AUSTIN, Texas, Might 1, 2025 – A brand new survey from AI voice options firm Vida exhibits that small and mid-sized companies which might be early adopters of AI-powered voice brokers are seeing elevated income, improved buyer engagement and stronger positioning as business leaders, in line with the corporate.
The inaugural SMB AI Voice Agent Adoption & Impression Survey discovered that SMBs that think about themselves business leaders are extra possible to make use of AI-voice brokers, significantly for inbound gross sales inquiries and buyer questions. But, adoption continues to be early and uneven throughout the SMB panorama, largely on account of perceived limitations like buyer choice for people and potential advanced implementation.
The SMB AI Voice Agent Adoption & Impression Survey was performed by Vida and Survey Monkey in March 2025, polling 320 SMB house owners and managers throughout numerous industries. The survey has a margin of error of ±5 p.c, making certain statistically dependable insights into AI adoption traits, advantages and challenges throughout the SMB sector.
Survey findings embrace:
- Solely 22 p.c of SMBs presently use AI voice brokers for his or her enterprise, however almost one-third (31 p.c) plan to spend money on AI voice throughout the subsequent 12–24 months.
ROI:
- 97 p.c of SMBs utilizing AI voice brokers report a rise in income.
- 82 p.c say these instruments have improved buyer engagement, serving to cut back missed calls and seize extra gross sales alternatives.
- 80 p.c report saving 5 or extra hours per week, releasing up time for higher-value duties.
Chief Benefit:
- 69 p.c of SMBs classifying themselves as leaders use AI voice brokers for buyer assist or gross sales, in comparison with simply 22 p.c that self-identify as aggressive.
- 49 p.c of SMBs classifying themselves as leaders have extensively adopted AI into their day-to-day operations.
Missed Calls
- 42 p.c of SMBs estimate shedding greater than $500 a month — or $6,000 a yr — on account of missed buyer calls.
- 50 p.c acknowledge broader enterprise impacts from missed communications.
- obtain between 10 and 100+ buyer calls per day.
Use Circumstances
- The highest functions for AI voice brokers are inbound gross sales inquiries (31 p.c) and answering FAQs (20 p.c) – duties that always go unattended however influence income.
- Surprisingly, solely 7 p.c are utilizing them for buyer assist escalation, signaling untapped potential to enhance service workflows.
Obstacles to Adoption
- The highest causes SMBs cite for not adopting AI voice brokers embrace the notion that prospects want talking to people and issues in regards to the complexity of setup.
- In the meantime, 61 p.c of SMBs report feeling under no circumstances assured or solely considerably assured of their means to implement and combine new applied sciences.
Regardless of these hurdles, most SMBs say they’re retaining tempo with opponents in terms of expertise, however confidence in implementation tells one other story. A majority of respondents described themselves as both “under no circumstances assured” or solely “considerably assured” of their means to combine new instruments like AI voice brokers.
“SMBs are lacking greater than calls – they’re lacking income,” stated Lyle Pratt, CEO and Founding father of Vida. “Our survey exhibits that AI voice brokers aren’t only a tech pattern, they’re a strategic benefit. Companies utilizing them are seeing actual good points, and we anticipate adoption to rise rapidly as extra SMBs acknowledge the chance and perceive the real-world use instances.”
“There’s clearly a spot between perceived tech-savviness and precise readiness to undertake these instruments,” added Pratt. “Whereas SMBs acknowledge the worth of rising applied sciences, they typically lack the assets or experience to successfully put them into follow. We need to assist bridge the hole with options which might be simple to implement and ship ROI quick.”
To study extra in regards to the Vida survey click on right here.
