AI Answering Service vs Phone Answering Service (Comparison)

For decades, businesses have turned to phone answering services to ensure they never miss a call and provide a professional first impression. I’ve seen this industry evolve significantly over my decades in it. Now, a new player has entered the field: the AI answering service.

If you’re exploring options for handling your incoming calls, you’re likely weighing these two approaches. On the surface, they both aim to achieve the same goal—answering the phone when you can’t.

But the way they operate and the benefits they offer can be quite different. Over the past year, I’ve spent a considerable amount of time getting my hands dirty with various AI models. I've ran dozens of AI models through training to see their what their pros and cons are with handling calls. 

Now that I've spent enough time with both phone answering services and AI answering services, I can safely tell you what the differences are, so you can see what's right for your business.

Table of Contents

1. Advantages of Phone Answering Services
2. Advantages of an AI Answering Service
3. Differences Between AI Answering Services and Phone Answering Services
4. Why AI-Assisted Answering Services Are Perfect For You
5. Which Answering Service Model Is Best For You?

With that, let's look at why phone answering services remain the industry standard.

Advantages of Phone Answering Services

When most people think of a phone answering service, they picture a team of friendly, professional individuals answering calls on behalf of multiple businesses. And that’s essentially what a traditional phone answering service provides. But it's advantages go beyond just answering calls quickly. Here are some of the biggest pros for using a phone answering service:

1. Real People Answer Your Calls

These phone answering service agents are trained to follow your specific instructions, greet callers professionally using your company name, and handle calls according to your protocols.

A well-trained agent will know the basic tenants of an award-winning call, and will provide that level of service to your callers.

2. Personalized Interactions For Your Callers

Because it’s a live person, they can often handle unique situations, show empathy, and adapt to the caller’s tone and needs in a way that feels natural. I’ve seen countless instances where a skilled agent has turned an upset caller into a calm one, simply through their human touch.

3. Message Taking and Dispatch

Agents can take detailed messages, including names, numbers, and the reason for the call. These messages are then relayed to you via email, SMS, through a dedicated web portal, or countless other message delivery options!

4. Call Transferring

If needed, agents can transfer calls to specific individuals or departments within your company. We recommend checking with your phone answering service what they charge to patch calls through to your company!

5. Customized Scripts

While there’s a human element, traditional services still rely heavily on scripts to ensure consistent messaging and adherence to your procedures.

Bonus: Some Phone Answering Services Can Send Information From Your Calls Into the Software You Use!

Many traditional phone answering services don't, but those that prioritize using the latest technology to improve their services do! Through the latest integrations like Zapier, answering services can send information about your callers directly into the software you use.

Advantages of an AI Answering Service

An AI answering service, on the other hand, uses artificial intelligence to handle calls faster. 

If you're unfamiliar with AI answering services and how they work, check out our extensive guide on AI answering services here.

Now here are some advantages to using an AI answering service.

1. AI-Powered Systems Are Trained Extensively

AI algorithms are used to understand and respond to callers. These systems are trained on vast amounts of data to recognize speech, understand intent, and provide relevant information. More than that, they are continously trained with every call they handle. Essentially, the training never stops—like with a human-agent answering service.

2. AI Can Answer More Than Just Frequently Asked Questions

One of the drawbacks of a phone answering service is that it can't handle overly complex inquiries. If you think about the volume of calls a call center fields every day, it makes sense. With AI however, it's constantly drawing it's information about your business from a knowledge base. This means your AI answering service can respond in great detail if necessary!

It can also answer frequently asked questions instantly, providing information about your business hours, location, services, and more, without needing a live agent.

3. AI Gathers Information Faster Than Human Agents

AI can efficiently collect caller information, such as their name, contact details, and the reason for their call, often more quickly than a human agent.

4. AI Can Help Appointment Scheduling (Often More Advanced)

Some AI systems can integrate directly with your calendar to set appointments and more. This is particularly useful for folks in real estate, for instance.

5. AI Answering Services Can Work With Humans to Offer the Best Possible Customer Service

As I’ve learned through my deep dive into AI, the most effective AI answering services often incorporate humans. You know now that AI can fall short with adding a human element. In these “AI-assisted” models, AI handles the initial stages of the call, and live agents step in for complex issues or when a personal touch is needed. It's a win-win!

Differences Between AI Answering Services and Phone Answering Services

To make it easier for you, here are some of the key differences between the two summed up in a neat table!

Why an AI-Assisted Answering Service Gets You the Best of Both Worlds!

In my opinion, and what we’re seeing increasingly in the industry, the AI-assisted model often provides the most compelling solution for many businesses. It combines the speed and efficiency of AI for routine tasks with the empathy and problem-solving skills of live human agents for more complex interactions. This allows you to provide excellent customer service while also managing costs effectively.

We’ve certainly seen the benefits of this AI-assisted approach firsthand. Here at Ambs Call Center, that's exactly the approach we take because we belive in customer service that keeps that human touch.

Which Answering Service Model is Best for Your Business?

Ultimately, the decision between an AI answering service and a phone answering service isn’t about one being inherently better than the other.

If your budget is smaller, your interactions require less personalization, and you have a high call volume, an AI-assisted answering service is right for you. Otherwise, a human-first answering service will work great with your business.

Check out our other resources to see how AI services can best help your business!

Everything you need to know about AI answering services

What is an AI answering service?

Are AI answering services worth it?