Author
Nisha Iyer
Nisha works on AIVA's conversation engine — the logic that turns natural-language calls into accurate, well-handled resolutions. Pragmatic about LLMs. Skeptical of agent frameworks.
Posts by Nisha Iyer
AI agent for car dealerships: qualify test-drive calls
A lot of dealership calls are from someone who isn't buying for six months. An AI agent for car dealerships sorts the two apart before a salesperson picks up.
AI agent for catering businesses: leads and tastings
A catering enquiry is never just 'are you free that date' — it's headcount, cuisine, budget, venue. An AI agent gets those before anyone calls back.
AI agent for financial advisors: a compliance-safe setup
Most calls to an advisory practice aren't advice — they're fees, logistics, scheduling. Knowing where an AI agent has to stop is the compliance question.
AI agent for immigration consultants: pre-qualify leads
A consultant's paid hour shouldn't start with 'tell me about your situation.' An AI agent for immigration consultants gathers that before the card is charged.
AI agent for pest control: phone quotes and scheduling
Some pest control jobs can be priced the second someone describes the problem. Others need a technician to look first — an AI agent has to know which is which.
AI agent for property management: triage maintenance
A burst pipe and a flickering light both read as 'maintenance request' — until someone asks. An AI agent triages tenant calls by urgency, not call order.
AI agent for travel agencies: qualify leads, not browsers
Every enquiry sounds the same until you ask three questions — destination, dates, budget. An AI agent asks first, so consultants spend time on buyers.
AI agent vs. "bot": why the difference matters to customers
"Is this a bot or an AI agent" sounds like a semantic argument, until a customer hits the edge of what it can actually do. Here's the real difference.
AI can't answer? Human handoff, explained for buyers
A fair question before you buy anything in this category: what actually happens the moment it hits something it can't handle? Here's the honest answer.
AI phone agent for diagnostic labs and pathology centers
Every diagnostic lab gets the same three calls: is my report ready, where do I collect, can I get a home sample. AIVA knows exactly where to stop.
AI receptionist for law firms: no paralegal bottleneck
Every matter starts with the same intake questions, and someone stops drafting to ask them. An AI receptionist collects the facts — never the advice.
AI receptionist for skin clinics and dermatologists
A question about acne or a mole isn't one most people want to ask aloud in a waiting room. An AI receptionist books it — and knows when to step back.
AI receptionist for veterinary clinics: calls, not texts
A worried pet parent doesn't type a calm message when their dog's vomiting — they call, wanting someone now. An AI receptionist is built for that moment.
AI voice call: how it works and what it actually costs
An AI voice call sounds complicated. It's four steps, run very fast, on a loop. Here's the pipeline, the latency numbers, and what it costs per minute.
AIVA + webhooks: custom workflows on every conversation
The 20-plus integrations on our list cover most requests. Webhooks cover what's left — here's how they work and what people build with them.
Can AI really understand Indian accents? We hear this a lot
The honest answer, and what we actually built to make it true — not just for accented English, but for the languages people actually want to speak.
Chatbot or voice AI agent: which does your business need?
They're not competing for the same job. Here's how to tell which one your customers are actually asking for. A practical guide to choosing between them.
The small business owner's guide to conversational AI jargon
Every vendor conversation for one of these tools comes with the same wall of jargon. Here's a plain-language pass through what's worth asking about.
AI handling angry customers: what actually happens
The scenario every business owner worries about before they deploy AI on their phone line. Here's exactly what happens. And when a human takes over.
How does AI phone answering actually work, end to end
From the moment the phone rings to the moment it hangs up — what actually happens in between, in about 200 milliseconds. A step-by-step breakdown of the call.
How natural do AI voice calls actually sound in 2026?
A lot of 'voice AI' still sounds like an airline hold menu. Here's an honest look at how natural AI voice calls sound right now — and what isn't solved.
How to write FAQs AI agents can actually answer (2026)
Most FAQ pages are written to be skimmed by a person. An AI agent has to read the same page and commit to a single, spoken answer. Here's how to write for that.
Inside the engine behind AIVA's two-way SMS AI agent
Voice and chat live inside a session. SMS doesn't. Here's how our two-way SMS engine picks up exactly where it left off, hours later, with nothing to hold onto.
One brain, every channel: how a unified AI agent works
A customer doesn't experience your business in channels — just one relationship, through whichever phone or screen is nearby. AIVA works the same way.
How to set up your first AI agent call flow (2026 guide)
A call flow sounds like it needs an engineer and an afternoon. Setting up your first one is really five decisions you already know the answers to.
The ticket that changed how we think about escalation.
It wasn't an angry customer. That was exactly the problem — the call that changed our escalation logic barely got flagged at all. Here's what we changed.
What "resolution rate" means — and why 96% isn't enough
96% resolution is a good headline number. It's also the number most likely to be misread. Here's what it actually measures, and where it runs out.
Why analytics retention is 90 days, not 30 or forever.
Thirty days is too short. Forever is a liability nobody asked for. The reasoning behind AIVA's 90-day default — and why it's fully exportable regardless.
Why AIVA doesn't have a public API yet (and when it will)
It's the second most requested feature after a mobile app. A public API is a promise we're not ready to make — and what has to be true first.
When AIVA should hand off to a human — and when not.
Escalate for who the customer needs, not what they asked. The logic behind our handoff rules — and why getting this wrong costs more than any latency problem.