Ryku · Compare
AI agent or another person in the office?
Another person in the office answers during their shift, learns how your firm works over a few months, and costs a salary plus everything that sits on top of it. A Ryku agent answers every call, email, chat and message from the day it goes live, at any hour, from £299 a month. Which one fits depends on how much of the job is answering.
What each one covers
| A new office recruit | Ryku agent | |
|---|---|---|
| Hours covered | Their shift | Every hour, including nights and weekends |
| Time to get useful | Weeks to months of learning the firm | Live once the knowledge base is loaded |
| Holiday and sickness | Cover needed | No gaps |
| Channels | Whatever they can get to | Voice, email, chat and social together |
| Judgement on the odd case | Strong | Escalates it to your team |
| Cost basis | Salary plus on-costs | From £299 a month, first month free |
Where a person still wins
Anything that needs judgement, a relationship or a site visit. Pricing a tricky job, talking a client down after a bad week, walking a site with a subcontractor. None of that is answering work, and none of it should be handed to an agent.
Where the agent wins
The repetitive answering that eats a day: where is my order, can someone come out, what is the lead time, has the invoice been paid. It is the same handful of questions on repeat, and every one of them is in your own documents already.
The honest way to decide
Count how much of the role you are about to recruit for is answering the same questions, and how much is the judgement work. If it is mostly answering, an agent covers it from day one and around the clock. If it is mostly judgement, recruit. We put real numbers against the cost side in what an AI agent costs a trades firm.
Common questions
Is an AI agent cheaper than hiring someone?
Ryku starts at £299 a month with the first month free, which sits well below a salary and the on-costs around it. The fair comparison is not cost alone though. An agent covers answering around the clock and a recruit brings judgement an agent does not have.
Can an AI agent replace an office administrator?
It replaces the answering part of the job, not the judgement part. Most firms use it to take the repetitive enquiries off the desk so the person they already have can do the work that needs a human.
How long before it is working?
A short call, then a tailored build that typically takes two to six weeks depending on what you need it to do.
What happens with a question it cannot answer?
It passes it to your team rather than guessing. The odd case is exactly what your people should be picking up.
Does it work outside office hours?
Yes. Nights, weekends and the hours nobody is at a desk are usually where the missed calls are.
Tell us about your firm and we will shape the agent around how you already work.