Glossary

The essential definitions to understand AI-powered phone reception: AI voice agent, virtual receptionist, conditional call forwarding, automated appointment booking, Law 25 and cloned voice. Each term links to the related guides and to related terms.

All terms

AI voice agentAn AI voice agent is software that answers the phone in natural language, understands the request and takes concrete action: booking an appointment, answering a question, transferring a call or taking a message. It works around the clock and handles several calls at once.
Virtual AI receptionistA virtual AI receptionist is a smart phone agent that greets callers, answers their questions and books appointments in place of a human receptionist, around the clock, without ever putting anyone on hold. The word “AI” says that software answers, not a person working remotely.
Conditional call forwardingConditional call forwarding is a phone setting that automatically redirects a call to another number under certain conditions (no answer, line busy). It is used to send unanswered calls to an AI voice agent without changing your number.
Automated appointment bookingAutomated appointment booking means letting software book a slot by checking real availability, with no human intervention. By phone, an AI voice agent proposes a free slot, then locks it during confirmation to avoid double bookings and sends a confirmation text message.
Law 25Law 25 is the Quebec law that modernizes the protection of personal information (formerly Bill 64). It notably requires consent, limits how long information may be kept and frames transfers outside Quebec. It amends the Act respecting the protection of personal information in the private sector.
Cloned voiceA cloned voice is a synthetic voice built from recordings of a real person, so as to reproduce their timbre and accent. ATOM Assistant uses cloned Quebec voices for a natural result, far from generic synthetic accents.
Virtual switchboard operatorA virtual switchboard operator answers a business’s calls remotely, on its behalf, then routes them to the right person or takes a message. It can be a person in a call centre or artificial intelligence software. The name comes from the telephone switchboard, the device that once routed calls to extensions.
AI answering machineAn AI answering machine answers when you cannot, like an answering machine, but it understands the caller’s request instead of just recording a message. Depending on the tool, it transcribes the message, answers common questions or books an appointment.
Interactive voice responseInteractive voice response (IVR, RVI in French) is the phone system that greets the caller with a recorded menu: “for sales, press 1”. The caller answers with the keypad or a few keywords. It routes the caller to a department, but does not understand a freely worded request.
Privacy impact assessment (PIA)A privacy impact assessment, called EFVP in French (évaluation des facteurs relatifs à la vie privée), is the impact analysis a Quebec business must carry out before certain projects involving personal information, notably before communicating it outside Quebec or acquiring an information system.

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