct, complete, or suitable for your situation. Check important details, such as appointment times and contact information, before you rely on them.
• No guaranteed results. We do not promise any number of calls answered, leads, bookings, jobs, or revenue. Statistics, examples and calculators on our website are estimates for illustration, not guarantees.
• You stay responsible for your business. The Service assists you. It does not replace your judgement, and it does not provide legal, financial, or professional advice.
• AI Output may not be unique. The Service may produce similar or identical output for other customers, and you have no exclusive claim to AI Output as such. Your Customer Data remains yours.
• Improvement. Models and providers change, so behaviour can change. We test changes but cannot promise identical behaviour over time.

12. Not for emergencies or high-risk use

The AI can flag urgent situations and tell Callers to contact emergency services, but the Service is not an emergency service and is not designed or permitted for use where failure could lead to injury, death, or serious harm. It must not be relied on to get help to someone in danger. In an emergency, call 911 or your local emergency number. You are solely responsible for how you route and respond to urgent calls, and for having other ways for people to reach you in an emergency.

13. Your data and call content

• You own your data. As between you and us, you keep ownership of Customer Data and of the Call Content generated for your business.
• What you allow us to do. You give us a licence to host, process, record, transcribe, analyse, and use Customer Data and Call Content to provide, secure, support, and improve the Service, to meet our legal obligations, and to enforce these Terms. We may create aggregated or de-identified data that does not identify you or any person, and may use it to improve our products.
• Our role. For Call Content and Callers' personal information, we handle it on your behalf and on your instructions, and you are the business responsible for it. We do not sell that personal information. Our Privacy Policy explains how we handle information.
• Service providers. We use trusted providers to run the Service, such as telephony, speech-to-text, text-to-speech, and language-model, hosting, email, calendar, and payment providers. They may process Customer Data and Call Content to provide their services to us, under terms that require appropriate protection. Our use of a provider does not make them your provider.
• Security. We use reasonable technical and organisational measures to protect your data. No system is perfectly secure. If we become aware of a security incident that affects your Customer Data, we will tell you without undue delay and give you what you reasonably need to meet your own legal duties.
• Retention and deletion. We keep Customer Data and Call Content while your account is active and afterwards for as long as needed to provide the Service, comply with law, resolve disputes, and keep backups. After the Service ends, you can ask us to delete or return your data, and we will do so within a reasonable time, except where the law or a legitimate need requires us to keep it.
• Your Callers' requests. If a Caller asks you to access or delete their information, we will help you respond, as far as the Service allows.

14. Ownership and feedback

We and our licensors own the Service, its software, models, prompts, designs, and brand, and all related rights. These Terms give you only a limited, non-exclusive, non-transferable, revocable right to use the Service for your own business while these Terms are in force. If you give us ideas or suggestions, we may use them freely without paying you or crediting you.

15. Third parties and availability

The Service depends on third parties, including phone carriers, internet providers, AI and speech providers, and cloud hosting. We work to keep the Service running, but we do not promise it will be uninterrupted, timely, secure, or error free, and we are not responsible for failures outside our reasonable control. We may carry out maintenance. Support is provided by email during reasonable business hours unless we agree otherwise in writing. We do not offer a service-level agreement unless we sign one with you.

16. No warranties

THE SERVICE AND ALL AI OUTPUT ARE PROVIDED "AS IS" AND "AS AVAILABLE". TO THE FULLEST EXTENT THE LAW ALLOWS, WE DISCLAIM ALL WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, NON-INFRINGEMENT, ACCURACY, AND ANY WARRANTY ARISING FROM COURSE OF DEALING OR USAGE. WE DO NOT WARRANT THAT THE SERVICE WILL MEET YOUR NEEDS OR PRODUCE ANY PARTICULAR RESULT.

17. Limits on our liability

TO THE FULLEST EXTENT THE LAW ALLOWS: (A) WE ARE NOT LIABLE FOR ANY INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR PUNITIVE DAMAGES, OR FOR LOST PROFITS, LOST REVENUE, LOST JOBS, LOST BUSINESS OPPORTUNITIES, LOSS OF GOODWILL, OR LOSS OF DATA, EVEN IF WE WERE TOLD THEY WERE POSSIBLE, AND INCLUDING LOSSES FROM A CALL THE AI MISSED, MISHEARD, OR HANDLED POORLY; AND (B) OUR TOTAL LIABILITY TO YOU FOR ALL CLAIMS RELATED TO THE SERVICE OR THESE TERMS WILL NOT EXCEED THE GREATER OF THE AMOUNT YOU PAID US FOR THE SERVICE IN THE 12 MONTHS BEFORE THE EVENT THAT GAVE RISE TO THE CLAIM, AND ONE HUNDRED US DOLLARS (US$100).

