What is an AI answering service?
An AI answering service answers a business phone line with a voice agent instead of a human operator. The agent greets the caller in the business name, answers questions from the information the business gave it, books an appointment into a connected calendar, takes a message, or transfers the call to a person when the caller asks for one. It runs at any hour and, depending on the plan, can take more than one call at a time.
How is it different from a traditional answering service?
A traditional answering service staffs people in a call centre and bills by the minute or by the call. An AI answering service bills for software, so its price is set by the plan and the minutes used, not by staffing. What you give up is a person on the line: the agent only knows what you wrote into its instructions and knowledge base. The answering service cost guide puts the two side by side with current prices.
What to check before choosing one
Whether it books into your calendar during the call or only texts a link. What is metered: minutes, calls or unique callers. The published rate past the included allowance. Whether it transfers to a person on request. Whether you keep your existing number. The best answering service for small business page compares seven services on these points.