Verizon Business launches industry-first GenAI Assistant for small businesses

What you need to know:

• Verizon Business Assistant is an easy-to-deploy solution that small businesses can start using immediately to free up time and answer customer questions via text 24/7.
• Small businesses now have the same opportunity to leverage AI as global enterprises to automate and enhance their customer interactions with a generative AI assistant
• Small business owners want to make their businesses more efficient through technology, and better connect with new and existing customers, according to Verizon Business’ fifth Annual State of Small Business Report

NEW YORK — Small businesses can now harness the power of Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI) to supercharge their operations. The newest product built directly for small businesses, Verizon Business Assistant is a GenAI-powered text messaging solution designed to help small businesses automate customer interactions and enhance engagement. Business Assistant provides instant text responses to commonly asked questions, learns and improves over time, and enables businesses to offer faster and more efficient customer service.

How it works: 

If a customer texts a bakery to ask about gluten-free options, Business Assistant can instantly respond using GenAI. If it doesn’t yet have the answer, it will then connect to a live employee for assistance. The best part is that it learns from interactions, building a knowledge base that improves over time. Ultimately, Business Assistant reduces the need for human intervention, allowing employees to focus on higher-value tasks while ensuring customers get fast, accurate responses.

“Small business owners are constantly juggling multiple responsibilities, and want to use technology to improve operations and better connect with their customers,” said Iris Meijer, Chief Product & Marketing Officer, Verizon Business. “Yet access to that technology and AI tools that work for small businesses can be a challenge, which is where we want to help champion them. Verizon Business Assistant is one example of a solution we’re rolling out to support small business owners. It also addresses an increasing customer demand - particularly from younger generations - for easy digital tools to communicate with businesses on simple matters. This allows small business owners to focus on growing their business while ensuring their customers feel valued and connected to the business.”

Business Assistant is ideal for small business owners looking to:

• Save time by automating responses to common questions, freeing up time for other tasks.
• Serve more customers efficiently with the ability to automatically respond to inquiries via text message 24/7.
• Enhance customer engagement by providing a fast, convenient, and preferred communication channel.
• Gain insights into customer needs and preferences through interaction data.

Key features include:

• Automated Responses: Provides immediate answers to common customer inquiries, freeing up valuable time for business owners and employees.
• Live Team Member Handoff: Transitions complex inquiries to a live team member for a personalized experience.
• Continuous Learning: Expands its knowledge base over time, improving accuracy with more interactions.
• Text Messaging (SMS/MMS): Uses a familiar and convenient channel for easy communication between businesses and customers.
• Insights Dashboard: Gives business owners valuable data on customer trends and engagement patterns.
• Easy to set up: The setup is straightforward, easily integrates with existing Verizon mobile devices, and requires no new hardware or software.
• Customizable: Gives business owners the power to choose how it is trained and what answers are desired for any potential question.

For more ways Verizon Business supports small businesses, visit Small Business Solutions.