Google launches CallJoy, a virtual cloud-based customer service phone agent for small businesses

Google is launching a new cloud-based phone agent called CallJoy that enables small business owners to measure, improve and automate customer service, the tech giant announced in a blog post Wednesday. The U.S.’s 30.2 million small businesses receive about 400 million incoming daily calls from consumers placing a to-go order, booking an appointment, inquiring about inventory and more.

CallJoy is available starting today. Small business owners can sign up for early access for a flat monthly fee of $39. With CallJoy, small businesses have access to the same customer service options that have historically only been available to larger corporations. CallJoy helps small business owners offer better customer service, make more informed business decisions and ultimately increase productivity.

CallJoy is seamless and very easy to use. After a quick setup, Google assigns a local phone number to the small business. CallJoy comes with a lot of tools to help small business block unwanted spam calls so they can receive the calls  only from customers. When the phone rings, the automated CallJoy agent answers, greets callers with a custom message and provides basic business information (like hours of operation).

If the customer calling would like to complete a task which can be done online, like place a to-go order or book an appointment, CallJoy’s virtual agent will send the customer an SMS text message containing a URL. Whether the customer speaks with you, talks to an employee, or just interacts directly with the CallJoy agent, the call will be recorded and transcribed for quality purposes. This allows small business owners to tag and search each conversation based on topic. For example, a hair salon owner can search how many times a day callers ask about “men’s haircut pricing” or “wedding hairstyles.” From here, CallJoy compiles your data in an online dashboard and emails you a daily update, which includes metrics like call volume and new versus returning callers.

According to Google, small businesses that participated in CallJoy’s beta program saw decreased hold times and increased productivity by automatically texting callers a URL to place their orders online.