AI phone agent or call centre for your customer service
Read how an AI phone agent and an outsourced call centre can work together. We explain how you combine technology and humans in your customer service.
An AI phone agent and an outsourced call centre can be used together. The agent learns how the employees at the call centre solve the cases and can gradually resolve more of them itself. Real Talk provides AI customer service where an AI phone agent receives incoming calls for medium and large companies and resolves tasks once it is connected to your business systems.
The outsourced call centre
An outsourced customer service means another company answers the phone in your name.
An external call centre is a good fit when cases require human judgement. It also applies to sales calls, sensitive conversations or when you want a human to answer every time.
How long are the calls with the agent?
At Real Talk's customers, a call with the agent takes around one minute. Compare it with the average handling time in your call centre for the same kind of case.
Training over time
Staff at an external customer service are sometimes replaced. New employees then need to be trained. This means answers can vary between people and over time.
Ask the provider how they handle the training of new employees. You can also ask how they ensure the customer gets the same answer regardless of who takes the call.
How the agent answers
An AI phone agent answers the same way every time based on the same knowledge base. It takes many calls at once with no queue.
The agent goes straight to the point. This often keeps conversations short.
Knowledge about your specific business
The AI phone agent relies on your own material. You add information from your website, your instructions and your knowledge base. The agent is designed to understand what the caller wants.
When you update your knowledge base, it takes effect immediately.
Resolving the issue during the call
The agent resolves the issue during the call instead of turning it into a message. It can send a text message with a link to book an appointment.
It also transfers the call based on your own rules. The agent can also hand the case over to the right person or department.
The agent as the first line
The AI phone agent works well as a first line. It handles routine answers and transfers the rest to the call centre with a summary. The caller avoids repeating themselves.
You can have two setups in your switchboard. In the first, the agent answers first for all calls. In the second, an employee answers first. The agent then takes over when no one answers, when you close for the day or as overflow when staff are busy. In both setups, the call centre remains behind for those who want to speak with a human.
The connection is simple. You keep your current switchboard and your call centre. You add a Swedish phone number for the agent to your switchboard. The agent transfers the call to the call centre when the conversation requires a human.
Learning from human interactions
When the agent is the first line, the calls it transfers are also recorded. These calls are transcribed and reviewed using call analytics. This lets you see the entire conversation. You see how the call centre employees resolve the cases the agent hands over.
These insights feed the knowledge base. This helps the AI phone agent learn from your staff.
Over time, it can resolve more cases itself.
Insight into every call
Every call is transcribed and summarised. In the dashboard you see both resolved and transferred calls.
In the call log you read what was said at your own pace.
Costs follow the volume
You pay a monthly fixed price and thereafter a price per minute. Forwarded calls have a lower cost than incoming ones.
The same applies to extra coverage during peaks. You pay for the minutes used.
Advice on getting started and questions to ask
Begin with a limited scope first. Leave the call centre to handle the rest of the conversations.
This lets you expand when comfortable at your own pace. Feel free to ask these questions to the call centre and to the provider of the AI phone agent.
- How do new staff at the call centre learn our business?
- How does the agent transfer calls to the call centre, and what does the employee receive?
- Are the transferred calls recorded and analysed, so that the agent can take more cases over time?
- How does the agent's vendor charge for calls that are transferred?
- Can the agent act as the first line in our current switchboard?
Frequently asked questions
Do we have to choose between an AI phone agent and a call centre?
No, you do not need to choose. The AI phone agent takes the routine questions while the call centre handles conversations that require human judgement.
Can the agent answer when the call centre is closed?
Yes, the AI phone agent takes calls around the clock. It gathers details from the caller. The case is then ready when your staff are back in place.
What happens when the agent transfers the call?
The AI phone agent sends a summary of the issue along. This means the caller avoids telling their story from scratch. The employee can pick up where the agent left off.
Do we need to change our switchboard to use the service?
You keep your current switchboard. You add a Swedish phone number for the agent to your switchboard. It requires no major IT decision.
This guide is written by Real Talk, the Nordic AI phone agent.