How we use AI

In short

• Our AI agents answer calls and chats for businesses, and help sort and follow up what comes in.
• They always say they're AI.
• A business's own team, or a trained Shift specialist, can take over any conversation.
• AI can make mistakes. Agents work from the information and rules each business gives us, and we review conversations every month.
• Calls may be recorded and chats are saved, so the business can follow up.
• We don't sell personal information, and we use each business's information only for that business.

What our AI agents do

We build AI agents for each business we work with. Depending on how the business sets them up, an agent can:

• answer phone calls and website chats, day and night;
• answer common questions using information the business has approved;
• work out whether a query is a sales enquiry, a support request or something else, and record it in the right place;
• take messages, book appointments or callbacks, and send updates by text or email from the business's own number and address;
• pass the conversation to a person when one is needed; and
• send review requests to customers after a job is won.

Each business decides which of these its agent handles, and which stay with its own team or a Shift specialist.

Always honest that it's AI

Our AI agents say they're AI at the start of every call and chat. We don't set them up to pretend to be a person.

People stay in charge

The business sets the rules its agent works within, including what counts as urgent and what should go straight to a person.

A business's own team can join any chat live, take transferred calls and see every conversation in the Shift AI app. Where a business uses our Scale service, a trained Shift specialist handles the parts of the work the business has asked them to.

Every month, we review conversations with the business, update the agent and share a scorecard of what happened.

AI can make mistakes

AI agents can misunderstand a request or give an answer that's incomplete or wrong. We reduce this by having agents work from information the business has approved, by setting clear rules for when to hand over to a person, and by reviewing conversations regularly. We can't promise an agent will never make a mistake.

If something an agent tells you matters to you, such as a price, a booking or advice about your situation, please confirm it with the business.

Our AI agents aren't an emergency service. In an emergency, call 000.

Recordings and transcripts

Calls handled by our AI agents may be recorded and transcribed, and chats are saved. This lets the business follow up on what you asked for, and lets us review and improve the agent. On our own website, our chat and voice widget tells you this before you start.

Recordings and transcripts are handled as described in our privacy policy. If you spoke to an agent on behalf of a business, that business's privacy policy also applies.

The technology we use

Our agents are built on technology from established providers. Conversations are processed on these providers' systems so the agent can work:

Some of these providers process information outside Australia, mainly in the United States. Each provider has its own terms and privacy policy. We may change providers over time and will keep this page up to date.

Each business's information

The information a business gives us to set up its agent, such as its services, policies and answers to common questions, belongs to that business. We use it only to provide services to that business. We don't reuse it for anyone else.

We don't sell personal information.

Choices for our clients

Clients choose which conversations their agent handles and when it hands over to a person. They can also ask us in writing to stop keeping conversation logs for their agent. If they do, we stop storing them from that point. This also limits how much we can review and improve the agent.

Questions

If you have a question about how we use AI, email support@theshift.ai. We're happy to explain.