Is it worth implementing an AI Voicebot in your company?

What does customer service automation powered by voicebots look like?

A voicebot is a type of voice-activated bot that conducts conversations with customers over the phone. Unlike a classic chatbot, which communicates via text, a voicebot uses real-time generated speech. This means that the caller speaks to the artificial intelligence just like during a regular phone call, and the bot analyzes the utterance and formulates a response based on what it heard.

Theoretically, such a voice assistant can be connected to a company phone number; however, in practice, a simpler and faster solution is often to use VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) technology, which allows calls to be made over the internet without the need for traditional infrastructure. Companies can also use ready-made tools for operating voicebots. In such cases, the phone number is usually assigned by the software provider for the duration of using the specific tool. This is a good approach, especially when a company wants to quickly test call automation without rebuilding its current infrastructure.

Incoming Call Automation

For incoming calls, a voicebot can take over some of the tasks previously handled by consultants. These most often include repetitive customer inquiries regarding offers, service availability, order status, operating hours, terms of cooperation, or complaint procedures. Such technology can also be used as a dispatcher, redirecting callers to appropriate internal extensions (often after a brief interview).

For the bot to respond correctly, it should have access to the company's knowledge base. This could include a set of frequently asked questions, regulations, product documentation, service information, price lists, or data retrieved from the company's internal systems. This allows the customer to receive an answer immediately, without waiting to connect with an employee.

A voicebot can also perform more practical tasks, such as taking orders over the phone. The customer provides the necessary information during the call, and the system records it and forwards it, for example, to an administrative panel, CRM system, spreadsheet, order management application, or directly to the fulfillment team.

Outgoing Call Automation

Voicebots are also used for outgoing calls. This solution works particularly well where a company needs to regularly contact customers for repetitive matters. A good example is the medical industry, where a bot can call a patient to confirm an appointment.

In such a scenario, the voicebot has a defined set of messages it should deliver and information it needs to collect from the caller. It can ask if the patient confirms the appointment, wishes to cancel it, or reschedule it for another time. The customer's response is then saved in a database or transferred to the reservation system. This means reception or service staff don't have to make dozens of similar calls daily. Such automation collects responses, organizes data, and allows for quicker reactions to schedule changes.

Types of voice bot automation worth implementing

Voicebots can be utilized in various ways, depending on the industry, sales model, and customer service approach. An AI voicebot will function differently for a medical clinic, e-commerce or for a B2B company selling products or services that require individual pricing.

Often, however, the greatest value comes not from merely creating an online voicebot, but from integrating it with the company's internal tools. This allows not only providing the voice bot with various information but also retrieving and saving data supplied by callers. The bot can then update statuses in applications, populate CRM records, pass information to sales representatives, or automatically trigger subsequent process stages. Below, we present 3 fundamental types of automation that accelerate business processes based on phone conversations.

Voicebot for appointment confirmation

As mentioned in the previous paragraph, one of the most common uses of a voicebot is appointment confirmation. This primarily applies to medical facilities, beauty salons, service establishments, training companies, and all businesses that operate based on appointment bookings.

A voicebot can automatically call a client before a scheduled consultation and ask if the appointment is still valid. If the caller confirms, the information will be saved in the system. If they cancel, the company can quickly free up the slot and make it available to another person. If the client wishes to reschedule, the bot can gather preferences for a new date or forward the matter to an employee. Such automation reduces the number of missed consultations, streamlines communication, and allows the team to focus on more demanding tasks.

Voicebot for e-commerce

A voicebot for an online store can act as a phone-based customer assistant, answering questions about products, delivery, payments, returns, and complaints. In e-commerce, many questions are repetitive, making it relatively easy to build a knowledge base based on frequently asked questions by users.

Such a voicebot for an online store operates similarly to AI chatbots, but instead of text-based conversation, it conducts a voice conversation. It can answer questions about product availability, differences between variants, return policies, order fulfillment times, or complaint conditions. If properly implemented, it can also access shipping data and check, for example, when a customer will receive their order.

In practice, this means that some users don't have to wait to speak with a consultant. They simply call the store's number, ask a question, and immediately receive an answer directly from the AI voice chatbot.

Voicebot integrations with CRM

In companies where service is longer and more complex than the classic 'add to cart and pay,' a voicebot can serve as an additional layer of verification or information gathering. This applies, among others, to B2B sales, individually configured products, services requiring quotes, or processes where a sales representative needs specific data before preparing an offer.

If a lead does not provide all the necessary information for preparing a quote, artificial intelligence can contact them even before the matter is passed to the sales department. Such a voice chatbot can inquire about missing details, such as project scope, number of users, completion deadline, budget, preferred solution, or technical specifications.

