The new receptionist at the car dealership might soon be virtual.

STELLA Automotive AI has launched STELLA Reception, a conversational artificial intelligence designed to answer the telephone.

The company said STELLA Reception engages with customers like a live receptionist, using an AI-powered digital voice assistant that recognizes and uses natural language and provides personalized interactions for customers in the automotive sector.

“STELLA answers the phone and simply asks, ‘How can I help you?’” STELLA Automotive AI CEO Rich Sands said. “Dealers no longer have to represent their brand with a tired push-button answering system.”

STELLA Reception can answer calls day and night, 24/7, and is designed to consistently represent the dealership and brand by greeting and communicating with customers using dealer-approved language. It has the capacity to handle multiple calls simultaneously, so calls don’t go unanswered.

The company said STELLA understands and assists callers’ needs, provides answers to frequently asked questions, routes calls to the right employees or departments using natural language understanding, and takes messages for the dealership, all with the goal of increasing productivity by freeing up staff to focus on more value-added activities.