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The Missed Calls AI Voice Agent is available anytime when your sales agents are not, which includes after business hours and during the weekends. This AI agent will inquire about the customer’s needs, qualify the call, make an appointment, or record all other relevant information and send this information to your CRM system.
Why missed calls cost more than you think
Most callers don’t leave a voicemail. Phone calls are generally high-intent situations: the caller has an issue or a need that requires immediate attention, and the first company to answer will get the work.
1. There are no voicemail messages; callers dial another company
The voicemail requires additional effort from the caller, waiting for the beep and explaining everything to the best of their ability. Many won’t. Even those who do leave a message are often won by whoever answered first.
2. The three kinds of missed calls
- After-hours Calls: evening time, weekend, and holiday periods, when no one is working at the desk.
- Busy-line calls: your team is on other calls and new callers get a busy tone or a long queue. See our guide on call queue management.
- No-answer calls: the phone rings out because staff are in a meeting, with a customer, or away. For callbacks and alerts, read our guide on missed call management, or see our missed call solution.
For instance: A client finds your advertisement around 8:30 P.M. and contacts your company for quotation. Nobody answers. She calls a competitor, who picks up on the second ring. By morning, she has booked elsewhere. You paid for the ad click and got nothing.
How much are your missed calls costing you?
Every missed call is a customer who may never call back. Most callers who don’t get an answer simply move on to the next business, and the lost revenue adds up faster than you think.
Let us say you miss 20 calls in a week; 60% of these calls are valid leads, out of which you convert 40%, and each sale is worth ₹5,000. This means that every week, you are losing approximately ₹24,000, which comes to ₹12.5 lakhs per annum. On the other hand, think about what you are spending on attending every single call; with Bonvoice, it starts from as little as ₹3 per minute, and hence answering 100 calls in a week, which average 2 minutes each, will just be costing you ₹600.
What is AI voice agent for missed calls?
AI voice agent powered by AI is basically a software application that can answer incoming calls in any language, comprehend the caller’s query, and perform the right course of action like providing answers, making appointments, collecting leads or redirecting calls. For missed calls, it covers the moments your team can’t pick up. This is an advanced version of Interactive Voice Response system, which is used by most of the companies nowadays.
AI voice agent vs voicemail vs IVR vs a human answering service
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Voicemail
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IVR
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Human answering service
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AI voice agent
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Availability
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24/7
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24/7
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Fixed shifts, often extra cost after hours
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24/7
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Speed
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Caller waits for a callback
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Instant, but menu-based
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Depends on agent availability
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Instant answer
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What it can do
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Record a message
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Route by keypad menu
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Take messages, follow basic scripts
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Converse, qualify, book, send confirmations, hand off
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Language support
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Greeting language only
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Limited menu languages
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Depends on staff
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Multiple languages, including Hindi and Hinglish
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Cost
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Free
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Setup plus maintenance
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Per-call or per-minute staffing cost
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From ₹3 per minute with Bonvoice, AI conversations included
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How an AI voice agent for missed calls works, step by step
- The call comes after hours, or you have busy lines: There are two main reasons that calls are missed there is no one in the office or they are all on another call. Rather than being missed entirely or going to voicemail, the call is answered by the AI assistant.
- The assistant answers: Within seconds the person calling gets a response; no more waiting for an annoying ringtone. If they speak in their language (Hindi, English, or any other regional language), they would not hang off.
- It knows what their requirements are: The agent knows why they are calling, whether they are calling for booking, price details or even to make a complaint. Your team then knows which calls to handle first.
- It makes a booking: In case of booking requirement, the agent may arrange one. In case the matter requires discussion with the personnel directly, it records when they will be available. Both ways, the caller departs knowing exactly what comes next.
- The caller gets WhatsApp/SMS notification: This contains the details of booking/callback. It also gives the caller something to refer back to, and it uses the WhatsApp Business API, which most customers already use daily.
- The lead goes into your CRM with notes: The caller’s details and the conversation notes are saved in your CRM, and one team member is assigned. That prevents leads from being forgotten or followed up twice.
Urgent calls and human handoff
In case of urgency, an individual caller requesting to speak to a specific person could be switched to an individual number, department, or a team queue. The context comes along with the call; hence, the caller would not be required to repeat herself.
What the agent says when it doesn't know
It will respond using only your allowed contents such as your FAQ, pricing and booking policies, and services. It will only refer to another source of content in case the query is not found on your permitted material.
What the agent should ask every caller
A good agent keeps the conversation short. Cover these five points:
- Name
- What they need
- Location or branch
- Urgency
- Preferred time
Real estate example: “Thanks for calling. Do you mind telling me your name? Are you looking for something to buy or rent, and in which area? What is your budget and when will you like to visit the property?”
What the agent should ask every caller
GCM & Herbal Chakra
For a D2C brand like GCM & Herbal Chakra, a missed call often means a lost order, and calls kept arriving at night, on holidays and during the busiest hours, when it was hard for anyone to pick up. Bonvoice’s AI voice agent began answering every one of those calls politely, whatever the time of day. Orders rose as a result.
Byteeit
Each new inquiry at Byteeit required an immediate and well thought-out response. The sales team did not want to waste their valuable time on the wrong leads. The intelligent chatbot responded instantly, asked all the relevant questions and qualified the lead, before transferring it to the sales team without any repetition of the process. The result was more demos.
Alpine & NIPS
The same principle of speed shows up at Alpine and NIPS, where reaching candidates quickly with the first call led to 15% more candidates every month.