Only after gathering sufficient information can the lead be entered into the CRM system and passed on to a sales representative. This ensures the sales team receives better-prepared inquiries, and customer conversations are more specific and effective.

When can AI voicebot implementation negatively impact service quality?

An AI voicebot will not always be the best solution for every company and every process. It can negatively impact the customer experience when a personal relationship with the potential buyer is crucial in a given industry. This particularly applies to business clients, consultative sales, and situations where the caller expects not only an answer but also contextual understanding, reassurance, or a personalized approach. Examples include the legal, financial, consulting industries, or any service where a client needs to be reassured over the phone that their matter is progressing as expected. In such cases, replacing a human with a bot might be perceived as a reduction in customer service quality, even if our online voicebot technically functions correctly.

However, this does not mean that it's not worth automating processes in such companies. In similar situations, other AI-based solutions that support employees without replacing them in direct customer contact prove more effective.

For example, phone conversations, with the client's consent, can be recorded and then analyzed by appropriately implemented AI-powered process automation. Such a system can extract the most important information from the conversation, organize client needs, and prepare a preliminary offer for the salesperson. The salesperson can then review, approve, and send it to the client.

In such a model, the client still speaks with a human, so the quality of the relationship remains unchanged. At the same time, the company automates time-consuming process elements, accelerates offer preparation, and reduces the risk of missing important information.

Case study: how to improve customer service quality with an AI voicebot? 

One of the simplest ways to improve customer service quality with an AI voicebot is to give the user a choice. An AI voice assistant should help, speed up processes, and take repetitive tasks off the team's plate, but it shouldn't trap a customer in a conversation with no escape. There's nothing more frustrating than a bot that doesn't understand a complex question and simultaneously doesn't allow the conversation to be transferred to a human agent.

Therefore, in a well-designed automation, it's worth anticipating the possibility of transferring a call to a human. This can happen when the customer requests it themselves, when the voicebot cannot correctly interpret the caller's intent, or when the topic of the conversation requires an individual decision. This ensures the voicebot doesn't replace customer service at all costs, but rather acts as a first layer of contact, helping to resolve simple issues faster and relieving the burden on agents.

Companies often opt for a hybrid model. During business hours, for example from 8:00 AM to 4:00 PM, calls first go to human agents, and outside these hours, they are automatically switched to an AI voicebot. This allows customers to get basic information, leave contact details, answer a short survey, or book an appointment even when the team is no longer available.

We once analyzed a similar scenario for a company that wanted to implement a voicebot for booking appointments at a barbershop. The problem was that barbers couldn't answer calls while serving clients, and every missed call could mean a lost booking. The AI implementation was designed to work simply: the call first went to the barbershop, and if no one answered within about 10 seconds, the system assumed the staff were busy and transferred the conversation to the voicebot.

In this model, the company could answer virtually all calls without sacrificing direct customer contact. If a customer called during a less busy period, they could speak directly with the barbershop staff. However, if the barbers were busy, the AI voice assistant took over the conversation, gathered essential information, and helped book an appointment. This is an example of automation that doesn't negatively impact the relationship with a potential buyer but rather complements it.

Voicebot: Speeding up communication with customers

As you can see, a voicebot can be a very effective way to speed up customer communication, especially when your company deals with repetitive conversations, simple questions, appointment confirmations, phone surveys, or basic inquiry handling. A well-implemented AI voice assistant supports process optimization by reducing manual tasks, streamlining information gathering, and allowing for faster customer service without requiring an employee to be involved in every conversation.

However, this doesn't mean a voicebot is the best solution in every situation. If relationships, trust, consulting, or a personalized approach are crucial in your sales process, investing in a consultant or customer success manager might be more profitable. In such cases, we offer other, often more advanced AI solutions, which we wrote about in the article "AI Implementation in Business – How to Choose the Right Solutions? Practical Case Studies."

However, if you want to reduce operational costs, increase service availability, and need a solution that works even when a human agent can't answer the phone, a voicebot can significantly improve the efficiency of the entire process. A voicebot operates regardless of the time of day, making it particularly effective where customers call after business hours, expect a quick response, or want to perform a simple action without waiting to speak to a human.

It's important to remember, however, that the effectiveness of such a solution should be evaluated not only through the lens of automation but also its impact on conversion and customer experience. If you are convinced that a voicebot in your company will not negatively affect sales results, contact us. We will help you choose the best solution, design an appropriate conversation scenario, and integrate the voicebot with your systems to minimize manual work and speed up customer service as much as possible.