These limits apply to every legal theory (contract, tort including negligence, or otherwise) and are a basic part of our agreement and pricing. They do not limit liability that the law does not allow to be limited, such as liability for fraud or wilful misconduct. Nothing limits your duty to pay fees you owe.

18. If a claim comes from your use

You will defend us, and pay the costs, damages, fines, settlements, and reasonable legal fees that result, if a third party or a regulator brings a claim, demand, or investigation against us or our providers that arises from: (a) your Customer Data or contact lists; (b) your use of the Service in breach of these Terms or the law; (c) calls, texts, or emails sent or recorded through your account without the consent or notice the law requires, including claims under the TCPA or similar laws, and statutory damages; (d) what the AI was instructed to say on your behalf; or (e) a dispute between you and your customers. We will tell you promptly about the claim, let you control the defence (we may take part with our own lawyer at our own cost), and you will not settle it in a way that admits fault for us or limits our rights without our written consent.

19. Suspension and ending the agreement

• By you. You can stop using the Service, or cancel, at any time (section 7).
• By us. We may suspend or end your access, immediately where the risk requires it, if you breach these Terms, if your use may be unlawful or harm people, our providers, or our systems, if we receive complaints or carrier or regulator warnings about your calls, if you do not pay, or if we stop offering the Service. Where reasonable and safe, we will tell you why and give you a chance to fix the problem first.
• Effect. When the Service ends, your right to use it ends, amounts you owe stay due, and section 13 applies to your data. Sections that by their nature should continue (fees owed, section 9, sections 13 to 14, 16 to 18, 20, and 22) do.

20. Governing law and disputes

Governing law. These Terms and any dispute arising from them are governed by the laws of India, without regard to conflict-of-law rules.

Talk to us first. If you have a dispute, email us at [email protected] with the details. We will try in good faith to resolve it informally for 30 days before either of us starts a formal proceeding.

Courts. If we cannot resolve it, the dispute will be decided by the competent courts in India, which have exclusive jurisdiction, and you and we consent to that.

Individual claims only. To the extent the law allows, you and we each bring claims only in an individual capacity and not as part of a class, group, or representative action.

Exceptions. Either of us may go to any court of competent jurisdiction to seek urgent relief such as an injunction to protect intellectual property or confidential information, or to collect unpaid fees.

21. Our website and demo calls

This section also applies to visitors who are not customers.

• Using the site. You may browse the website and use its calculators and tools for your own business purposes. They give estimates for illustration, not professional advice. Do not scrape it, disrupt it, or misuse it.
• Demo calls. If you enter your phone number and ask our AI to call you, you agree to receive that call from an AI voice at that number, which may be recorded and transcribed to operate and improve the service. Only enter a number you own or are authorised to use. Consent to a demo call is not a condition of buying anything. You can stop the call at any time by telling the AI or hanging up, and you can ask us not to contact you again.
• Requests to be contacted. When you submit your details to request information, you agree that we may contact you about the service by phone, text, or email. You can opt out at any time by telling us, replying STOP to a text, or using the unsubscribe link in an email.
• Content and links. The website is provided "as is" (section 16) and our liability for it is limited under section 17. We are not responsible for third-party sites we link to.

22. General terms

• Changes to these Terms. We may update these Terms. We will change the date above, and for changes that materially affect you we will email active customers at least 30 days before they apply to you. If you keep using the Service after the change takes effect, you accept the new Terms. If you do not agree, cancel before then.
• Entire agreement. These Terms, the Privacy Policy, the Refund and Cancellation Policy, and any signed written order form are the whole agreement and replace earlier discussions. If a signed order form conflicts with these Terms, the order form wins for that subject.
• Notices. We may give notice by email to the address on your account or by posting it in the Service. You may give notice to us at the contact address below.
• Assignment. You may not transfer these Terms without our written consent. We may transfer them in a merger, sale of our business, or reorganisation.
• Severability and waiver. If a part of these Terms is unenforceable, the rest stays in force, and that part will be applied to the extent the law allows. Not enforcing a right is not a waiver of it.
• Force majeure. Neither of us is responsible for delay or failure caused by events beyond reasonable control, such as outages of carriers or the internet, power or infrastructure failure, natural disasters, war, government action, or labour disputes. This does not excuse payment.
• Relationship. We are independent contractors. Nothing here creates a partnership, employment, or agency between us. There are no third-party beneficiaries of these Terms.
• Export and sanctions. You confirm that you are not located in, or owned by anyone in, a sanctioned country or on a restricted-party list, and that you will not use the Service in breach of export or sanctions laws.
• Language. These Terms are in English. If translated, the English version controls.

23. Contact

Questions about these Terms, cancelling, or a legal notice: [email protected].