What an AI phone assistant can and cannot do

What it does well today

• Answering calls outside office hours or when the line is busy.
• Answering standard questions, for example about opening hours, directions or the status of an order.
• Offering and booking appointments from approved time slots.
• Capturing the request, contact details and callback wish, and passing them to the team as a clean note.
• Holding conversations in German and English.

Where it reaches its limits

• Special cases and sensitive conversations: complaints, goodwill requests or unusual concerns belong with a person. A good assistant recognises this and hands over.
• Swiss German: many systems understand Standard German considerably better than Swiss German dialects. Test with real calls from your day-to-day business before going live.
• Knowledge: the assistant is only as good as the answers you approve for it. What has not been provided, it must not make up.
• Commitments: it should only mention prices, deadlines or exceptions if they have been explicitly approved.

What to watch for when introducing it

• Define in writing which questions the assistant may answer and which it may not.
• Agree the handover: transfer to a person or a callback with a note, and by when.
• Identify the assistant as AI, for example “You are speaking with the digital assistant of Example Ltd”. In the EU, the AI Act requires that callers can recognise this for such systems. We recommend it in Switzerland as well.
• Clarify data protection: where are calls processed, and how long are notes kept? In Switzerland, recording calls is generally only permitted with the consent of the other party.
• Start with a clearly defined use, for example only calls after business hours.

How to measure success

• Answered rather than missed calls.
• Share of calls the assistant resolves completely.
• Number and quality of callback notes.
• Time your team spends on the phone, before and after.
• Feedback from callers, for example in a short sample.