Respond to customer inquiries
Part of the output can be produced by software today.
Software drafts well and sends at volume, and vertical support agents now resolve a large share of inbound questions end to end. What does not transfer is the relationship, and the judgment about when a message should not be sent at all.
| How automatable | Partly automatable |
|---|---|
| Kind of work | Routine communication and explanation |
| Jobs that do it | 10 occupations |
| Tool categories that apply | Vertical agents, Builders |
| O*NET activity | Performing for or Working Directly with the Public (4.A.4.a.8) |
What this looks like on the job
Not our paraphrase. These are real task statements recorded against this activity, spread across the 10 occupations that perform it.
- Accept music requests from event guests.
- Answer inquiries concerning the progress of medical cases, within the limits of confidentiality laws.
- Answer telephone inquiries, referring callers to pharmacist when necessary.
- Answer patrons' questions about gaming machine functions and payouts.
- Respond to questions from patrons, and provide information about animals, such as behavior, habitat, breeding habits, or facility activities.
- Answer questions about game rules and casino policies.
- Answer questions about game rules or casino policies.
- Give door checks to patrons who are temporarily leaving establishments.
- Answer customer inquiries or explain cost, availability, policies, and procedures of facilities.
- Describe tour points of interest to group members, and respond to questions.
What we would actually use
One recommendation rather than a shortlist, because a shortlist is just your problem handed back. This is what we would buy for routine communication and explanation, and what it costs.
Drafting replies costs nothing beyond the assistant you already pay for. Only move to a support agent billed per resolution once the inbound volume is large enough that the per-resolution price beats the hour it takes you.
Chosen for the cheapest thing that does the job, not the best funded. Nothing on this site is sponsored, and the full landscape is there when you want to disagree with us.
The rest of the category
Context, not alternatives to weigh up. We name the layer rather than promise a named product does your specific task.
Matched from the kind of work, not from vendor marketing. Check any of them can reach the system your records actually live in — that connection, not the model, is where these projects stall.
How people actually do it
Step-by-step workflows that name this activity, with the prompts to paste and what to keep for yourself.
Others for routine communication and explanation
Who does this work
10 occupations in the O*NET database perform this activity. Each one has a full breakdown of its other tasks.
- Animal Caretakers
- Disc Jockeys, Except Radio
- First-Line Supervisors of Gambling Services Workers
- Gambling and Sports Book Writers and Runners
- Gambling Dealers
- Locker Room, Coatroom, and Dressing Room Attendants
- Medical Transcriptionists
- Pharmacy Aides
- Tour Guides and Escorts
- Ushers, Lobby Attendants, and Ticket Takers
Work that goes with it
O*NET groups these under “Respond to customer problems or inquiries”. In practice they tend to be done by the same person, in the same sitting.
Method. The activity, its taxonomy placement and the occupations that perform it come straight from the public-domain O*NET 30.3 database. The automatability band is ours: we map each of O*NET’s 41 generalized work activities to how much of its output current software can produce, assuming a person still reviews and owns the result. It is a coarse three-way judgment on purpose. A precise-looking percentage here would be invented.