Aircall Launches Its Next AI Phase to Empower SMBs to Innovate, Grow Efficiently, and Delight Customers

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• 77% of SMBs say phone calls are important to their team’s work—but 63% say they struggle to create and nurture meaningful customer relationships

• Aircall’s AI vision is to build easy-to-use AI solutions that empower SMBs to nurture relationships, drive performance, and fuel growth 

• The Aircall AI Package includes the ability to automatically generate call summaries, identify key topics, and track talk-to-listen ratios

[October, 5th 2023]—Aircall, the phone and communication platform, today unveils enhanced AI capabilities to coincide with the next stage of its AI journey alongside its vision for AI. This follows the launch of its AI-supported transcription feature, which has already enabled customer-facing teams to transcribe more than 65 million calls.

INEFFICIENCIES STANDING IN THE WAY OF INSIGHTS FOR SMBs

In the current economic climate, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMBs) are struggling to grow efficiently in a way that guarantees business success for the long term. One way business leaders are navigating this is through technology and, namely, artificial intelligence (AI). Yet for SMBs, AI has often been seen as reserved for the bigger cash-rich enterprises. Aircall recognizes that SMBs cannot afford to miss out on this game-changing technology, especially when they comprise 90% of businesses around the globe. Democratizing business access to this technology—particularly AI-supported voice features, where Aircall excels—will enable SMBs to provide their customers with more meaningful and personalized customer experiences capable of enabling them to compete in a competitive marketplace.

This is corroborated by Aircall’s AI Index, which analyzes the behavior and attitudes of 3,500 employees across SMBs in Australia, Canada, France, Germany, the UK, and the U.S. According to the data, 77% of SMBs say phone calls are more important to their team’s work but that 63% struggle to find enough time to nurture meaningful customer relationships. 

A major factor is the 20.8 hours customer-facing teams are currently spending on busywork, admin, and training each week. This is exacerbated by SMBs spending too much time listening back on calls and voicemails (according to 41% of respondents) and a further 41% having inefficient processes in place to garner insights from calls. If SMBs are to unlock every conversation to drive business value, efficiencies need to be made. 

USING TECHNOLOGY TO TURN AI AMBITION INTO AI ACTION

The new Aircall AI Package will include a range of features that will empower SMBs to take their business to the next level. At the heart of these will be in-depth customer and performance insights capable of driving customer satisfaction, helping sales and customer support teams become more efficient, and supporting coaching and training opportunities. 

• Call summaries: With access to summaries of customer conversations, including key takeaways, teams can maintain oversight of their customers in one single location without having to listen back to every call or share data.

• Key topics: Key topics give teams easy access to the major subjects discussed during each conversation—helping them quickly compile playlists of conversations that mention everything from a new product to competitors to satisfaction.

• Talk-to-listen ratios: With a percentage breakdown of who talks the most on a call (the rep vs. the customer) team leaders can work out the right balance for each customer and quickly identify upskilling opportunities for their team. 

Olivier Pailhès, CEO at Aircall, says: “Aircall is revolutionizing the market in how small to medium-sized businesses handle real–time conversations. This sector of businesses accounts for 90% of companies that generate 50% of the PIB in the countries where we operate. Our research shows us that SMBs are under pressure, and the big casualties of this are meaningful conversations—it is our responsibility to change this and to make technologies such as AI accessible for better performance to everyone. It has been almost 10 years since I launched Aircall, and if there’s one thing that’s never left our focus, it’s the power of voice. We’re on a mission to make this a possibility for SMBs once more—despite the business challenges they face. Our roadmap for AI aims to accomplish this and, after seeing how transcription has unlocked sales and support performance since launch, I’m excited for this next phase.” 

These AI capabilities make Aircall a one-stop shop for customer insights, with new analytics dashboards that help teams reach their goals with data-driven decision-making. These insights will be pivotal to better onboarding, coaching, and training—with 77% of businesses saying that training and coaching teams are essential to get the most value from phone calls.

Elle Bladh, VP of engineering at Aircall says: “At Aircall, our focus is on the efficiency of our customers and we pride ourselves on gathering customer insights and making data-driven decisions to continually enhance our product to help businesses perform. For SMBs, factors like team productivity, minimizing missed sales opportunities, quicker and more meaningful customer interactions, and the personal touch are key to staying competitive and business survival. The Aircall AI Package represents the next phase of our journey and is how SMBs can make these essentials possible despite limited resources. Further, sales and customer support teams will find these tools easy to use and experience firsthand how they can positively transform their performance. I’m proud to say that Aircall’s DNA runs throughout the AI Package, emphasizing user experience, simplicity, and—above all else—performance.”

Published on October 5, 2023.