What the agent should ask every caller
Any business that gets calls when the team is busy or away can use an AI voice agent. Following are five common examples.
- Call Centres: “Namaste, thank you for contacting (mention the client name). Do you want to schedule an appointment?” The representative records the customer’s name, the purpose of the visit, the doctor’s name and timing.
- Real estate: “Hello, thank you for calling (mention the Builder Name). Are you looking to buy or rent?” It notes the budget, preferred location, property type and a good time for a site visit.
- Education admissions: “Welcome to (mention the Institute Name). Which course are you interested in?” It collects the student’s name, course, city and a callback time for the counsellor. Link
- Home services: “Hi, thanks for calling (mention the Company Name). What do you need help with today?” It records the type of service, the address, how urgent it is and a preferred visit time.
- D2C brands: “Hello, thank you for calling (mention the Brand Name). Are you calling about an order or a product?” It captures the product of interest or order query, the caller’s name and a callback preference, so no order is lost.
In every case, the caller gets a polite reply right away, and the details land in your CRM for your team to follow up.
How to set up an AI voice agent for missed calls in India
Getting started is simpler than most people expect. Here are the four things to sort out.
Decide which calls go to the agent
Decide what time of day you would like to use your IVR agent after hours, during peak time when your lines are busy, or even when nobody is answering. You can begin using any of the above and include the rest later.
Forward calls from your current number or use a Bonvoice virtual number
You can keep your existing number and call forwarding to the agent in the situations you choose, or use a Bonvoice virtual number.
What to prepare
Have a few basics ready, so the agent can answer well:
- Your business hours
- Answers to the questions callers ask most often
- Your booking rules, such as available slots and lead time
- The person or team who should receive escalations.
Test with real mobile calls before going live
Dial the phone from a number of cellphones, at different times and use both the common and uncommon questions. See if the greeting, response, booking process and confirmation are functioning as required and make any necessary changes.
Workflows can be rolled out within 48 hours depending on the integrations that you have like your CRM and WhatsApp.
Hindi and regional-language callers
Every caller does not want to converse in English. The voice agent greets callers in their native language and takes the complete conversation in that very language from the beginning till the end of the call, i.e., when the booking is confirmed.
Common concerns: trust, consent and accuracy
Common concerns: trust, consent and accuracy
Will callers disconnect after speaking to a bot?
Absolutely not if you’re straightforward about it. The agent informs the caller from the very beginning that he/she is an AI, and at any point, the caller can request a human. Honesty right off the bat will make the callers more comfortable.
What about call recording and consent?
In case there is any recording involved, the caller needs to be informed about this at the beginning of the phone call. The rules of recording and giving consent can vary in India, and we suggest consulting your legal team for more information
What if the agent gives a wrong answer?
The agent gives its response using information provided by you, i.e., FAQ, hours of operation, and rules regarding booking. In case the response cannot be determined correctly, the call gets transferred to your team so that a human can give the right response.
How much does an AI voice agent cost?
Bonvoice packages begin at ₹3 per minute for inbound and outgoing calls along with AI-powered conversations. The cost will be dependent on the number of minutes you consume, meaning that it will rise with increased call volumes. See current plans at bonvoice.com.
There are three components to your pricing:
- Call volume: higher volumes can change the rate.
- Integration: for instance, CRM or WhatsApp integration.
- Languages: language(s) used by the caller.
How to know it's working
A complex dashboard is not required here. Just follow these four figures on a month-to-month basis:
- Out-of-hour call answering ratio: the percentage of out-of-working hour calls that were answered.
- Leads generated: callers where their name, requirement, and contact information was recorded.
- Appointments booked: bookings made directly on the call.
- Follow-ups completed: leads your team actually called back.
Do this once a week, and listen to a brief sample of phone calls. Ensure that the greeting is natural, answers are appropriate, and that the right information is sent to your CRM. This can reveal a lot more than the figures will.
Frequently asked questions
Can a voice agent manage my incoming calls if I am not around to receive them?
Yes, because if the calls are coming in, and if there is any problem in receiving those calls or even if nobody is available to receive the calls, then these calls are immediately transferred to the voice agent.
Can it work with my existing number?
Yes. Your incoming calls may be forwarded to the agent when you are unavailable, using your current number, or through the Bonvoice virtual number option. In either case, the call will be made to a familiar number.
Will it recognise Hindi & English?
It has been designed keeping in mind the Indian callers and thus understands Hindi, Hinglish and many other languages. You should ask Bonvoice for the list of supported languages currently.
It able to sch edule an appointment for you?
Yes. According to your booking criteria and calendar, it will tell you the time slots available and confirm the appointment, and will also send a confirmation through WhatsApp or SMS to you.
In case of emergencies?
You define emergency rules. If the situation is urgent or the caller asks for it, the agent forwards the call to a particular number with all the relevant details without the need for him to repeat himself.
Is it better than an answering service?
Faster and more cost-effective than an answering service during afterhours and overflow situations. Complex or sensitive calls can still go to your team. You can also pair the agent with a Bonvoice AI receptionist for front-desk style calls.
When can we go live?
The standard process can become effective within 48 hours, subject to the number of integrations you need.
Does it replace my team?
No. It handles the calls your team can’t take and the repetitive first conversation. Your people focus on follow-ups, complex cases and closing.
Ready to stop losing calls?
Reach out to Bonvoice for an AI voice agent for missed calls and find out how all after-hours calls can turn into scheduled appointments. Check pricing or book a demo.
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Footnote:
Voice Agent – Wikipedia
