AI receptionist for small business: a virtual assistant that answers every call
A call nobody answered is often a customer who called a competitor next. A small business cannot keep someone by the phone all day, and certainly not in the evening. An AI receptionist answers every call, at once, and leaves you a tidy summary of who called and what they wanted.
What it does on a call
- Answers in the name of the business with the opening line you set.
- Answers common questions: hours, address, services, and the prices you approved it to say.
- Takes details: name, phone number and what the call is about.
- Transfers to a person when the caller asks, or when the call needs one.
- Rates the enquiry, so you see at once who is a potential customer and who only asked a question.
AI receptionist, answering service or voicemail
Voicemail is cheap, but most callers hang up without leaving a message. An answering service gives a warm reply, but it is paid by the hour and works from a short script. An AI receptionist sits in between: it always answers, holds a real conversation, and is paid by the minutes actually spoken.
It does not replace the person who knows your customers by name. It replaces the ring nobody picked up.
What to decide before you switch it on
- What it may say about prices, and what it may not.
- Where calls are transferred, and what happens if nobody picks up there.
- What happens after hours: it keeps answering, or takes a message.
- Which topics it does not touch and sends to a person.
All of this is written in the training of the bot for inbound calls. The guide on writing a script shows how.
What you see at the end of the day
The big advantage over an ordinary phone is the record. Every call has a time, a length, a summary, a transcript and a recording, and you can see at which hours people call the most. In ENIGMA Voice Bot a caller who was not on any of your lists is added to a list of inbound callers by itself, so no enquiry is lost.
Questions and answers
Can I keep my existing business number?
Usually yes, by forwarding calls to the bot's number or by connecting your phone system. The details depend on your phone provider.
What happens when the bot does not know the answer?
A bot that was trained properly says it will pass the question on, takes the details, and transfers to a person or records a call back. It should not make answers up.
Does it suit a one-person business?
Yes, and that is perhaps where it is felt the most: while you are with a customer, someone still answers the phone.
See it working on your own leads
ENIGMA Voice Bot calls the leads in your file, rates each one from 1 to 5 and keeps the recording and the transcript of every call.