AT&T wants to protect you from spam calls and says that it has a long history of protecting users from spam and fraud. For example, did you know that AT&T blocks more than 2 billion robocalls per month? Now you do. But the spammers are always looking one step ahead and are now employing the hottest thing in tech today-AI-to spam AT&T subscribers. So the carrier has decided to fight back. What better tool for AT&T to wield in this battle than the one being used to trick their customers-AI.
AT&T wants to give you a digital receptionist to screen your calls
AT&T is in the midst of testing a digital receptionist that select customers will be receiving during the year. You have to hand it to the wireless provider for, as they note in their presser, "fighting fire with fire." The digital receptionist is added to the AT&T Armour security suite and talks to callers to determine if a call is suspicious. After studying years of data to help it learn how spam and fraud work, and learning how its algorithms help combat this, AT&T's new tool is ready to prevent subscribers from getting ripped off.
Will you use the digital receptionist?
Sure, why not? It sounds like a very useful feature.
50%
No. It's another waste of my time.
50%
The digital receptionist uses agentic AI, which means that it can make decisions, take initiatives, and execute tasks without human input. The feature also uses advanced voice-to-voice to help you screen your calls making sure that the calls you take are the calls you want to take. As a result, you're left spending more time on important calls while AI handles the rest.
AT&T's digital receptionist screens your calls before they reach you. | Image credit-AT&T
Let's say you get a phone call. The digital receptionist will ask the caller, "Who may I say is calling?" and "What is this in regard to?" It also figures out if the caller is human (or inhuman?), whether the call is urgent, and decides if it meets the criteria put together by the AT&T customer. If the call passes all the checks, the digital receptionist puts the call through and leaves the call. If the call deals with something that can be handled by the AI all by itself, like taking a message, it will be done.
How the digital receptionist responds if callers don't identify themselves
In certain situations, the digital receptionist will disconnect a call or take a message. Such situations include a call to the wrong number, if the caller won't identify him or herself, and if the reason for the call doesn't meet the user's criteria. If you're an AT&T subscriber with this feature, you'll be able to watch a live transcript of the digital receptionist talking to the caller on your screen. If you see something about the call that you want to respond to, you can jump in and join the call at your convenience.
"We’re working on lots of agentic AI use cases, which we’ll be talking about as soon as we can. While this digital receptionist is just in its testing phase for now, we’re drawing on our strong track record of innovation and AI expertise to create experiences you would expect – and some you might not – from cutting-edge technology like AI. We’ll continue sharing updates as we roll out new AI tools to increase efficiency, convenience, and put our customers first, period."
-Andy Markus Chief Data Officer, AT&T
Another option is to wait for the digital receptionist to finish handling the call, read a text summary about it, and decide whether you want to return the call yourself. You can also allow certain callers to get through to you without a hassle by creating a "Do Not Screen" list. Calls from people on that list can include relatives, friends, doctors, your boss, or others that can be put through to you immediately without having to be screened.
What makes AT&T's digital receptionist so unique
Sure, several phone manufacturers have their own call screen feature. But AT&T has its digital receptionist built directly into its network. It also doesn't drain your phone's battery or require that you download a large file in order to work. It also does its job if you are out of range of your cellular service or not connected to it at all.
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