RingCentral Expands AI Receptionist With Shopify, Calendly, and WhatsApp Integrations
RingCentral Expands AI Receptionist With Shopify, Calendly, and WhatsApp Integrations
RingCentral has expanded the capabilities of its AI Receptionist product, known as AIR, by adding integrations with Shopify, Calendly, and WhatsApp as the company pushes the platform beyond simple call answering and into broader customer service automation.
The company said AIR can now assist customers with basic Shopify order enquiries, schedule appointments through Calendly, and respond to inbound WhatsApp messages. RingCentral is also integrating AIR into shared SMS inboxes and call queues, allowing the AI assistant to reply to text messages and handle customer interactions when staff are unavailable or phone lines are overloaded.
According to RingCentral, more than 11,800 businesses are already using AIR, particularly among small and mid-sized organizations that regularly manage large volumes of inbound customer enquiries. The company highlighted industries such as healthcare, legal services, financial services, hospitality, and construction as key adoption areas where AIR is being used for front-desk support and after-hours customer service.
One customer, Keller Interiors, which works with Lowe’s Home Improvement, said it deployed AIR across 33 locations to solve complex call-routing challenges. Beth Owens, the company’s chief of staff, explained that the AI system helped reduce average wait times from 12 minutes to 90 seconds while improving customer satisfaction scores over a four-month period.
Meanwhile, Maple Federal Credit Union said AIR helped reduce hold times by 90 percent in its branches, easing pressure on staff and allowing employees to focus on more important customer interactions.
The new integrations are designed to expand AIR’s usefulness across both voice and messaging channels. The Shopify connection enables the AI assistant to answer order-related questions over the phone, while the Calendly integration allows it to automatically arrange appointments. WhatsApp support extends AIR into one of the world’s most widely used messaging platforms for businesses and consumers.
RingCentral is also introducing automatic language detection, allowing AIR to recognize a caller’s language and continue the conversation in that language. Supported languages currently include English, Spanish, French, Italian, German, and Portuguese.
Michelle Morgan, a research manager at International Data Corporation, described the update as an example of practical AI deployment focused on solving real business problems rather than simply adding AI features for marketing purposes.
RingCentral’s Vice President of Growth for AI Products, Joe Fahrner, said the company sees AIR evolving into a “digital employee” for small and medium-sized businesses.
The company also announced updated pricing for the product. AIR is now available as a standalone service starting at $49 per month, including 100 minutes of usage, while existing RingEX customers can add the feature starting at $39 per month.
