While a frame is being fitted on a customer, the shop’s phone still gets an answer.
You are adjusting the arms of one customer’s glasses while another waits at the counter, and the phone rings for the fourth time this hour. The Alyas agent picks up for you: it gives your opening hours and address, offers an appointment for an eye test, a hearing assessment or a hearing aid trial depending on what your shop offers, and takes a message from those who want to know whether their glasses are ready.
On the phone, in this line of work
The calls to an optician’s or a hearing centre fall into three families: those who want an appointment (renewal, first test, trying a hearing aid), those who ask where their order stands, and those who need practical information (opening hours, access, walk-in repairs, which health insurers you work with). The first and third are handled from your documents; the second needs a look at your records, which the agent does not have.
That is why the dividing line is clear. For “are my glasses ready?”, the agent guesses nothing: it takes the name, the call-back number and the approximate order date, then the counter or workshop checks the order and calls back. The customer knows where they stand, and you find a complete message rather than a nameless “call me back”.
What the agent does for you
Offer an appointment for an eye test, a hearing assessment or a hearing aid trial in Google Calendar or Cal.com, according to the services you describe.
Take the message of a customer asking whether their glasses or devices are ready: name, number and order date, so that the team calls back after checking.
Give opening hours, address, access, services (adjustments, minor repairs, lens fitting) and the brands you carry, from your documents.
Relay what your shop has written about health insurers and third-party payment, without ever working out a reimbursement.
An example workflow
Illustrative example
A scenario written to show how it works: it is not the recording of a real call.
- The contactOn a Saturday at 11 a.m., a customer calls: she ordered varifocal lenses ten days ago and would like to know whether she can come and collect them.
- Alyas agentThe agent says it is an AI and that the call is recorded, then explains that it has no access to the workshop or to her order.
- Alyas agentIt notes her name, her number and the order date, tells her the counter will call her back, and gives her the day’s opening hours again.
- After your next appointment, you read the summary in your client dashboard, look up the order and call her back.
Connected tools
Google Calendar and Cal.com for test or trial appointments, once connected. Transfer to the shop number you configure, one per agent. Your shop’s management software is not connected to the agent.
Further reading
Industries
Medical practicesIndustries
PharmaciesUse cases
Phone appointment booking, straight into your calendar.Use cases
Call your customers the day before to confirm their appointment.Resources
AI on the phone: what the GDPR and the AI Act sayBlog
Health data on the phone: what a reception desk must not say or ask
Other industries: Healthcare
Frequently asked questions
Does a customer calling about their glasses know they are not speaking to someone in the shop?
Yes: the agent introduces itself as an AI and says the call is recorded before anything else. If the customer would rather speak to the team, the call is transferred to the number you have configured, or a call-back is noted. See also our guide to what the GDPR and the AI Act require.
What does the agent say to a customer asking whether their glasses have arrived?
It simply says it has no access to the shop’s orders and offers to pass the request on. It notes the name, number and order date, then the team checks and calls back. If you have given it a general indication, such as your workshop days, it can quote it without making any promise about a specific order.
A customer wants to read out their correction or prescription over the phone: does the agent record it?
No. It invites the customer to bring their prescription or assessment to the shop and does not record it. It sticks to what is needed to arrange the appointment: name, number, type of appointment wanted.
Can the agent say how much the health insurer will reimburse?
No. It can repeat the general information you have written, for example the list of insurers the shop works with, but it works out no reimbursement and no out-of-pocket cost. It notes the question so that the team answers with the file in front of them.
And if a caller describes feeling unwell or a sudden loss of sight or hearing?
The agent gives no medical opinion and asks no diagnostic questions. It invites the caller to dial the emergency numbers (15, 112) straight away; this is not an appointment to book at the shop.
No call or message left unanswered.
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