October 22, 2024

10 Benefits of Using an AI Phone Answering System

Did you know that 62% of phone calls to small businesses don’t get answered? Of those, 37.8% end up being forwarded to voicemail (and people hate leaving voicemails), while 24.3% simply don’t get a response.

Not great, huh?

So it’s no surprise that more small businesses are waking up to the potential of AI answering services.

What is an AI answering service?

An AI answering service is exactly what it sounds like: a phone service that uses artificial intelligence to answer calls and assist potential customers.

It uses voice recognition technology to understand the caller’s intent, field their questions, and handle actions such as:

  • Capturing leads

  • Taking messages

  • Booking appointments

And if the AI system can’t meet the caller’s needs, it’ll escalate their query to a human operator.

AI answering services vs interactive voice response systems

AI answering services aren’t the only type of automated phone-answering system. Another option is interactive voice response (IVR) — but, as we’ll explain, they’re very different tools.

IVR uses pre-recorded questions and prompts to guide callers toward the information they’re trying to access. Often, it simply acts as the first touch on a call by funneling people toward a human agent who can actually deal with their query.

While some IVR systems have (limited) voice recognition capabilities, they can’t adapt to conversations in real-time. And if a caller says something that isn’t on the system’s list of recognized words, the system won’t understand.

By contrast, AI phone answering systems are far more adaptable because they’re built on language models that constantly learn from caller interactions — helping them provide better answers over time.

This typically results in more accurate responses, shorter call times, and an improved caller experience.

Why use an AI phone answering system?

Okay, so we know what AI phone systems do. Now let’s consider why they might be a good fit for your business:

1. Handle calls 24/7/365 

Think of all those calls you’ve missed down the years. How much business have you lost because you weren’t available to pick up the phone?

AI phone answering systems like Rosie fix that problem by ensuring every call gets answered, at any time of day or night, 365 days a year.

Which means you never have to worry about losing a potential customer or angering an existing client simply because you were busy doing something else.

2. Get notified whenever a call comes in

It’s reassuring to know that your AI answering machine is on hand to field calls when you’re out and about. But often you’ll want to follow up yourself as soon as possible — especially with potential customers looking to book your services.

So you’ll be relieved to know that Rosie notifies you immediately via email and/or text any time a new call comes in.

3. Cheaper than human answering services

Of course, AI-powered systems aren’t the only way to handle incoming calls. Another option is to use a human answering service — essentially outsourcing customer support to a third-party business.

Trouble is, these services are expensive, typically costing $2+ per minute to answer calls.

AI systems are far cheaper. For example, Rosie starts at just $49 per month for up to 250 minutes of call time

Or you can upgrade to a Custom plan with unlimited minutes. Whatever your call-handling needs, we have a plan to suit — check out our pricing page to learn more.

4. Answer multiple calls simultaneously

Not only are human answering services expensive, but they can still result in missed calls and lost business.

For instance, if an agent is tied up speaking to a customer, they won’t be available if another call comes in.

This isn’t a problem with AI call answering, which can answer every single call you receive — even handling multiple calls at the same time.

5. Capture key customer data

There are some essential details you want to capture every time a customer dials your number, like their name, location, and the service(s) they’re interested in.

Your AI phone answering system can gather all that information for you.

Rosie automatically records the caller’s name and phone number. But if you’d like to know more about your callers, you can instruct Rosie to request any information you want.

6. Win more business (without increasing headcount)

Traditionally, the only way to answer more calls and win more business was to hire more staff.

But Rosie can book appointments, answer customer questions, and send confirmation texts without requiring any human involvement. 

It’s a simple and effective way to make your business more efficient, allowing you to do more with less.

7. Offer customized support

We’ve already explained how AI call answering services are trained on caller data to help them handle customer calls more effectively. But Rosie goes beyond that by learning from a wide range of data sources, including your:

  • Website

  • Yelp listing

  • Help documents

All of which means you can train Rosie based on the unique needs of your business and customers.

8. Easy no-code setup

Don’t worry if you’re not a natural coder, because (most) AI phone systems are super simple to set up.

For example, Rosie’s intuitive interface makes it quick and easy to:

  • Set your AI agent’s name and tone (choose from casual, cheerful, or formal)

  • Input business-specific information (like your business name, opening hours, and services)

  • Connect Rosie to other tools — like your CRM — using our Zapier integration

We’ll walk through the whole setup process in more detail later in the article.

9. Get real-time call insights

Using an AI phone answering system doesn’t mean you never have to think about customer calls again.

More likely, you’ll want to check in regularly to see how your service is performing.

