AI and automation
AI receptionists, voice agents, and automation concepts explained in plain language for service business owners.
Glossary
11 terms
- What is AI spam filtering for phone calls? AI spam filtering for phone calls automatically identifies and blocks robocalls, telemarketers, and solicitors before they waste your time. Field service businesses with public phone numbers can receive 30-50% spam calls — AI filtering cuts through the noise so you only deal with real customers.
- What is AI-powered scheduling? AI-powered scheduling uses artificial intelligence to book, reschedule, and cancel appointments automatically. It checks your calendar, offers open time slots, confirms bookings, and sends reminders — eliminating the phone tag that wastes hours of your week.
- What is an AI receptionist? An AI receptionist is software that answers your business phone calls, has natural conversations with callers, collects their information, and can book appointments — all without a human picking up. It works 24/7, typically costs $50-300 per month, and handles routine calls so you can focus on the work.
- What is an AI voice agent? An AI voice agent is software that can have real phone conversations with people using a natural-sounding voice. Unlike old phone trees or robocalls, it listens, understands, and responds in real time — more like talking to a person than navigating a menu.
- What is automation for small business? Automation for small business means using software to handle repetitive tasks without you doing them manually. For field service companies, that includes appointment reminders, invoice sending, review requests, lead follow-up, and call answering — saving hours every week on work that does not require your expertise.
- What is conversational AI? Conversational AI is technology that lets software understand human language and respond in a natural, back-and-forth conversation. It powers AI receptionists, chatbots, and voice assistants — understanding what people mean, not just the specific words they say.
- What is natural language processing (NLP)? Natural language processing (NLP) is the technology that lets computers understand human speech and text. It is what allows an AI receptionist to hear 'I need someone to come look at my trees' and understand that means 'tree service inquiry.'
- What is sentiment analysis? Sentiment analysis is AI that detects the emotional tone behind what someone says — whether a caller is happy, frustrated, angry, or panicked. For field service businesses, it is a triage tool that helps flag urgent calls and angry customers for immediate human follow-up.
- What is speech-to-text (STT)? Speech-to-text (STT) converts spoken words into written text. Also called speech recognition or voice-to-text, it is the technology that powers call transcriptions, voice search, and AI phone systems — turning what your callers say into text a computer can understand and act on.
- What is text-to-speech (TTS)? Text-to-speech (TTS) is technology that converts written text into spoken words. Modern TTS voices sound remarkably natural — not like the robotic voices from a decade ago — and are what AI receptionists use to speak to your callers in real time.
- What is the difference between a chatbot and a voice agent? A chatbot handles text-based conversations on websites and messaging apps. A voice agent handles actual phone calls using a spoken voice. For field service businesses, the difference matters because most customers still prefer calling over typing — especially when they have an urgent problem.