By Andrew Houser · Published
Three levels, and you choose
Businesses don't all want the same thing, and they shouldn't. It helps to think in levels.
- Capture: answers, takes name, number, town and need, and hands the lead to a person.
- Converse: has a real back-and-forth, asks the follow-up questions, and passes along a complete lead.
- Estimate and book: gives a ballpark from your own price guide and books a visit into slots you open.
Guardrails that matter
The more it does, the more the rules matter. These are the ones we'd insist on.
- Say it's automated, at the start of every conversation.
- Make it easy to reach a person, and honor the request every time.
- Only state ranges and policies the business has approved, never guesses.
- Treat any estimate as a ballpark, with the final price confirmed by your people.
- Book only into slots the business has opened.
- Test it against realistic and difficult scenarios before it talks to real customers.
What not to automate
Emergencies and sensitive situations should go to a person. We stay away from emergency dispatch, healthcare, and legal work, where a wrong answer costs too much.
Outbound automated calls and texts are a separate matter. The FCC has ruled that AI-generated voices count as artificial voices under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act, so outbound use needs its own review and permission.
Privacy and data
Inquiries contain personal details. Collect only what you need, keep access limited, and agree on how long conversations are retained. Customer information shouldn't be used to train shared models without a clear agreement.
How to decide where to start
Look at your own numbers. How many inquiries do you miss? How many estimates go quiet? What is a completed job worth to you? Start at the lowest level that fixes the biggest gap, then add capability once it's working and trusted.