Before
Outbound follow-up that is an afternoon on hold, every afternoon.
After
The checks happen on their own. Exceptions come back with everything already filled in.
Automation, AI where needed
Automate status checks and follow-up calls that put someone on hold every afternoon
Outbound follow-up that is an afternoon on hold, every afternoon. The checks happen on their own. Exceptions come back with everything already filled in.
In short
Follow-up that is an afternoon on hold, every afternoon: carriers, payers, vendors. We check everything that can be checked through a portal or a connection with plain automation, and build a voice agent for the checks only a call can do. Mixed, and we say which is which. A larger workflow, $25,000 to $75,000. First deliverable running within 30 days.
AI phone agents: outbound callsWatch a simulated run of this job- Free evaluation
- Fixed quote before work begins
- First deliverable running in 14 days, guaranteed
- Small tasks welcome
What this costs you today
After lunch someone picks up the list. Call the carrier, sit on hold, ask where the shipment is, write it down. Call the vendor, sit on hold, ask if the order shipped. In the companies we meet this is an afternoon, every afternoon, and the same person does it.
Most of the answers are the same as yesterday. The few that changed are the ones that matter, and they are buried in the rest.
Call a fully loaded employee $45,000 a year, as an illustration. An afternoon a day is about 20 hours a week, half a person, spent mostly on hold.
- Typical time
- 20 hrs / week
- That is
- half a person
- At an illustrative $45,000 a year
- $22,500 / year
Typical figures, using $45,000 as an illustrative fully loaded cost. Your numbers go in the calculator below. If your version is a couple of hours a week, that still counts. Or open these figures in the calculator and change them.
How it works
- 1
Step 1
We go through the list with you and mark each item: portal, connection, or phone call only.
- 2
Step 2
The portal and connection checks become a scheduled automation that writes answers back to your system.
- 3
Step 3
For the calls, we write the questions the agent asks and where the answers go.
- 4
Step 4
Anything the agent cannot handle on a call hands off to a person with the details already filled in.
- 5
Step 5
The portal checks go live first. The calling agent follows once its questions are tuned on real calls.
What CBIT builds instead
We start by sorting the list. Anything the other side exposes through a portal or a connection gets a plain automation that checks it on a schedule and writes the answer down. That is usually most of the list.
For the checks that only a phone call can do, we build a voice agent that places the call, asks the question you would ask, and records the answer. This part is AI, and we say so. If the call goes somewhere the agent cannot handle, it hands off to a person with the details already filled in.
Plain automation handles most repetitive work. We use newer tools only where they clearly earn their place, and we tell you when we do. On this task the line is clear: portals get automation, phone calls get the agent.
What the person gets back is the afternoon. They see only the exceptions, with the status, the reference number and the notes already in place.
Plain automation or AI?
This is mixed, and we tell you which is which. Where the other side has a portal or a connection, plain automation does the check. Where a call is the only way, an AI voice agent makes the call and records the answer.
Automation vs. AI: which one your task needsOne example, names left out
Real work from real clients, with the names left out. What matters is the shape of the problem, and how often we see it.
Price band and timeline
- Usually
- Larger workflow
- Band
- $25,000–$75,000
- First deliverable running
- Within 30 days
This kind of project
Depends on how the checks can be done
The portal checks are ordinary automation and scope like any other lookup. The phone calls are the involved part: a voice agent, a handoff for anything unexpected, and a running cost per call. If most of your list can be checked without a call, the project is smaller than it looks.
- Small tasks and larger workflows are both welcome. We look at what needs to happen and give you a fixed quote before work begins. No hourly meter.
- First deliverable running in 14 days, guaranteed.
- Changes to outside systems (a portal redesign, a vendor's API change) may require separately quoted repair work. We tell you when that happens.
All prices and the guaranteeWhat business automation actually costs
Run your own numbers.
Set to the typical figures for this task. Change them to match your team, however small the number.
What this task costs you in time
Hours a week, times the people doing it, at whatever a person costs you. $45,000 a year is an illustration; set it to your own figure.
People doing this work
1
Hours each, per week
Half an hour counts. 40 is a full week.
20
Fully loaded cost per person, per year
Salary, benefits, taxes, overhead. $45,000 is an illustration; set it to yours.
$45,000
Time spent on this task
20 hrs / week
About 1,040 hours a year of a person's time.
- Labor value of that time
- $22,500 / year
- Your project price
- Fixed quote after a free evaluation
These figures show the value of time spent on the task, not a project quote or guaranteed cash savings. We will help estimate what can realistically be automated.
Questions about this task.
How much of our list actually needs a phone call?
Usually less than it looks. Carriers, payers and vendors often expose status through a portal, an EDI feed or a file. Those checks run as plain automation. The evaluation sorts your list, and the calling part is only built for what is left.
What does the agent do when the person on the other end goes off script?
It asks its question, records the answer, and if the call goes somewhere it cannot handle, it hands off to your team with the reference number, the notes so far and the reason. Nothing is guessed.
How do the answers get into our system?
The automation writes status, reference and time checked to your operations system or sheet. Call outcomes land in the same place. Only the exceptions, the items that changed or could not be resolved, are called out for a person.
How is this priced?
The portal checks scope like any other lookup. The calling agent is the involved part. Together it is a larger workflow, $25,000 to $75,000, plus a running cost per call that we size to your volume and quote up front. If most of your list can be checked without a call, it is smaller.
How long until it is running?
The portal checks are running within 30 days of us having access and your list. The calling agent goes live after its questions are tuned on a set of real calls, which we schedule with you in the quote.
Who does the agent call?
Businesses you already deal with, about work already in progress: a carrier about a shipment, a payer about a claim, a vendor about an order. It does not call people who have not agreed to be contacted.
Tell us about the task your team keeps doing by hand.
Every morning, every Friday, or every time an order comes in. Small tasks and larger workflows are both welcome. The evaluation is free, and if we take it on, the first deliverable is running in your operation within 14 days, guaranteed.
Free evaluation. Fixed quote before work begins.
Related tasks
Plain automation
Automate looking up statuses on vendor and carrier portals
An automation checks every portal overnight and hands the team only the exceptions.
Uses AI
Automate routine inbound calls so staff only take the ones that need a person
Routine calls are handled. Staff take only the ones that need a human.
Guide
Automation vs. AI: which one your task needs
A simple test you can run on your own task, and the places where each one earns its place.
Everything we automate, with what goes into each one.