How AI Voice Can Help SMBs And What Businesses Should Know

While AI voice has been linked to automation replacing workers and AI-powered scams and fraud, industry professionals say the technology can also help SMBs in daily operations.

A new study from Smith.ai, a California-based AI Voice company founded by a team from Google, Apple, and Intuit, evaluated more than 3.2 million inbound calls to 4,210 U.S. law firms from June 2022 to July 2026. They found that 22% of calls arrive after hours, and 62.6% of answered calls are qualified leads.

Lawyers are an example of one of the hardest, most valuable funnels in small business, but the study trend applies to any SMB business that relies on phone calls for customers, Suresh Khanna, CEO of Smith.ai, says. As Khanna explains, every missed call is a missed customer.

In this report, executives from Voices, industry professionals, and lawyers specializing in legal tech explain how SMBs can benefit from AI Voice, how challenges can be navigated, and what the must-do checks are.

AI Voice: How Can AI Voice Help SMBs?

Customer service tools, phone and Interactive Voice Response (IVR) systems, e-learning, advertising, and other digital experiences are just a few examples of areas where small and mid-sized enterprises can leverage AI voice to grow reach and impact without scaling resources, Ruth Zive, CMO at Voices, a platform for voice solutions powered by professional talent (working from Voice Data to Branded AI Voice and Voice Over), says.

Voices is used by companies like YouTube, Adobe, and Microsoft. The company stands out from the competition for using real professional voice actors, instead of synthetic AI voices, widely used by other companies.

“AI voice makes the most sense when it comes to high-volume content that has to ship fast, change often, or reach multiple markets such as common customer service inquiries, product training, and localized ads,” says Zive.