RingCentral has entered the arena of agentic AI with the introduction of RingCentral AI Receptionist (RingCentral AIR).
Agentic AI debuted in H2 2024 and is already considered to be the next big phase of AI. Agentic AI is an advanced form of AI that stretches beyond merely generating content, featuring agents that perform tasks independently on behalf of users ranging from the mundane to the complex.
Agentic AI can act autonomously, make decisions, and take actions without human intervention. It can adjust its approach based upon new information or changing circumstances.
Testing the RingCentral AIR
RingCentral AIR is an AI phone agent that can answer customer questions and perform basic tasks on their behalf such as scheduling an appointment. It can also transfer callers to the appropriate person or department if needed. At the heart of the offer is the capability to understand natural language.
RingCentral AIR is embedded into RingCentral EX, the company’s team communication and collaboration platform. The offer has been available to select US businesses during a controlled availability phase, with a one-month, 100-minute free trial included. A broader rollout is planned for Q2 2025.
RingCentral takes an early look at the competition
With RingCentral AIR, RingCentral is dipping its toe into the agentic AI waters on the early portion of the adoption curve, reversing a tendency to play the role of follower and unspooling a long lag time versus competitors.
AIR joins the ranks of recent rival offers such as Agentforce from Salesforce, Copilot Agents from Microsoft, and Webex AI Agent from Cisco (coming soon).
RingCentral is continuing its very aggressive tempo of compiling AI-infused features in its overall portfolio with the launch of RingCentral AIR. Relatively recent enhancements to the RingCX contact center solution help agents raise customer satisfaction by delivering a more positive customer experience and enable supervisors to address agent roadblocks.
With the December 2024 introduction of ‘RingCentral AI Assistant’ on RingEX, RingCentral joined the ranks of competitors that offer personal AI assistants such as Microsoft with ‘Copilot’, Zoom with ‘AI Companion’, and Cisco with ‘Cisco AI Assistant in Webex Suite’.
There are a few blemishes on the RingCentral AIR launch. It suffers from a somewhat vague launch date. No details regarding pricing have been issued. Plus, the scope of the ‘broader rollout’ remains a mystery. Fortunately, these questions will be answered relatively soon, and RingCentral will officially have an impactful new offer in the market.
