ALICE Receptionist Reviews

Pros

Great support. Setup everything for us and checks in.

Cons

Manual updates and no wireless option at the time.

Pros

We have thoroughly enjoyed the ease of use for clients, staff, and administrators.

Cons

The back-office account is a little slow, but I hear changes are coming to that in 2023.

Alternatives Considered

Envoy and The Receptionist for iPad

Reasons for Switching to ALICE Receptionist

We sought a reception Kiosk that was substantial and could easily catch the attention of anyone entering our office. Additionally, we had a design idea in mind prior to selecting a virtual receptionist. The customization capabilities of ALICE were able to create what we had in mind perfectly.

Pros

When it's working all is fine, which is rarely, the problem is that you have limited licences on set up and it's not made easy to purchase these or to renew them after their expiry

Cons

Constantly have to check the system is working, high purchase cost, ongoing licence costs and extra costs for purchasing more licenses, customer support is very poor and system is full of bugs

Pros

This was impactful for us because we were able to cut the costs of an entire reception. ALICE serves its job well and provides a fairly easy start-to-finish solution for clients to reach the people they are wanting to get ahold of when they enter the building.

Cons

The calls have a small delay when connecting to our phone system. That being said, it may very well be because we are using ZOOM phone service, but there is an audible delay between the client and the person answering the ALICE phone. You might be starting your sentence to realize someone else is already talking over you. Otherwise there are no cons that came to mind for this software. Keep that small detail in mind when choosing to set up this service. It's still very workable, though.

Pros

Self check in with DoD, State Department, ITAR prescreening and vetting visitors

Cons

The scanner disconnects too often and we have to reboot. It is waaaay better than a year ago, but still goes off-line for no apparent reason.

Pros

It allows us to utilize all our personnel more efficiently by not having someone constantly in the lobby. The system pages whomever a visitor is there to see, and then each employee can retrieve their visitor accordingly. It also prevents unwanted guests from wandering into the halls of our office space as was the case before. The security aspects are great when combined with a secure locked door between your office space and the ALICE location.

Cons

Integration with a phone system was difficult. I recommend integration with computers, meaning all users need to have a mic and webcam at their desktops. When we implemented the system 7 years ago, that was not as common as it is today. We are looking forward to how our newest system works in this manner.

Pros

Ability to call from a SIP server
Access Custom URL's

Cons

Reporting Capabilities
Check out time not spanning across multiple days

Pros

We are fairly new but we are really enjoying our Alice Receptionist. It is a great alternitive to having someone greet our guests and gives a WOW factor when someone walks in to our office. Easy to use!

Cons

Until we adjusted the settings, it was going off too much everytime someone walked by. We adjusted it and it is much better!

Pros

The setup was super easy and the directory is simple and clean.

Cons

Nothing that they can change but internally we are working on a solution for the cords.

Pros

It works. Easy to configure, lots of options. Up-time of service is great.

Cons

It runs on Windows... Every couple of months it needs a reboot.

Pros

Integration of the product was handled with qualified professionals. They were able to make all requests happen and in a timely fashion. It is easy to use, but if it was not they are only an email or phone call away.

Cons

The software does require some programming knowledge. The surface level options do not provide you access to all features of the program.

Pros

Easy to use and provides a positive first impression of the company without the need to hire and train the right person. Also, since it doesn't need breaks, vacations, or sick time, it is always there to great your guests.

Cons

While we really like the idea of the system being triggered by motion, unfortunately our employees go past the system many times everyday triggering it. As a result, we turned off that feature. Also, be aware of ADA accessibility requirements.

Pros

Alice receptionist is just what it claims to be, it is refreshing to buy a product that does what it claims without a lot of add ons required to get the functionality listed in the marketing info.

Cons

She tends to hang on updates from time to time. Not a huge deal but I have to endure the "cute" comments about waking Alice back up.

Pros

The ability to customize ALICE for our specific needs to transform our lobby into a self-contained, welcoming and safe place to interact with our staff throughout the building without having a person in this area.

Cons

Since this is a new way to welcome customers to our business and not familiar to them, it will take some time for them to understand and embrace this new technology.

Pros

Easy to use and self explaining. Telephone function is perfect.

Cons

N/a

Pros

Alice has been a quick and easy solution for our front lobby area. She allows quick and seemless updates to our staff directory and allows clients to quickly reach engineers as needed in our secure facility

Cons

The fact that alice never changes you can change here language but there is no Holiday Alice others have mention that Alice is behind a blank white background it would be interesting to see her change with the seasons.

Pros

Having Alice in our business lobby has helped improve our customer service. We are able to safely respond to visitors at the door and can even speak to them over the screen to help direct them on where they need to go. The video prompt on the Alice screen helps direct the visitor to best assist them. This has allowed us to keep staff out of the open lobby and improve security for our office.

Cons

The only real negative is that our kiosk is in a vestibule - unless we choose an upgrade and factor in future configuration costs, we cannot unlock our doors to let the visitor in. We must still go out and provide them access to the building.

Pros

Setup easy. Making necessary adjustments is made easy by their great tech support.

Cons

Didn't like the custom hardware as much. We switched the main unit to a Dell micro PC so in the event of a hardware failure, replacement should be easy.

Pros

I love that we do not have to have someone staff the front desk which would take time away form other work that could be done. I also like that guests can reach their point of contact directly.

Cons

Occasionally it freezes but a quick restart usually gets it moving again.

Pros

The cloud version is easy to update, the tech support is quick to respond to errors and fix them. can even have them make changes for holiday themes on Alice

Cons

there isn't anything i can think of that could be a con of this software.

Pros

The Alice software works well. We are able to customize the screens to show guests what we want.

Cons

The touchscreen system itself ages quickly, we find ourselves rebooting the system very frequently.

Pros

Usually well received, and flexible configuration options makes it versatile to fit many requirements

Cons

Not really a Con but take the time to evaluate every possible use case and plan your deployment

Pros

When working it did its job effectively and efficiently. It really does replace your front desk.

Cons

The maintenance on this product is a it tricky and may require some external help.

Pros

Easy to call phones from interface. Easy to find users in directory list.

Cons

Old looking interface. No updates or new functionallity in years. Needs heavy CPU and GPU to be used, which forces you to buy expensive hardware and limited hardware possibilites.

Pros

Customer Service & Support

Ability to set configurations ourselves

Language options

Lync Integration availability

Cons

No ability to "chat" with people. Phone calls for dynamic interaction or email notifications