Again, Rosie makes this easy by letting you listen back to call recordings. If you identify a common stumbling block for customers — like a question that your AI agent struggles to answer or a piece of information you’re not capturing — you can make the necessary changes in the back end.

10. Maximize ROI on ads

Picture the scene:

You’ve spent a bunch of money on an ad campaign. And it works; more potential customers are getting in touch than ever before. But you’re not around to take all their calls. Or perhaps your human answering service isn’t up to the task.

Sadly, this is an all-too-common experience for local businesses.

That’s why it’s well worth switching to an AI system like Rosie, which can improve your return on investment from ad campaigns by handling calls more effectively and capturing more leads.

Real-world use cases for AI call answering services

Let’s take a look at some practical applications for AI answering services:

How to set up AI phone answering: 6 easy steps 🚀

Ready to road test your own AI phone system? Here’s how to get started with Rosie:

1. Start your free trial

Start your seven-day free trial by navigating to our Get Started page and entering your website URL:

Wait about 30 seconds for Rosie to analyze your website content to understand your business and the services you provide. When we’re done, listen to a few samples of how your AI agent could sound.

Happy with the results? Click Claim My Agent, then follow the simple onboarding steps.

2. Add business-specific information

How often do customers ask you about your business hours or the services you provide?

Well, chances are they’ll ask your AI agent the same questions. So you’ll want to share details about your business with Rosie — like your opening times, location(s), and services. Here’s how to do it:

  • Log in to your Rosie account.

  • Click Settings in the left-hand menu.

  • Under the Business sub-menu, click Details.

  • Under Business details, add your business name and addresses.

  • Next, click Business hours to set your timezone and add your opening hours.

  • Click Services in the Business menu.

  • Under Services, check the services you currently offer and/or list extra services by clicking Add.

  • When you’re done, click Publish in the lower-right corner to share all the new information with your AI agent.

3. Choose lead capture information

Different businesses use Rosie in different ways, so it’s time to start customizing your AI agent.

The first step is to choose which customer information you want your agent to capture. Here’s how to do it:

  • Log in to your Rosie account.

  • Click Settings in the left-hand menu.

  • Under the Agent menu, click Capabilities.

  • Click Add under My agent can… to enter your own questions. For example, here are a couple extra details that a pest control business might want to capture:

  • Click Publish.

4. Add training resources and FAQs

The more you tell Rosie about your business, the better your agent will be able to handle customer calls.

So help us out by adding training assets to Rosie and answering frequently asked questions (FAQs). Here’s how:

  • Log in to your Rosie account.

  • Click Settings in the left-hand menu.

  • Click Training in the Agent menu.

  • Under Training files, click Add to automatically upload files to your AI agent’s training database.

  • Under Frequently Asked Questions, click Add to enter your own questions and answers — so you can feel confident your AI agent will give consistent, accurate responses to common queries. Here are some of the questions from the account of our imaginary pest control business:

  • Click Publish to save your changes.

If you want to edit or remove those FAQs down the line, just tap the pen or trash can icons.

5. Set up call notifications

You want to know every time your AI agent handles a call, right?

To make it happen, you need to set up notifications. Here’s how:

  • Log in to your Rosie account.

  • Click Account in the left-hand menu.

  • Under Contact information, add your email address and an alternative phone number (i.e. not the one connected to your Rosie account), then use the toggles to switch on call notifications.

6. Set up call forwarding

Last but not least, you need to set your business phone number to forward calls to Rosie. The process varies based on your phone service, network, and/or device type, but you can find full instructions here: Launching Rosie for your business.

And that’s it — you’re ready to roll.

👉 Start your seven-day free trial today!

FAQs

Can I use AI to answer phone calls?

Yes! AI answering services like Rosie can handle inbound calls for you and have human-like conversations with customers. Best of all, Rosie learns from your business data — such as your website and FAQ resources — to provide the best possible support to your customers.

How much does AI call answering cost?

AI call answering is super affordable with Rosie. Our plans start at just $49 per month for up to 250 minutes of call-handling time. 

👉 Check out our pricing page for more information.

What is the best AI phone service?

Sure, we’re biased, but we’re confident that Rosie is the best AI answering service. Here are some of our top features:

  • Answer multiple calls simultaneously to ensure you never miss a potential lead.

  • Get instant notifications via email and/or text when your AI agent receives a call.

  • Personalize your AI phone service by adding business hours, services, FAQ content, and more.

  • Integrate with your CRM and other tools through Zapier (or leverage native integrations through our Custom plan).

Rosie always answers.

7-day free trial, no credit card required

Rosie always answers.

7-day free trial, no credit card required

Rosie always answers.

7-day free trial, no credit card required