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RingCentral launches its AI Receptionist (AIR) in the UK, quickly gaining traction among SMEs and signalling potential for broader applications across global contact centre markets with innovative features and rapid deployment capabilities.
RingCentral has launched its AI Receptionist (AIR) in the UK, following eight months of strong adoption in the US market. The company is confident that the positive reception in North America will be mirrored in the UK, where small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) face unique operational challenges. Russell Tilsed, VP of International Sales at RingCentral, emphasised that AIR is aimed at empowering UK SMEs to grow sustainably by alleviating the pressure of role consolidation, countering common concerns about AI replacing jobs.
The AI Receptionist was developed to address specific SME needs, enabling businesses to manage call volumes efficiently when employees are out of office or overwhelmed, all while controlling costs. This launch is timely for UK SMEs, which contribute over £2.4 trillion to the economy but face rising minimum wages and increased employment taxes that can slow growth due to limited resources for additional support staff. According to Tilsed, AIR helps navigate repetitive call handling, allowing SMEs to focus on higher-value tasks that drive long-term growth.
RingCentral’s AIR offers simple, rapid deployment—it activates within minutes, automatically scans the company website for relevant information, and can be customised easily via the RingCentral portal by any team member. Core features include appointment booking integrated directly with Outlook and Google calendars during calls, query resolution by the AI, support for English and French, and the ability to deploy across multiple sites or departments from a single interface. Each call also generates a transcript, which enhances visibility, compliance, and provides analytic insights such as identifying peak call times.
The technology’s introduction follows significant momentum in the AI receptionist market. By the end of the second quarter of 2025, AIR had over 3,000 customers, tripling its user base since the first quarter of 2025. This rapid adoption reflects broader industry trends where AI receptionists have become a key innovation in business communications, delivering measurable productivity gains. For example, Integral Recruiting Services claims that AIR now manages 93% of its incoming calls, saving their team approximately 12 hours monthly.
RingCentral’s early move into this space, beginning with the US launch earlier in 2025, has secured it a notable market share in a quickly expanding category. The company underscores AIR’s capacity to function with the efficiency, personalisation, and reliability of a high-performing front-desk individual but without the overhead costs. It also supports additional languages such as Spanish, with plans to add more, and offers comprehensive call analytics and multi-location support.
The success of AIR raises questions about its potential scalability beyond SME markets. Currently, AIR is tailored to SME needs with its no-IT-setup activation, automatic website scanning, and user-friendly management interface designed to drive cost savings and efficiency improvements immediately. However, its advanced capabilities—such as voice recognition, contextual call understanding, and dynamic routing—lay the foundation for broader applications, including more complex contact centre environments. The key strategic question is when and how RingCentral might expand AIR’s reach beyond the SME sector.
Further developments include the introduction of AIR Everywhere, a standalone version that enables AI-powered call handling on third-party telephony systems, both on-premises and cloud-based. This product variant expands AIR’s reach to British and Australian English-speaking markets with full integration for appointment bookings via Google Calendar and Microsoft Outlook, underscoring RingCentral’s ambition to extend AI receptionist technology globally.
In summary, RingCentral’s AI Receptionist is positioned as a transformative tool for SMEs grappling with cost and operational challenges in call handling. Its rapid adoption, ease of use, and measurable productivity benefits exemplify the growing role of AI in customer communications, suggesting a significant expansion trajectory in both technology and market reach.
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Source: Fuse Wire Services
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