AI CallerWhat changes
From routing to resolving
| Traditional IVR | AI Caller | |
|---|---|---|
| How the caller navigates | Presses numbers | Says what they need |
| An unusual request | Dead end | Understood or escalated cleanly |
| Can complete a booking | No | Yes |
| Knows your prices | No | Yes |
| What you learn afterwards | Which key they pressed | What they actually wanted |
| Changing it | Re-record the whole tree | Edit a setting |
Migrating
You do not have to do it all at once
Start with the overflow
Point only unanswered calls at it, so nothing changes for callers who already get through.
Add out of hours
The safest volume to automate, because the alternative is currently voicemail.
Take the top two intents
Usually bookings and opening hours, which are most of the tree anyway.
Retire the menu
Once the agent handles the same calls better, the tree has nothing left to do.
Questions
Worth asking before you buy
Do I change my number?
No. Forward your existing line or connect over SIP and the number your customers know keeps working.
What about callers who want a human?
It hands them over on request. Fighting a caller who wants a person is exactly the behaviour people hate about phone menus.
Can I keep some routing?
Yes. It still transfers to specific people or departments, it just works out where to send them from what the caller said.
Can I run both during the transition?
Yes, and most people do. Start with overflow and out of hours, then expand once you trust what you are hearing.
What about callers who press zero out of habit?
It treats that as a request for a person and transfers, because arguing with that instinct is what made menus unpopular.
Hear the alternative to press one
Ring the agent and ask for something a menu could never handle.