The huge potential of voice bots to transform call centre operations
AI-based voice bots, featuring natural language processing and speech recognition, are becoming key to improving customer experiences and optimising business operations. Already prevalent in Scandinavia and the US, this technology enables modern and efficient communication between businesses and customers. Forward-thinking companies will leverage voice interfaces, such as Siri and Alexa, and natural conversation capabilities of ChatGPT to significantly improve both customer experience and call centre operations.
Let's take a look at how these voice bots work, the wide-ranging benefits they offer and the challenges faced by companies already deploying them.
How voice bots work
AI-powered voice bots are not just automated answering machines; they are complex systems designed to mimic human interaction naturally and intuitively. Their advantage lies in their growing resemblance to live agents while giving users a greater degree of anonymity as well as faster resolution of requests.
Voice bots are based on several key technological components:
- Automatic speech recognition (ASR) converts speech into text and lays the foundation for further interaction.
- Natural Language Understanding (NLU) analyses the text to identify key information such as intent and context.
- The conversation module uses the insights gained to formulate accurate and contextually relevant responses.
- The text-to-speech (TTS) system converts the textual responses back into speech, allowing bots to communicate naturally and understandably.
Benefits of voice bots
Voice bots bring numerous benefits to businesses, significantly transforming operations and customer service by enabling continuous availability, rapid scalability, cost-efficiency, personalised customer experiences, and seamless compatibility with other technology systems.
Here are the key reasons why a company would choose to automate customer conversations and use a voice bot:
- 24/7 availability and continuous presence: Automation enables a constant presence across different communication channels and eliminates overnight queues.
- Shorter wait times: Voice bots can resolve calls faster and reduce wait times during off-peak hours to improve the user experience.
- Refocusing advisors: As customer conversations are automated and simpler questions are handled by bots, employees can focus on more complex and valuable interactions. Additionally, bots can hand over requests to human advisors for specific questions.
- Operational scalability and cost-effectiveness: When demand fluctuates or call centre workloads increase, voice bots can easily handle different volumes of enquiries, making them ideal for businesses experiencing rapid growth or seasonal peaks. By automating routine tasks, these bots reduce the need for a large customer service team, leading to operational cost savings.
Beyond improving efficiency, this approach also boosts customer satisfaction by reducing response times and optimising workforce distribution.
Consumers are ready to talk to voice bots
The 2022 Boost.AI survey, examining customers' preferences for interacting with voice bots versus humans, reveals interesting insights into customer preferences:
- Choice between human and voice bot: In scenarios, where waiting is not a factor, consumer preferences are evenly split; 50% of customers prefer to speak to a human, while the other 50% are willing to interact with a voice bot.
- When offered the option to avoid queues with the help of a voice bot, 90% of customers opt for the immediate help from a voice bot, as long as they do not lose their place in the queue to speak to a human.
These results show that customers are open to technological solutions, especially if it means reduced waiting times and more efficient communication. The survey suggests that further voice bot integration and improvements could significantly boost customer satisfaction and operational efficiency for companies.
Boost.ai automated system integrates conversational and generative artificial intelligence
Powered by boost.ai's technology, the advanced automated calling system harnesses a powerful toolset that includes predefined and generative responses, authentication, virtual agent termination, seamless topic switching and SMS confirmations. Using large language models and integration with a database, action calls and APIs, the system achieves a high degree of automation. It transforms the voice channel into a more efficient and user-friendly interface, significantly increasing customer value.
Successful voice bot implementation at Norway Post
Norway Post, in partnership with Boost.AI, has successfully integrated a voice bot that has transformed the way it communicates with customers. Even though official business hours are from 8:00 to 17:00, the bot ensures 24/7 accessibility, significantly improving customer support, especially outside business hours. The eight-week project aimed to transition from a chat service to a fully operational voice bot, resulting in an increase in the number of calls received outside regular business hours. This solution significantly reduced the burden on monthly communications and improved customer satisfaction. Norway Post uses voice bots to manage call volumes as well as to improve the overall customer experience.
We are currently rolling out our first voice bot pilot projects. Looking ahead, we expect further AI improvements that will enhance the capabilities of voice bots. With their ability to deliver responsive, personalized service at scale AI voice bots are certainly a disruptive technology in customer service and indispensable for any forward-thinking company.
