What is a virtual receptionist?

The fuller answer

A human virtual receptionist works from a script and the business's notes. An AI one answers from the business's data at any hour.

See What is an AI receptionist?.

What is a cloud or online virtual receptionist?

A cloud virtual receptionist, also called an online virtual receptionist, answers a business's calls and messages from software and people that run online, with no front desk, phone system or hardware on your site. Customers reach it on your existing number or channels, and you manage it from a dashboard. It can be a remote person, an AI receptionist, or a mix of both.

What an enterprise virtual receptionist needs

One receptionist for many sites only works if it knows which site the customer means. For an enterprise or multi-location business, look for these four things.

• Routing per location. Each call or message goes to the right branch or property by number, channel, region or topic.
• Shared knowledge, per site. One setup, but each location keeps its own hours, availability, prices and policies, so the answer for one site is never the answer for another.
• Handover rules. You decide what runs on its own and what goes to a person, per location, and the person gets the whole conversation.
• Reporting by location. Every call, lead and booking is logged against its location, so head office sees all of them in one inbox and compares sites.

For the full rollout, read the guide to an AI receptionist for multi-location businesses.

Cloud virtual receptionist vs a live remote receptionist

The two work together: the cloud receptionist covers routine requests at any hour, people take what needs judgment.

See what is an AI receptionist, or Desk by Locus Intelligence for a cloud AI receptionist built for businesses with locations.

Desk by Locus Intelligence

Desk answers calls, WhatsApp, website chat and forms in seconds from each location's own information, books, and follows up.

See how it works

Related questions