How to turn missed calls into opportunities with a virtual receptionist

Did you know that 20-30% of business phone calls go unanswered? And 34% of callers who hang up won’t call back — ever. Every missed call is a missed opportunity. You have a business to run, and it is almost impossible to answer the phone each time it rings, nor respond to voicemails in a timely manner. Birdeye’s Virtual Receptionist answers your phone calls for you when you can’t get to the phone in time. Eliminate phone tag and turn missed calls into new opportunities by engaging callers through a text message response. 

In this blog post, we’ll discuss how Birdeye’s virtual receptionist can help you manage missed calls, streamline communication, and enhance customer engagement without the need for you to pick up the phone.

What is a virtual receptionist?

A virtual receptionist is a remote service or software that manages tasks such as answering calls, scheduling appointments, and providing customer support. It can be either human-operated or powered by AI with 24/7 availability, helping businesses save money and manage communication without needing on-site staff. Common examples include automated phone menus and AI chat assistants.

Setting up your Birdeye Receptionist

To start using Birdeye Receptionist for your business, follow these simple steps:

1. Access settings

• Go to the ‘Settings’ tab in your Birdeye dashboard.
• Select ‘Inbox’ and click on the ‘Receptionist’ option to start customizing.

2. Customize voicemail greeting

• Customize the voicemail greeting for all your business locations to ensure a professional and consistent experience. Click the ‘Personalize’ button to make it unique.
• You can preview your greeting by clicking the ‘Play’ button.

3. Create auto-reply text messages

• Set up an auto-reply text message that will automatically be sent to customers after they hang up. Personalize these messages using tokens for a more personalized experience.

For a step-by-step guide on setting up the Birdeye Receptionist, you can watch the following video:

Key features of Birdeye Receptionist

Birdeye Receptionist helps businesses stay connected with customers, manage missed calls efficiently, and improve communication without extra effort.

• Automated Call Handling: If no one answers the phone, Birdeye Receptionist picks up the call and lets the caller leave a voicemail.
• Voicemail Transcription: It automatically converts voicemails into text and sends them to your Birdeye Inbox so you can read and respond easily.
• Instant Text Replies: After leaving a voicemail, callers get an automatic text confirming their message was received and that someone will get back to them soon.
• Unified Messaging Inbox: All voicemails and transcriptions are stored in one place, making it easy for your team to manage and respond to messages.
• Customizable Greetings and Responses: Businesses can personalize voicemail greetings and auto-reply texts to match their brand and make communication feel more natural.
• 24/7 Availability: The receptionist works all day, every day, so you never miss an important call, even outside business hours. 

Answer calls round the clock

Let the Receptionist answer phone calls when you can not get to the phone. Robin, our AI chatbot, can instantly answer frequently asked questions without you having to lift a finger. All of your missed calls and voicemail transcripts will be available in the unified inbox of Birdeye Messaging AI, so you can listen to the caller’s voicemail or read the transcripts at your convenience. Engage your callers by responding via text message from within Birdeye Messaging or give them a callback.

Understanding the power of Receptionist

Birdeye Receptionist does not only answer the phone for you – it also captures the caller’s contact information, helps you answer questions automatically, and more. 

Know who called you

See the calls you have missed by customer name and phone number. If you have interacted with this person before, you can see your prior conversation history before responding. Know the caller and have all of your communications stored in one spot.

Auto-answer questions

Our chatbot Robin engages the caller immediately. Robin can interpret the content of each voicemail and send relevant answers to frequently asked questions automatically. It also frees up your staff to respond to more complicated questions.

Text responses

Sometimes callers prefer to use text. With Receptionist, you can read the transcript of a voicemail or listen to the audio recording, then continue the conversation through text. Bonus: Our text message platform also supports sending photos and attachments!

Professional greeting

It’s important that your business is able to maintain its brand. Customizable voicemail greetings aim to do just that. Edit your voicemail greetings to match the voice and tone of your company and provide a consistent experience across all small businesses’ virtual addresses. 

Anytime, anywhere

Whether it’s on your desktop or mobile app, get notified immediately when you’ve missed a call. Listen, read, and respond to the missed call through your Birdeye dashboard or through the Birdeye mobile app. 

Capture new leads with Birdeye Receptionist

Don’t let missed calls lose you any more business! Receptionist is here to help you turn your missed calls into new opportunities. Never miss out on another customer interaction, and make your customers feel valued every time. Head to our Interactions page to learn more about Receptionist and the other features that make Birdeye Interactions a must-have in order to grow your business.

Why Birdeye is the ultimate GenAI customer messaging platform for your business needs

Birdeye provides a comprehensive solution for local businesses to connect and convert customers across text, social media, website visitors, and email—all from a unified inbox. Here’s how Birdeye can streamline your customer communication:

• Effortless engagement: Reach your customers on the medium of their choice. Whether through text, social media, web chat, or email, Birdeye makes it easy to engage customers and get a full picture of every interaction.
• All-in-one platform: Manage customer conversations, reviews, and referrals from the same inbox. Birdeye’s integrated platform makes handling everything in one place easy, saving you time and boosting productivity.
• Business messaging made simple: Ditch the endless phone calls and embrace high-converting digital channels. Use Birdeye’s AI chatbot to respond to customers even when you’re not available, ensuring no opportunity slips through the cracks.
• Unified inbox: Keep all your messages received by the customer and communication channels organized in one spot. Add notes, flag important conversations, and use BirdAI to rephrase responses or get quick conversation recaps.
• Customer management at every stage: From appointment booking reminders to review requests, surveys, and payment collection, Birdeye helps you engage customers throughout their journey, improving retention and conversions.

With Birdeye, you can deliver exceptional customer satisfaction while saving time and resources. Get started today and see how easy it is to manage and engage with customers, all from one powerful platform.