Automate responses with GorillaDesk's AI-powered SMS chatbot that can handle customer and lead inquiries, add new leads, and schedule bookings directly within your system.
This version is for your incoming SMS or text messages. This AI assists with incoming text messages to your GorillaDesk SMS and VoIP number(s).
The portal AI, which can be embedded on your website, and the VoIP AI, which will answer your phone calls, will be coming soon.
This feature is available in V3 and Pro Plan users only.
Begin by enabling the AI Agents feature within the Addons.
1. Go to Addons and click the toggle for AI Agents to enable the feature.
2. Start activating you AI SMS plan. Click the 'Manage Plan' button to manage and select your plan.
3. When activating the AI Agent package for the first time, you’ll need to select your desired package and initial credit balance. Credits will be used for each successful conversation with the AI agent.
GorillaDesk have 2 types of AI conversation:
Static Conversation provides general Q&A with informational responses. It costs $1.00 per answered question. A question will only be considered answered if the AI used your content to respond to the customer’s inquiry. If the AI responds without providing relevant information, it will not count as an answered question.
Dynamic Conversation involve the system taking actions, such as capturing new lead information, or scheduling a pending booking. This conversation type costs $1.75 per completed conversation.
4. After activating your SMS plan, proceed to set up your SMS AI content, where your AI agent will refer to this information when responding to customer questions.
Content
Here is where you can upload a script or document that your AI will use as a reference to respond to chat queries.
The [AI AGENT] Conversation Script is the default content provided in the Content section. This essential script, which remains permanently active, directs the AI in guiding the flow of conversation.
This default script works well when answering all general question for current clients, taking inbound leads as well as being able to schedule and confirm a booking. You can customize this script at any time to better suit your company.
If needed, you can revert to the original script by clicking the icon below.
To add new content:
Click the '+Add content'.
By default, the content status is set to Active, you can turn it OFF anytime.
Enter the Content Label.
Enter the content, this can be anything that you want the AI to use as a reference l
Custom Answers
Here you can add specific answer to specific questions.
Click the '+ Add Answer' button.
By default, the status is set to Active, but you can turn it OFF at any time.
In the Questions box, indicate the specific question. You can add as many similar question.
In the Answer box, add the specific answer to the questions you listed above.
Please note that the AI already understands the context of the first question you entered. There’s no need to list similar questions—the AI will provide the same answer whenever it encounters a similar question.
Reports
The Reports tab lists all conversations with AI that occurred within the specified date range. These are the available columns in the Reports:
Customer - shows the customer name that initiated the conversation
Summary Of Conversation - shows a brief summary of the conversation. When clicked, it will open the chat window where user can review and change the status of the conversation
Date - this indicates the date and time conversation was initiated
Tags - tags are used so you can easily group and filter conversation
AI Credit - this column indicated the AI credit used for the whole conversation.
This is based on the AI conversation type stated above.
SMS Credit - this indicates how much SMS credit was used for the whole conversation.
Settings
Configure your AI agents greeting and working hours within the Settings tab:
1. Upload your AI avatar.
2. Enter the AI's name.
3. Customize the AI's greeting for office hours and after-hours.
4. Set the operating hours for your AI.
5. To have the AI run continuously, enable the 'All Time' toggle.
6. If the 'All Time' toggle is off, schedule specific operating times for your AI.
7. Choose the days the AI will be active.
8. Define the AI's behavior of how quickly you want your AI to reply during office hours and after office hours
9. Make sure to hit 'Save' when changes are made.
Test your AI Agent!
The 'Test SMS Chatbot' opens a chat window where you can test your AI to ensure it functions correctly and make any necessary adjustments to your content.
Inbound Leads
During lead capture, AI will only save the following new lead information:
First name
Last Name
Service Address
Email
Phone number
If the AI Agent successfully captures a new lead, you can view it under Reports > Inbound Leads
From inbound leads, you can either add them as a new customer or assign them to an existing customer.
Online Booking
Every job that is scheduled by the AI Agent will have a 'Pending' status, you can view the job within the Reports > Online Booking
All bookings made through the AI Agent will follow the same job assignment rules as online bookings made within the portal. Jobs will be assigned to users based on schedule order and availability.
You will also see the pending booking in your calendar. The AI will add the job note as your reference when setting up the job, service, and frequency.
You will receive a system notification when the AI agent adds a new lead or booking. If you click the notification, it will redirect you to the job and the inbound lead report.
FAQs Updated as of Nov 20
Q: Can I embed this on my website?
Answer: No, this version is for incoming text to your GorillaDesk SMS number and GorillaDesk VoIP number. A portal version will be available soon.
Q: Will it recognize active customers without having to ask?
Answer: This is an ongoing fix. Currently, the AI will follow your content to determine if the customer is existing or new.
Q: After hours, should we turn off the after-hours SMS and just run the AI? Will they interfere with each other?
Answer: The AI will take priority.
Q: If a customer responds to a reminder about a job, will the SMS be able to recognize what the customer is asking? For example, if the customer gets a reminder and asks to reschedule for the next week via SMS, will it be able to understand the context?
Answer: The current version of AI can recognize your customer’s question but cannot perform any account-related actions yet. For this type of customer concern, depending on your script, the AI will respond with “I will have a live agent assist you,” and this reply does not incur a charge.
Q: If a technician is messaging with a customer via SMS but isn’t able to respond quickly enough before the AI kicks in, how will the AI handle the conversation?
Answer: The AI will respond based on the previous conversations.
Q: What is the time-frame before the AI will mark the conversation as closed and charge me $1?
Answer:
After 2 hours of no reply, the conversation will be closed. The next message will be considered a new conversation and will incur a new charge.
Q: What is considered a successful inquiry for the $1 charge?
Answer: The AI only charges for a successful inquiry, meaning it used your content to answer the question or it booked a lead. If the AI responded with greeting and the customer did not reply, if no information from the content was used, there will be no charge.
Q: If our staff has already responded, will the AI still reply?
Answer: This is an ongoing fix. Currently, the AI is responding even if the admin has already replied. The expected behavior is that the AI will not respond if the text has already been answered by the admin.