What the hell is voice AI?

100 discovery calls later I can say that it’s one of those things where you ask five people and get five answers. And this is the reason I decided to write this. Full disclosure - I’m hoping to make my job a bit easier by enabling potential buyers to self-educate. So sue me.

My hope with this article is to provide you with the information you need when making the decision on whether to automate operations at your call center and how to go about it. 

So - what is voice AI? 

At its core, voice AI is defined as software that automates conversations that used to be done by humans. In this article I will talk about automation at call centers.

I have seen four reasons companies are looking at automation on this front: 

1. To cut costs
2. To make these processes more manageable and scalable 
3. To avoid hiring and training additional operators
4. It’s something people are talking about 

The first three can really be rolled into one - if a company automates, say, the work of 24 operators with a voice AI, that means: 

1. a significant cost savings (in the case of Dasha.AI - close to $1M per year).
2. This particular process becomes trackable and scalable. The company now has all the data on conversations that take place and can scale instantly
3. The 24 operators can be transferred to other tasks without having to hire additional staff.

Considering that the costs of an operator are not just their salary but also office rental, management, hardware, software, training, amenities, utility bills, insurance, regulatory compliance and the big bad wolf of attrition - this sort of automation can really make a lot of sense. 

The light at the end of the tunnel looks promising but which sort of automation is right for you? 

-- You mean there are different kinds? 

Well yeah. Not all conversational voice AIs are born equal and not every one is a fit for your specific needs.

1. Established solutions such as IBM Watson, Google Dialog Flow, Amazon Lex are a great fit if you are looking to automate processes that are internal to your organization and do not require a level of human-indistinguishability, for example: 

• Drivers calling in to report time of arrival or delays
• Delivery confirmations 
• Clocking in and out for out-of-office jobs 
• Anything else repetitive and internal to your org

Pros: reasonably fast to set up and launch, well-established companies and technologies 

Cons: do not sound human, limited depth of conversation, slow response times, may require numeric input or exact phrases, can be expensive

2. If you are in a business where your customers call in and ask repetitive questions that require account details, these conversations can be automated with a mid-tier solution. These automation tools are generally smarter and may be a good budget-conscious fit. 

Pros: Conduct conversations to your workflow, quick to set up, can go a bit deeper in terms of script complexity

Cons: Does not provide a human-like experience, may require your customers to repeat or paraphrase their words 

3. If you are a small business looking to replace a legacy IVR or add a new level of experience for your customers - Google CallJoy on the basis of Duplex may be a great solution. 

Pros: very inexpensive, very quick to set up

Cons: limited use cases, limited functionality and ability to customize, doesn’t sound all the way human

4. If you are in the business of communicating with your customers AND it is important for your customers to feel like they are talking to a human, then Dasha.AI is the solution for you. 

Pros: 96% human-indistinguishable, delivered with no less than 90% of all conversations completed successfully

Cons: more expensive than other solutions (but still 2-4 times cheaper than your operators), takes 1-3 months to train an AI model to communicate specifically with your customers 

Here are the questions I advise my potential clients to answer if they are not sure what the right fit is: 

1. What are the reasons why I’m looking to automate? 
2. What is the first process I want to automate? 
3. How many people will be freed for other processes due to this automation? 
4. Is it important that the person on the other end of the line feel like they’re talking to a human? 

I can really only dive deep with you into our solution. Nevertheless, on our discovery call, I will do all I can to make sure that we define what your needs are and which solution is the best fit for you. If we’re not a fit - you’ll know exactly why and where to look for a product that is a fit. 

What are you looking to automate?