Small businesses try a wide range of strategies to bring down operational costs. That often means smaller teams handle more work, and owners don many hats and work with outsourced services. Entrepreneurs and busy business founders regularly hire freelancers and virtual assistants to manage tasks such as marketing, client service, and calendars. When it comes to serving customers, virtual assistants or VAs are often considered a cheaper alternative.
Thanks to the advent of AI, it is possible to pay less and offer the same level of support for your existing and potential customers. In this guide, we will discuss whether you should choose an AI receptionist from a top service like Signpost or consider VAs.
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Understanding virtual assistants
A virtual assistant is a real person who works remotely for a business, offering services like taking client calls and managing certain admin tasks. Your VA can schedule appointments, and offer support for products and services, much like someone working at the front desk of your office. The good news is VAs don’t go to the office, which means you save on add-on expenses. Most VAs usually charge for the number of hours they work.
Reviewing AI receptionist
An AI receptionist, on the other hand, leverages the power of artificial intelligence to take calls and respond to questions and requests. You just need to forward your business line to the AI receptionist, and it will do the initial round of work. Calls are automatically recorded and can be used for training and quality control. Such AI models rely on machine learning and natural language processing, and many advanced service providers also use additional tech, such as speech synthesis. Speech synthesis technology ensures your AI voice agent sounds as human as possible.
You know the difference. Now, what’s better?
More small businesses are now switching to AI receptionists for added advantages. Firstly, your AI voice agent doesn’t sleep or have fixed hours, which means your company will never miss a call. While there is an initial expense, AI tech is cheaper, and you don’t have to pay for salary or other benefits like real receptionists. Also, you should appreciate that AI receptionists are consistent, which means there are less likely to be errors. Depending on the service provider, you will have more features and can train the AI receptionist to respond better through the knowledge base.
Can you get away with real receptionists?
Not really! While having an AI receptionist is great for managing a large volume of calls and ensuring availability, there will be situations when someone may need more help. Your virtual assistants and front desk executives will come in handy to offer that human touch and personalized service. In fact, in many industries, such as healthcare and hospitality, this is now the standard norm. AI receptionists handle the first set of questions or requests, and when required, the call is forwarded to a real agent. The arrangement brings down operational costs without compromising the services offered.
How do you start with an AI receptionist?
Most service providers have simplified steps to get small businesses on board with their solutions. The first step is to usually create a knowledge base, where you can include standard responses, answers, and FAQs. This knowledge base can be updated anytime to improve how the AI receptionist responds. The whole setup should take more than a few minutes if you have resources ready, and your business can start taking calls through the AI voice agent immediately.
Before you select an AI receptionist, consider a few things, like the uptime and overall features, along with scalability options and pricing.
