RingCentral Launches AI-Powered Phone Agent to Automate Business Calls

RingCentral has unveiled a new artificial intelligence agent that businesses can embed into their phone systems to automate manual tasks.

This solution is named RingCentral AI Receptionist, or AIR for short.

RingCentral, a major communication software provider listed on the New York Stock Exchange with over 400,000 customers, offers tools for video conferencing, contact center operations, virtual events, and more. The company also integrates AI capabilities for automating tasks like note-taking during meetings.

The new AIR agent is integrated with RingCentral's flagship business communication platform, RingEX, which employees use for calls, video meetings, and faxing. AIR enhances existing RingEX features, such as the AI Assistant, which automates tasks like creating meeting transcripts.

According to RingCentral, setting up AIR takes only a few minutes and requires no technical expertise. Companies with multiple offices or stores can deploy it across various locations. Once callers state their needs, the software automatically routes each request to the appropriate department.

The tool can handle some inquiries independently. RingCentral states that the underlying AI model draws data from the company's website, business documents, and other sources, such as product details, to automatically answer customer questions.

RingCentral also highlights that the AI can be used for several related tasks. Restaurant chains can provide operating hours information, while healthcare providers can configure AIR to schedule appointments. The software can also send confirmation texts with details such as order processing locations.

While performing automated tasks, AIR collects data about customer calls. It generates records and tracks call volume trends over time, allowing companies to analyze the data to identify areas for improving customer service workflows.

"RingCentral AIR is designed to be ready-to-use, enabling any business, from local service providers to fast-growing enterprises, to automate customer interactions," said Kira Makagon, RingCentral's Chief Innovation and Marketing Officer.

AIR's launch today follows months of early user testing. According to RingCentral, one customer used AIR to handle over 50% of inbound calls. Another early adopter, a healthcare provider, reduced its average call answering time from 12 seconds to zero.

Initially, AIR will be available to select customers in the U.S., with broader availability planned for the second quarter. Currently supporting English, the tool is expected to add Spanish language support by the end of March, with plans to include more languages in the future.