About Risk Free
An Ontario studio that writes its terms down.
Risk Free brings websites, marketing and AI assistance together around how a business actually works. Heron is our business-focused AI assistant, configured around your services, customer conversations and day-to-day workflows. You choose which conversations it handles, what it forwards to you or your team, and how each next step happens.
Based in Ontario, Canada. Remote-first, by phone and video.
CH 01
Heron’s story
Why we built Heron.
Heron exists because small businesses lose the calls and the follow-ups that people are too busy to make. Each piece of it was built for a real business first.
- 01
It started at a front desk.
Our first client, a clinic, needed every call answered with a clear note for the team afterwards. We set up an AI receptionist for them: it answers in the clinic’s approved words, takes messages and booking requests, and writes the note. That is still the core of Heron Reception.
- 02
Then a campaign, with permission.
The next piece came from the same place: a text campaign to patients who had agreed to hear from the clinic, with a stop in every message. It taught us the rules a campaign needs: permission on record, approved wording, set hours, a daily cap, and replies handled by rules the business sets. That became Heron Campaigns.
- 03
Its status is on the page.
Each Heron capability carries its public status where you read about it: available, set up for you, included, pilot, in development or future direction. What has run for a client says so, and what is still being built says that too.
Set up for your business
Built around how your business works.
From customer outreach and detailed replies to appointment booking and follow-ups, we configure Heron around your services, workflows and goals. Choose what it handles automatically, what gets forwarded, and how each conversation moves forward.
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What Heron handles itself
Answering calls in your approved words, hours and holidays, taking messages and booking requests, and the campaign replies you’ve set it up to answer.
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What gets forwarded
The enquiry types you choose go straight to you or your staff as a written note, and anything outside the approved knowledge goes with them. Heron doesn’t guess.
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How the next step happens
A booking request your team confirms, a callback your team approves, or a call Heron offers only after the customer says yes.
Statuses are the real ones. Broad set-up is not unlimited capability: anything outside what you approved goes to your team, not to a guess.
CH 02
What we believe
Technology serves the business, not the other way round.
Four views that shape every decision here, from how Heron is configured to how a website is priced.
- 01
The business comes first.
We start from how you work: your services, your hours, your rules. Heron and the website are shaped to that, not the other way round.
- 02
People set it up, and people check it.
Heron does the routine work. People at Risk Free configure it, test it with you, read how it is doing and change it when you ask.
- 03
Configured is not unlimited.
Heron answers from the knowledge and rules you approved. Broad set-up is not infallible expertise, and we don’t promise an answer to every possible question.
- 04
Say what is real.
Every capability carries its status. Demonstrations are labelled fictional. Prices are published or quoted in writing, and nothing is promised that we can’t show.
CH 03
Principles
Three rules we can be held to.
Each rule changes what we do, and each can be checked against this site.
- 01
Clarity
Say the useful thing early, in language a real person can recognise.
- Every service page says what it is, who it is for and what to do next.
- Where there is no published price, we say so and explain how it is set.
- 02
Care
Treat callers, readers and the people we write to as we would want to be treated.
- What Heron says and passes on is agreed with you before it goes live.
- Campaign messages are short, say who they’re from, and make it easy to stop.
- 03
Honesty
Show what is real, label what is illustrative and keep promises proportionate.
- We do not promise rankings, replies or outcomes.
- No testimonials, ratings or logos appear here because we have none yet.
CH 04
Our terms
What we promise, in writing.
Four lines that limit what we will do. Each one you can check against this site.
- 01
We label demonstrations.
Everything under Work is fictional and says so. We publish no invented clients, ratings or results.
- 02
Heron’s prices are published.
Reception: $597 set-up with the first month included, then $397 a month. Campaigns: $297 for each active month, or $197 with Reception. CAD, plus HST. Other work is quoted in writing, and the quote shows what drives it.
- 03
Heron doesn’t pretend to be a person.
Our standard is that Heron says it’s an AI at the start of every call and never claims to be human.
- 04
Campaigns stop when asked.
Anyone who replies STOP is removed at once. We never buy or scrape contact lists.
The shape of it
Heron at the desk. People behind it.
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Risk Free
The company: the people, the agreements, billing and support. Whatever you sign up for, you sign with Risk Free.
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Heron
The business-focused AI assistant we make and configure for each client: an office-manager-style helper that handles the enquiries, messages, booking requests and follow-ups it is set up for, and routes the rest by each client’s rules. It answers calls and runs campaigns for the businesses we set it up for. Heron is a name for that work, not a separate company. The name is our working direction while checks are completed.
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The studio
People: websites and apps, SEO and AI search, marketing, ads and media. They use AI tools where those help, and a person checks the work before it reaches you.
The name
Why “Heron”.
Heron of Alexandria, also written Hero, was a Greek mathematician and engineer who worked in Roman Egypt, most likely in the first century AD. His surviving books describe working mechanisms built from air, water and weight: temple doors that opened when the altar fire was lit, a coin-operated dispenser for holy water, a wind-driven organ, a programmable cart, a small steam-turned sphere. Some of these drew on earlier engineers such as Ctesibius and Philo; what Heron did was describe them precisely enough that they could be built. His formula for the area of a triangle still carries his name.
We borrowed the name, not the legend. Heron by Risk Free is a practical mechanism for everyday work: it answers, it follows up with permission, and it keeps your team informed. Like the originals, it is only as good as its set-up, which is why people at Risk Free do that part with you.
The name is a working direction while naming checks are completed.
By discussion
Other work, now and then.
We also take on selected game development for suitable companies. It isn’t one of our main services, so it isn’t in the menu. If it’s what you need, say so on the contact form.
CH 05
Get in touch
How to reach us.
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Where
Ontario, Canada. We work with businesses across the province.
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How we work
Remote-first, by phone and video, so there is nothing to travel to.
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How a project starts
A free consultation: a short note on the contact form, then a short call if it would help. Nothing is booked and no price is fixed by writing.
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Email
Questions
Before you write.
Is Heron a separate company?
No. Risk Free is the company, and Heron is the name of the AI assistant we make and configure for each client. Agreements, billing and support are with Risk Free.
Why “Risk Free”?
It describes how we work: clear prices, terms in writing, no promised outcomes. It isn’t a guarantee.
Does a person answer every message Heron handles?
No. Heron handles the conversations you’ve configured it to handle, within the knowledge and rules you approved. The enquiry types you choose, and anything outside those rules, are forwarded to you or your staff.
Where are you, and can we meet?
We’re in Ontario. We work remote-first, by phone and video, with businesses across the province, so there’s nothing to travel to.
Why are there no testimonials or client logos?
We’ll show client work only with the client’s written permission. Until then, the demonstrations on this site are fictional and say so.
About
A short note is enough to start.
Tell us what needs to work. Heron’s prices are published. Websites and apps start from a stated total, and everything else is quoted after a free consultation.