9 smart applications of voicification
Index
Customers still like to call, despite all the digital channels available. Convenient and fast for them, but costly and labour-intensive for organisations. With a voicebot, you combine the efficiency of a chatbot with the accessibility of telephony. In other words, with a “voicified” version of your chatbot, you’re able to give your chatbot a voice.
What is voicification?
Voiceification means making existing chatbot software available on the telephone. You use the knowledge, answers and integrations that are available in the chatbot platform. The only addition is a link to the telephone network. This allows the bot to communicate via voice. Speech is converted to text (STT), the chatbot processes it, and the caller receives an immediate response via text-to-speech (TTS).
Where does a voicebot really make a difference? These are the use cases we see in practice every day.
Use cases where voicification makes a difference
1. Smart entry instead of IVRs
We’re all familiar with those annoying IVRs that force you to make a choice by pressing 1, 2 or 3. A voice-controlled IVR replaces these outdated selection menus. Callers state their problem or question and receive a response in plain language. The voicebot then directs the call in the right direction. This can be done by allowing the caller to handle matters themselves with the voicebot, or by routing the caller to an employee. An additional advantage is that the employee is informed of the reason for the call and can therefore start the live conversation well prepared. Your agents save time, and the caller receives an answer to their question more quickly.
2. Respond immediately based on existing knowledge base
Your chatbot is already linked to an internal knowledge base. By linking voice to your chatbot, the voicebot can draw on the same information. Whether it's opening hours, invoice information or status updates — anything the chatbot helps your customer with, the voicebot can help your customer with too.
3. Relieving agents of standard questions
More than half of incoming queries can be handled automatically, for example because they’re recurring questions that have a standard answer. Without a voicebot, live agents have to deal with these recurring questions or issues manually. This is a waste of their time and unnecessarily expensive. By using a voicificated version of your chatbot, you can relieve the pressure on agents and allow them to focus on more complex issues.
4. Transferring to the right department or employee
Sometimes personal contact is necessary, either because you want to offer it or because some questions simply require more context than a chatbot or voicebot can provide. By having the voicebot ask the right questions, you can transfer the caller directly to the right department or agent, complete with context and call reason.
5. Self-service: a voicebot enables callers to arrange matters themselves
In a chatbot, users can already regularly change their address, check the status of a parcel or pay a bill via a QR code. Thanks to integrations with the backend, a voicebot can also allow users to perform these types of tasks on the phone. A voicebot can also send an SMS to help a caller further on another channel.
6. Solving waiting times more intelligently
Long waiting times, especially on the telephone, are frustrating for many people. A smart voicebot can offer the caller the option of being called back later by an employee. Based on availability, the caller chooses a date and time themselves. The voicebot can also offer to contact them via another channel, such as email.
7. Collecting feedback
Employees can ask callers what they thought of the contact, but they have to write it down and interpret it correctly. A voicebot, on the other hand, can ask for feedback or the caller's opinion about the conversation, log it automatically and analyse it to improve service quality. Not only after a conversation conducted entirely by a voicebot, but also after a conversation with a live agent. A voicebot can also transcribe the entire conversation and make it usable for reports and analyses.
What are the benefits of a voicificated chatbot?
A voicebot offers more than just lower costs. Your customers get the same experience everywhere, whether they call, chat or email. Your agents are relieved, waiting times disappear and the customer profile becomes more complete.
- A consistent experience across multiple customer contact channels
- Faster and more personalised responses for customers
- Less pressure on agents
- Lower costs through automation
- A more holistic customer profile
- Better routing to the right employee
Time to give your chatbot a voice
Voicification makes your chatbot more valuable, without requiring major investments. By giving your customers the option to call your chatbot, you not only increase your organisation's accessibility, but also offer customers the choice to communicate through the channel they prefer.
