Switching from an answering service
The risk in switching is not that the new thing fails, it is that you cancel the old one first and discover the gap afterwards. You can run both for a fortnight at almost no cost, and it removes nearly all the risk of the decision.
Run both, deliberately
Point your overflow at the new assistant while your existing service keeps handling your main line — or split by time, giving the assistant evenings and weekends first. You get a real comparison on your own calls rather than a demo, and if it is not working you have changed nothing you need to undo.
What transfers, and what does not
A script written for a human is a set of instructions for a person who will improvise. An assistant works better from the underlying facts — your services, hours and policies — than from someone else’s wording.
The document your service used to answer common questions is exactly what to upload. This is the most valuable thing you already own.
Whatever you told them to put through immediately should become the assistant’s urgent-flag rules.
You are changing where forwarding points, not changing your number.
Check the contract before you give notice
Thirty days is common; some are longer. Start the parallel run before you serve it, not after.
If they issued you a number you have advertised, find out whether you can port it out. This is the single thing that traps people.
Ask for an export before you leave. Afterwards is harder, and sometimes impossible.
Prepaid call bundles rarely refund. It may be cheaper to run out the term in parallel.
What you will genuinely miss
Judgement on difficult calls. A trained person handles an upset caller, an ambiguous situation or an unusual request better than an assistant does, and that will remain true. If a meaningful share of your calls are like that, the honest answer may be keeping a human service for your main line and using an assistant for overflow — rather than switching at all.
Frequently asked
Yes, and you should. Give the assistant overflow or evenings while your existing service keeps the main line, then compare on your own calls.
Not if it is yours. If your answering service issued the number, check whether you can port it out before giving notice — that is the thing that traps people.
Not directly, and it does not need to. Your FAQ document and escalation rules are the valuable parts; the wording was written for a human who would improvise.
Judgement on difficult calls. If a lot of your calls need that, keeping a human service for your main line and using an assistant for overflow may beat switching.