When a general receptionist fits
Not every business fits an industry template. An accounting practice, a print shop, a consultancy, a cleaning company and a local manufacturer all get similar calls: what are your hours, where are you, do you offer this service, can I speak to someone in accounts, can someone call me back about a quote. The general receptionist is built for exactly those calls. If RingMind has an assistant for your industry, such as plumbing or dental, that one includes rules specific to your trade.
What it does
- Answers common questions about hours, location, services and policies from your business details and Knowledge Base. If the answer isn't there, it says so and offers to take a message rather than guessing.
- Takes messages for the right person or department. List the departments or people callers ask for, such as Sales, Accounts or Support. When someone asks for Accounts about an invoice, it takes their name, number and reason for that department.
- Transfers calls when you set it up. Add up to five people to the transfer list and turn on transfers, and the assistant can put callers through once a RingMind number is connected. Without that, it takes a message. It never claims to be transferring someone when it can't.
- Takes meeting requests, and books them if you connect a calendar such as Google Calendar.
- Answers on more than the phone. Turn on SMS, WhatsApp and the website chat widget, and the same assistant answers there too, with everything in one inbox.
The rules every RingMind assistant follows
- It says it's an AI assistant if someone asks.
- It never invents prices, availability or policies.
- It never asks for or accepts card numbers, bank details, passwords or government ID numbers.
- It tells anyone describing a life-threatening emergency to hang up and call 911.
- Sensitive actions through integrations, such as deleting records or anything involving payments, wait for an owner or admin to approve them.
Setting it up
- Choose the general business receptionist in the Brain Marketplace.
- Enter your business name, hours, services and the departments or people callers ask for.
- Add your most common questions to the Knowledge Base, or import a page from your website and approve the sections you want it to use.
- Publish, run the automatic tests and try it in the chat playground.
- Get a RingMind number and connect it. The getting started guide covers each step.
What you see afterwards
Every call is saved with a transcript. Messages appear in Calls & Messages with urgency, can become tasks, and urgent ones are emailed. Contacts are created from calls and messages so you can see each customer's history in one place.
Tools it can connect
Capture leads in HubSpot, look up invoices in QuickBooks Online, notify the team in Microsoft Teams, or trigger an n8n workflow. All integrations are in Beta. Plans are on the pricing page.