The High Value of an AI Receptionist Relative to its Low Cost
by Jared, Co-founder
ROI of an AI Receptionist
Businesses, from solo operators to big corporations, must effectively handle queries from past and potential customers to operate and grow. This essential role of managing incoming calls has a direct impact on customer satisfaction and the bottom line. Small and medium businesses (SMBs) in particular can secure a high investment return (ROI) by using artificial intelligence (AI) to manage incoming calls. Automata Partners can help significantly lower operating costs and increase revenue by providing an AI receptionist to manage incoming calls and book appointments.
The Challenges of Traditional Call Answering
Businesses have traditionally covered the crucial function of answering calls through Front Desk receptionists or contracts with Call Centers. However, either approach comes with a high cost and can result in inconsistent service quality. Furthermore, no single human being can answer all calls 24/7, and every missed call risks making a customer unhappy or missing a valuable sales lead. As technology has evolved and caller patience has declined, callers today are more likely to hang up than to leave a message on voicemail or other recording devices.
The AI Receptionist: A Strategic Solution
AI receptionists offer a lower-cost alternative that brings enormous value to businesses of all sizes and in every industry. An AI receptionist is essentially a low-cost, high-value employee who:
- Does not require the complex hiring process, and costs only fraction of a Front Desk receptionist or Call Center
- Is available 24/7/365 and always friendly and professional
- Uses natural language processing to understand and interact with your callers
- Can be trained on your specific business operations through customized Q&As and Knowledge Base
- Connects with your business platforms to convert calls into bookings
- Scales instantly as your business grows
In other words, an AI receptionist ensures no missed calls and frees up your human staff to focus on the highest-value work and customer service.
The Pros and Cons of the Call Answering Options
As competition increases across every industry, businesses must consider the pros and cons of the options available for managing incoming calls. As the table below indicates, adopting an AI receptionist is a strategic move that provides an immediate return on investment.
No Answering Service | Voicemail and Answering Machines | Front Desks and Call Centers | AI Receptionists from Automata Partners | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ROI | ● Low expense and high opportunity cost | ● Low expense and low ROI | ● High expense and low ROI | ● Low expense and high ROI |
| Cost | ● Burnout from missed calls, constant interruptions, valuable work time | ● Varies based on provider plan, but requires time to return the call and lead may be lost | ● Salary of $30,000-$50,000 per year, plus benefits, paid leave, and overtime | ● Less than $20 per month, depending on the optimal plan |
| Availability | ● Limited based on human bandwidth | ● 24/7 but callers often hang up instead of leaving a message | ● Only answers calls during business hours or depends on costly "after hours" or "on duty" personnel | ● 24 hours, 7 days of a week, 365 days of the year, including weekends and holidays |
| Response time | ● Variable. Depends entirely on availability and risks missing calls or key details | ● Slow. Machine only makes an audio recording of the call | ● Variable. Risks long hold times at Call Centers, Front Desks only operate during business hours | ● Fast. Automatically answers all incoming calls regardless of the timing or volume |
| Action taken | ● Variable. Person receiving the call must take notes and try to book the appointment while juggling other tasks | ● None. A human must listen to the recording write down its contents, and then respond or take other actions | ● Variable. Most have calendar access and can schedule appointments, but a human cannot answer multiple calls simultaneously | ● Transforms calls into bookings by providing a summary, recording, and transcript of the call, scheduling appointments, and sending a notification |
| Dynamic interaction | ● Fully personalized interaction with caller, but only when able to answer and risks interrupting service underway with another customer | ● None, limited to recorded greeting with no interaction with caller | ● Variable, value of interaction depends on (inconsistent) training of the receptionist, and the human's mood at the moment | ● Fully customized to interact with callers, always friendly, and able to respond to queries based on Q&A training and business Knowledge Base |
| Spam management | ● None, resulting in distractions and wasted time | ● None, does not block spam | ● None, resulting in wasted time and expenses on spam | ● Blocks spam calls at no extra cost |
Conclusion: The Enormous ROI
Despite common myths and misperceptions that AI is too expensive and complex, more and more SMBs are adopting AI and other technologies because of the immediate cost savings and increased efficiencies. An AI receptionist from Automata Partners is a low-cost, high-value solution that provides a high ROI for SMBs.
At Automata Partners, we are committed to help SMBs benefit from such smart automation. This includes helping you onboard an AI receptionist to augment your human staff and increase customer satisfaction. The ROI is enormous: a low-cost AI receptionist can help you never miss a call, work round the clock, reduce employee burnout, and deliver consistent results for your business.