RingCentral adds Shopify, Calendly and WhatsApp to AIR

RingCentral expanded its AI Receptionist, AIR, to integrate with Shopify, Calendly and WhatsApp. The company says the integrations let the virtual assistant handle basic order inquiries, book appointments and reply to incoming messages.

The Shopify connection allows AIR to access merchants’ stores to answer simple order questions. Through the Calendly link, AIR can create and manage appointments using a business’s Calendly account. WhatsApp support covers inbound messages on that platform so AIR can respond to customer texts there.

RingCentral also added AIR to shared SMS inboxes and call queues so the assistant can reply to texts and take over when phone lines are busy or when staff are unavailable.

The update includes automatic language detection. AIR can identify a caller’s language and continue the conversation in that language. The system supports ten languages, including English, Spanish, French, Italian, German and Portuguese.

RingCentral reported more than 11,800 businesses now use AIR. The company named healthcare, financial services, legal, hospitality and construction among the sectors deploying the tool for front-desk work and after-hours coverage.

Keller Interiors deployed AIR across 33 locations to address call routing. Beth Owens, chief of staff at Keller Interiors, said, “RingCentral AIR solved a problem we didn’t have a good human answer for: how do you route every inbound call correctly, 24/7, across 33 locations, without building a call center?” The company recorded average wait times falling from 12 minutes to 90 seconds and customer satisfaction rising three points over four months.

Maple Federal Credit Union reported similar results for in-branch phone queues. Tara Breaux, vice president of operations, reported, “We’ve reduced hold times by 90%, enabling faster service, less strain on staff, and more focus on the conversations that matter most.”

Michelle Morgan, research manager for AI-enabled sales, customer service and contact center strategies at IDC, called the update an example of applied AI tied to specific customer service tasks. Joe Fahrner, RingCentral’s vice president of growth for AI products, described AIR as evolving into a “digital employee” for small and mid-market businesses.

AIR is available as a standalone product starting at $49 a month and includes 100 minutes. Existing RingEX customers can add AIR starting at $39 a month, also with 100 minutes. RingCentral markets the product to organizations that handle regular inbound inquiries and need after-hours coverage without expanding staff.