Google My Business Owners Asked To Help Test AI Phone Call
Google’s push towards world domination continues unabated. The latest news in tech shows reports of business owners with Google My Business accounts asked to help test phone calls made by artificial intelligence—yep, that means robots—through Google’s upcoming Duplex feature.
What’s Google Duplex?
Google announced Duplex in May of 2018 at its I/O Developer Conference. The long and short of it is this: Google Duplex is an AI-based system whose purpose (for now) is to save users time by booking them appointments through Google Assistant.
The ingenious way Assistant’s Duplex feature works is that it calls businesses and carries out sophisticated conversations to secure its user an appointment.
Unlike the automated voices, you’re used to hearing in your everyday life, the Duplex AI personas have none of that mechanical-sounding robot tone. Instead, Duplex’s voices pause, sigh, and even crack as they speak, providing an unprecedented amount of realism. Best of all, Duplex’s AI is so sophisticated it can react to conversations in real-time. The time you wanted to book a haircut isn’t available? No problem. Duplex will negotiate the next available time, confirm your name, and then send you a message once your appointment is booked.
Where Does Google My Business Come In?
If you own a business with a website and a Google My Business, there’s a chance you may have been asked to help test Google Assistant/Duplex.
According to Search Engine Land, Google provides an option for business owners to accept Google Assistant/Duplex calls on their Google My Business Dashboard.
Apparently, this feature is limited to business owners for whom scheduling appointments over the phone are necessary. Think hair salons, restaurants accepting reservations, accountants scheduling sit-down sessions with clients, etc. The possibilities aren’t quite endless, but they are vast.
If your business regularly schedules appointments and you don’t yet have an online booking service, log into your Google My Business and see if the option is available to you. Not only will this enable customers using the Pixel 3 phone to potentially book appointments with you, but you’ll also allow easy AI-assisted verification calls for your Google My Business listing.
Did you see an option to enable Google Assistant calls? As of today’s date, LinkNow Media isn’t sure which cities are being tested. We can confirm Montreal is not on the list—yet. However, we’re sure that as this feature becomes tested successfully more and more small businesses will benefit from Google Assistant.
How Does This Benefit My Business?
While this feature primarily benefits Google and users of Google Assistant, like all things Google My Business, it’s an easy way to connect yourself with would-be clients in your area. Convenience will always draw people to your business.
What’s A Google My Business?
If you haven’t plunged into the wild world of local search marketing, maybe it’s time you gave LinkNow Media a call. We handle GMB listings for 9000 clients—and counting!
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