What I like best about Upfirst is that it gives my business a professional and consistent front line without needing to hire a full-time receptionist or virtual assistant.
As a small business owner, I was constantly juggling technical work, client support, admin, accounts, procurement, and marketing. Having Upfirst handle the first point of contact has taken a lot of pressure off me. Calls are captured properly, the reason for the call is summarised, and I can respond based on priority rather than being interrupted constantly throughout the day.
I was also impressed by how natural the call experience was when I first tested it. Feedback from clients and vendors has been mostly positive, and several people have mentioned that they did not initially realise they were speaking with AI.
Another thing I appreciate is that Upfirst is affordable and practical for a small business. It gives me many of the benefits of having someone answer calls, without the cost or complexity of hiring staff. The Upfirst team has also been responsive when I have had questions, and their own AI chatbot has been helpful too. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.
The main downside for me is that, being based in Australia, there can be a small amount of call latency at times. It has not been a major problem, and most calls still feel smooth enough, but it is occasionally noticeable.
Like any AI-based service, it also takes some time to refine the setup. The better your instructions are, the better the result will be, so I found it worthwhile to test different call scenarios and adjust the prompts over time.
That said, these are relatively minor issues compared with the benefits. Overall, Upfirst has been a smooth, practical, and worthwhile addition to my business. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.
