How to switch from a call centre to an AI operator without losing customers: 7 steps
Sado AI team · · 4 min read
In short
Move from a call centre to an AI operator in stages, not all at once. First listen to 30–50 recordings and write down the most common questions. Then give AI the simple, repetitive part: night hours, price and address questions, reminders. Keep difficult complaints and big deals with staff, and write the transfer rule. Your number stays the same: the operator connects to it over SIP. Run both side by side for two to four weeks, compare the recordings, then expand. Check your call centre contract’s notice period early.
First, study your calls
- How many calls you get a day and at which hours most come in.
- How many go unanswered or wait a long time.
- Listen to 30–50 recordings and note the reasons: price, address, booking, order status, complaint.
- How many minutes an average call lasts: you need it to work out the cost.
- What the call centre collects and where it records it: a CRM, a sheet or nowhere.
Ask the call centre for recordings and reports from the last few months: it’s the quickest way in.
What to give AI and what to keep with people
| Give to the AI operator | Keep with people |
|---|---|
| Questions about prices, address, hours | Hard complaints and conflicts |
| Bookings, orders, callback times | Big deals, haggling, discount decisions |
| Nights, weekends and holidays | Unusual cases your rules don’t cover |
| Reminders, confirmations, the first call to a new lead | Key customers who expect a person |
| The rush of calls on an ad day | Calls in languages other than Uzbek and Russian |
Caller: The fridge I bought yesterday doesn’t work, and this is my third call!
Sado: I’m sorry, that’s really frustrating. I’ll put you through to our service team now; they’ll sort it out.
Caller: Fine, put me through.
Sado: One moment, connecting you.
You write the transfer rule: for example, if a caller complains or asks for a person, the call goes to staff.
The switch plan: seven steps
- Put your information on one page: prices, addresses, hours, services, 10–15 common questions with answers.
- Decide who gets transferred calls: for example, complaints to a senior operator, wholesale orders to a sales manager.
- Connect your number: Sado’s team connects your current number through your phone operator (for example Sarkor or UTeL) over SIP, and customers call the same number. More: connecting your number.
- Pick a first area: usually nights and weekends, where comparing is easy and the risk is low.
- Run both side by side for two to four weeks: the call centre by day, AI at night. Each week, score 20 recordings from each side on one sheet: comparing AI and human call quality.
- Connect your CRM so all calls are in one place: there’s a ready Bitrix24 connection, and our team connects amoCRM and others. More: CRM and calls.
- Then expand: routine daytime questions, reminders, outbound calls. Only then cut back the call centre contract.
What to watch in the first weeks
- Missed calls: there should be none during the AI’s hours.
- How many calls were transferred to staff, and why.
- Which questions ended in “a manager will call you back”: add their answers to the information.
- Bookings, orders and callbacks, compared with the same hours under the call centre.
What happens to your staff and the call centre
An AI operator doesn’t replace the whole team. Move your own operators to sales, hard calls and the callbacks the AI leaves as tasks. Before ending a contract with an outside call centre, check the notice period and terms; if in doubt, ask a lawyer. Comparison: AI vs call center; cost breakdown: what a call centre costs.
With Sado you pay only for talked minutes: 800 so‘m a minute, with no monthly or setup fee, during the parallel test too. It works for incoming and outbound calls. Try it live or call 78 778 01 23.
Questions
Will customers notice the switch?
The number stays the same, and the operator speaks in your company’s name with your wording. If a caller asks, the AI doesn’t pretend to be human.
Can we switch the call centre off at once?
Better not. First run both in one area for two to four weeks and compare the recordings, then expand.
What do we do with the customer list the call centre built?
Keep it in Excel or your CRM. Sado calls only people you may call, and a number that said “don’t call me” isn’t called again.