The rise of AI in every facet of business continues with a new AI-powered receptionist. RingCentral’s AIR helps SMBs maintain good communications for a positive customer experience. It helps eliminate missed calls, and can boost business outcomes and ensure scheduling remains on track.
The RingCentral AI Receptionist (AIR) phone agent uses generative AI to automatically answer customer questions. It can transfer callers to the right person, replacing some reception work.
With a choice of voices, RingCentral AIR is embedded RingCentral’s business phone system. It is not an extra add-on that some contact centres or other vendors charge for. AIR offers easy deployment to busy teams that still have the consideration to provide a phone contact point. But they often lack the resources to manage them efficiently.
The AIR backend uses AI to inspect your business website and documents. It identifies answers to common questions, and can route calls to the right department or number. And AIR provides analytics to help identify trends, and transcripts to deal with problems.
The business world still needs receptionists
“The launch of RingCentral AI Receptionist marks our foray into agentic AI with a new category in AI-powered business call handling. RingCentral AIR is designed to work out of the box, enabling any business to automate customer interactions,” said Kira Makagon, president & chief operating officer of RingCentral. “Voice remains a preferred way in which customers communicate, and AI-powered call automation—integrated directly into the phone system—will redefine how companies of all sizes connect with their customers.”
RingCentral AIR’s expanded features include sending important details via SMS, and it can scale across multiple offices or departments, vastly simplifying call transfers. It is currently available in English, with a Spanish version to roll out soon.
Air is the latest feature on RingCental’s expanding list of valuable tools, like the recently-added events platform. The AIR feature can leave your actual receptionists able to focus on high-value contacts and work. Or, if the task is shared around a startup’s office, it will free up valuable amounts of time.
The power of good reception for businesses
Early examples of success for RingCentral AIR include a security company that immediately resolved over 50% of its inbound calls. Other examples saw a repair service capture 60% more leads through quick response and routing. And, a healthcare provider that improved patient care and experience by eliminating call wait times from 12 seconds to 0 seconds.
RingCentral AI Receptionist is currently available to select U.S. businesses during its early release, with a one-month, 100-minute free trial. A broader rollout is planned for Q2 2025.