The holiday season is a wonderful time for your team to recharge, but for your business phone lines, it's often the busiest, most unpredictable time of the year. From last-minute inquiries about holiday hours to callers needing urgent support while your office is closed, missing a call is missing an opportunity—or worse, risking customer frustration.
This year, give your team the gift of a break and your customers the gift of instant service with the RingCentral AI Receptionist (AIR). Your 24/7 intelligent call answering service is the perfect solution for seamless business continuity, even when your staff is enjoying their well-deserved time off.
Here's how your AI Receptionist becomes your most valuable holiday team member:
🎁 Feature 1: The Ultimate Holiday Hours & Announcement Greeter
The single most common call during the holidays is a simple question: "Are you open?" Don't make your customers listen to a generic, outdated voicemail.
- Custom Holiday Greetings: Easily set a special, natural-sounding greeting that instantly acknowledges the holiday season and provides your company's adjusted schedule. No more flat, recorded messages.
- Example: "Happy Holidays! Please note our offices will be closed on December 24th and 25th. For our full holiday hours, please visit our website, or you can ask the AI Receptionist now."
- Instant FAQ Answering: Your AIR is a company expert. It can reference your business knowledge base (or website) to answer precise questions like:
- "What is your last shipping day before the holiday?"
- "How long do I have to return a gift?"
🚀 Feature 2: Intelligent Routing That Never Takes a Vacation
Even when your main office is closed, some calls are truly urgent. The AIR uses natural language understanding (NLU) to route calls based on intent, not just button presses, ensuring critical issues get to the right on-call person.
- Context-Based Transfer: A caller who says, "My service went down and I need emergency support," will be routed differently than someone asking, "Where is your store located?" The AI understands the urgency and keywords.
- Seamless On-Call Transfer: You can configure a Custom Call Rule in the RingCentral Admin Portal specifically for the holidays. This rule will automatically reroute calls handled by the AIR to a designated employee's cell phone or an emergency team's call queue, ensuring 24/7 coverage for high-priority issues.
- Pro Tip: Use the Custom Rules section in your Call Handling settings to define the exact dates and times for your holiday closure and select your AI Receptionist as the main answering point, which then uses its smart routing to manage all calls.
📅 Feature 3: Appointment Booking and Lead Capture, 24/7
The holidays are a peak research and booking time. If your customers have time off, they're planning for the new year. Don't let your closed doors stop new business.
- 24/7 Appointment Scheduling: If your business takes bookings, the AI Receptionist can capture the caller's intent ("I'd like to book an appointment for January") and send an automatic, personalized SMS link to your online booking system. No human intervention needed!
- Never Miss a Lead: For non-urgent sales inquiries, the AIR can take a detailed message with AI-powered voicemail transcription and send an immediate text confirmation that their inquiry has been logged. Your sales team can follow up immediately when they return, with a full, accurate transcript of the conversation in hand.
With RingCentral AI Receptionist, you can truly unplug for the holidays and be confident that your customers are still receiving a world-class, intelligent, and immediate experience. Happy holidays!
Have questions? We’re here to help!
Technical Support:
📞 1 (888) 898-4591, Option 3
🌐 RingCentral Support
RingCentral Community:
🌐 Visit the Community
📧 Community.support@ringcentral.com
RingCentral University:
🌐 Learn More