Reservations & Scheduling

AI-Powered Virtual Agents for Appointments, Reservations, and More
Learn More

Analyst Report: The AI-Powered Virtual Agent

By Frost & Sullivan
Download
What Are Virtual Agents for Reservations & Scheduling?

AI-powered virtual agents use conversational AI to automate the routine conversations traditionally handled by live agents. With SmartAction’s Omni-Bot™ feature, organizations typically start in voice, where the ROI is the greatest, then scale the same experience to chat or text for a complete omnichannel self-service strategy.

Learn more about virtual agents and what they can do

Making reservations and setting appointments are too complex for most IVR/chatbot automation. But with AI-powered virtual agents, organizations save millions of dollars via reduced agent handle times, fewer missed appointments, and fewer unnecessary truck rolls. By seamlessly integrating with your CRM or ERP, virtual agents use natural language processing (NLP) to help customers make or change reservations, perform conversational outbound confirmation calls, and much more - all the things live agents do.

Which Reservation & Scheduling Calls & Chats Can be Automated Using Virtual Agents?

Appointment Scheduling & Confirmation

Create Tickets & Dispatch Technicians

Confirmation of Leave/Return

Open Recall Campaigns

Pickup Confirmation

Reminders

Rental Confirmation

Reservation Cancellations

Reservation Details

Reservation Requests

Schedule Deliveries

Service Provider ETA

Verified Arrivals

What is the Customer Experience Like with a Virtual Agent?

  • Scenario 1: Book a Hotel Reservation

    Every year, Mila and her husband go on vacation during the winter to get out of the cold. They’ve found a hotel they love and have stayed there many times. Because Mila prefers to call in her reservation, she knows that when she calls, a virtual agent will help her book a room faster than a live agent. It’s time to book, let’s see how the call goes.

  • Scenario 2: Change a Reservation

    Greg’s role as a sales executive requires that he travel every week to meet with customers. He’s a member of nearly every hotel rewards program. An upcoming business meeting in Iowa City was rescheduled, but Greg had already booked his hotel room for the trip. Watch to see how the virtual agent personalizes and streamlines Greg’s call to change his reservation.

  • Scenario 3: Open Recall Campaign

    Linda has had her car for over ten years and she’s never had an issue; in fact, she loves her midsize SUV. Unfortunately, she just received a notification letter that her beloved car is part of an open recall. Anxious, she calls the number on the letter.

Which Reservation & Scheduling Challenges Do Virtual Agents Help You Address?
Reservations & Scheduling
  • Reduce live agent handle time and costs
  • Integration with back-end scheduling systems
  • Reschedule appointments on automated outbound calls & chats
  • Offer personalized process for each customer
Sample Reservations & Scheduling Conversation

  • Customer

    Hello?

    Outbound calls & texts make up about 25% of SmartAction’s overall volume.

  • Virtual Agent

    Hello, this is the Eye Specialists. Am I speaking with Jerry Delsea?

    SmartAction uses predictive behavioral intelligence to contact customers at the best possible time.

  • Customer

    Yes.

    Virtual agent matches phone number to customer name to personalize the call and expedite the process. SmartAction can get this data either via API or FTP.

  • Virtual Agent

    I see you missed your recent eye exam. Would you like to reschedule?

    This call type saves significant agent time and costs, while creating potential revenue for the business.

  • Customer

    Yes I would.

  • Virtual Agent

    When would you like your new appointment to be?

    Virtual agent mimics live agent behavior.

  • Customer

    November 30th at 5:40pm.

    Natural language intent capture.

  • Virtual Agent

    The closest I have is Friday, November 30th, at 4 pm. Is that ok?

    Virtual agent is connected to scheduling software to provide contextual alternatives.

  • Customer

    No. Can we do Monday at 5:40pm?

    Scheduling is a complex call type that basic IVR or chatbots cannot handle.

  • Virtual Agent

    Monday, December 2nd at 5:40 pm is available. Would you like to confirm your appointment for this time?

    Human-centric AI design to fully contain the outbound call.

  • Customer

    Yes.

  • Virtual Agent

    Great. Your appointment is confirmed. Would you like us to send a reminder via text message or email?

    Digital integration provides omnichannel experiences that are effortless for customers.

  • Customer

    Text please.

    This information is written to the customer record.

  • Virtual Agent

    No problem. We’ll text you at the number on file on the day before the appointment. Thanks and have a great day.

    Virtual agent accesses customer data via API or FTP.

Integrations – Reservations & Scheduling

SmartAction integrates with every IVR, contact center platform, CRM, and ERP.

Your IT team simply needs to expose APIs to the same data accessed by live agents. The SmartAction CX team will determine the best ways to connect to your data.

Contact Center/Telephony:

  • NICE inContact
  • Genesys
  • Avaya
  • Cisco
  • Mitel
  • Other Legacy Systems

CRM:

  • Salesforce
  • Oracle
  • NetSuite
  • Magento
  • Other Homegrown Systems

For the most human-centric AI design and implementation, choose SmartAction’s virtual agent solution.

Contact Us
Why Automate Reservations & Scheduling with SmartAction?
PROVEN: Industry-leading conversational AI for omnichannel self-service
+
SmartAction started as an AI research company and now has more than a decade in AI development. The core AI technology supports omnichannel self-service across hundreds of use cases. SmartAction customers automate in voice first, where the ROI is the greatest, then scale the same CX to chat and text. SmartAction is the only AI-powered self-service solution for customer service to be named “Gartner Cool Vendor,” the only company recognized by Frost & Sullivan as “The Leader in Self-Service,” and is currently the top-rated and most reviewed Virtual Customer Assistant solution on Gartner Peer Insights.
EASY: Outsource voice & chat automation for a human-centric CX without compromise
+
SmartAction delivers its proprietary conversational AI as a service through a team of CX experts rather than DIY software licenses. SmartAction’s CX team works for you day-in and day-out to improve performance until reaching perfection. You only need to assist our CX team with conversation design, data integrations, and unique business rules to set the virtual agent’s “guardrails.” This is how we keep our brand promise of delivering self-service automation without sacrificing an ounce of CX. Learn about implementation.
LOW RISK: Start small in 6-8 weeks and grow over time
+
Getting started with SmartAction couldn’t be easier or more affordable, with no large CapEx investment or professional services fees. Rather than rip-and-replace existing telephony investments, SmartAction augments your IVR with conversational AI for a nominal one-time setup fee and simple, pay-as-you-go usage pricing. There are no charges for upgrades or fees for making changes - the full suite of services from SmartAction’s CX team is included in the per-minute usage price. Organizations can start as small as they want to see how well customers interact with the system and realize the immediate ROI.

Learn more about SmartAction’s obsession with LIFE LESS HARD™

What to read next

Conversational AI solution for contact centers

Product Sheet

Get a Deeper View of SmartAction’s Virtual Assistant Solution for Contact Centers
White paper on AI-powered virtual agents for contact centers

White Paper

The AI-Powered Virtual Agent: Actionable Strategies for Contact Center Leaders by Frost & Sullivan
Blog AI Powered Virtual Agent

Case Study

Truck Rental Industry Leader Automates Thousands of Outbound Appointment Confirmations
virtual agent solution pricing

Pricing

Outsource your voice & chat automation needs to SmartAction