BT Business launches AI Receptionist for UK small businesses

BT Business has launched a suite of AI tools for UK small and medium-sized businesses, including AI Receptionist, a service designed to help firms respond to customer calls.

BT Business says the receptionist runs 24 hours a day, seven days a week. It can schedule appointments, send confirmations and integrate with Outlook and Google Calendar. It can also capture and record conversations to help generate insights from customer interactions. The service is available through flexible BT Business contracts and can be set up through a self-service portal. It works across UK fixed and mobile networks, allowing customers to keep their existing phone number and system.

In research cited by BT Business, 67% of UK small and medium-sized businesses said they miss at least one call each day that could cost them business. The company estimates that unanswered calls could be associated with as much as £3.7 billion in lost revenue annually. The research also found that 75% of potential customers will try calling a business three times before giving up, while 58% would tell friends and family to avoid a business that failed to answer.

The suite also includes an AI Adoption Hub with advice, guides and real-world examples. BT Business says customer data handled by AI Receptionist will remain private and will not be used to train AI models. The company attributed the launch to small businesses’ difficulty keeping up with customer enquiries. Its CEO, Jon James, said AI could support small businesses and UK growth, while noting that many firms are unsure how to begin adopting it simply and securely.