How to Use AI to Answer Business Calls and Texts
AI can act as a "front desk" for your small business, answering phone calls and text messages when you are busy working. It works by connecting to your phone number and using a friendly voice to answer questions about your services, pricing, and availability. This means you never miss a new customer just because your hands were full. It’s like having a receptionist who never takes a day off and knows exactly how you want your business to run.
Step 1: List Your Common Questions
The first step is to think about the questions people ask you every single day. Do they ask about your hours, your service area, or how much a basic visit costs?
Take a piece of paper and write down the five most frequent questions you get. For a landscaper, this might be "Do you do leaf removal?" or "Are you available on Tuesdays?". This list will become the "brain" for your AI assistant so it knows exactly what to say to your customers.
Step 2: Set Your Business Rules
You need to tell the AI what it is allowed to do and when it should stop and ask you for help. This is just like training a new employee on their first day.
Decide if the AI should be allowed to book appointments on your calendar or if it should just take a message. You can also tell it which jobs you don't take—for example, if you're a plumber who doesn't do emergency midnight calls, you can make that a rule. This keeps you in total control of your schedule.
Step 3: Connect Your Phone to a Helper Tool
Now you’ll use a service like SSS.AI or a similar "AI receptionist" tool to link your business number to the AI helper.
Open the tool's website on your computer and follow their prompts to "Link your phone." You don't need to be a tech expert; usually, it just involves clicking a few buttons to give the system permission to answer when you can't. Once it’s connected, the AI will listen to your voicemails or answer live calls using the rules you wrote in Step 2.
Step 4: Test the System Yourself
Before you let the AI talk to real customers, give your business number a call from a different phone to see how it behaves.
Ask it a few of the questions from your list in Step 1. Listen to the voice and the tone—does it sound professional and helpful?. If it says something you don't like, you can go back into the settings and change the rules. This ensures that every customer gets a great first impression of your business, even while you're out in the field.