VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) has been around for over two decades now. Surprisingly, though, many people still think of it as merely a communications technology that is meant to place phone calls over the internet. While it is true (VoIP does enable businesses to make and receive calls over the internet and reduce telecom expenses), today’s VoIP systems can do so much more than that, transforming the entire call center industry.
Artificial Intelligence (AI), in particular, is one of those tech advancements that made VoIP call center systems more sophisticated (read: efficient). In this blog, we’ll look deeper into how integrating AI into a VoIP communication system helps call centers operate more efficiently and, most importantly, serve their customers better.
What is AI VoIP and Why Does it Matter?
AI VoIP is an integration of AI technology into VoIP phone systems. And it truly brings a host of new possibilities for call centers when it comes to handling customer communications – from improved support efficiency, better personalization, and enhanced customer experience to reduced customer support costs and everything in between. At VoiceSpin, we believe that AI is a real game-changer for VoIP communications and the call center industry in general.
AI-powered VoIP systems can intelligently route calls to the best-fitting call center reps, help callers resolve issues independently, automatically analyze voice interactions for QA, customer sentiment, and performance metrics – and Afghanistan Email List 168973 Contact Leads the list goes on. To cut a long story short, when VoIP phone systems blend with AI, call centers can streamline customer interactions, reduce the number of manual tasks call center reps have to do, optimize many processes, improve CX, and ultimately save time and money.
Key Capabilities AI Brings to VoIP Services and How Call Centers Benefit from this Synergy
Let’s now get more specific about what new features, tools, and capabilities AI has already brought to VoIP and how exactly call centers benefit from this blend.
1. AI intelligent call routing (predictive call routing)
When customers call a call center for support, they naturally expect two things:
They want to be connected to the most relevant representative
They want to get their issue resolved quickly and efficiently
While the second point comes down, more or less, to the training of call center reps, the first one heavily relies on call center technology. This is where AI-powered automated call routing, also referred to as predictive call routing, can make a difference for both callers and agents.
When an incoming call is coming in, AI algorithms analyze multiple variables – such as the caller’s geographic location, previous interactions, and the nature of the inquiry based on the caller’s IVR inputs – to route the call to the best-suited agent or department. And it can also help in call prioritization. For example, urgent customer calls or calls from VIP customers are placed in the front of the call queue to ensure they are connected to call center reps faster and receive priority support.
With intelligent call routing, call centers can eliminate call transfers, reduce handle times, and ultimately improve customer satisfaction. According to Probe CX, implementing predictive call routing enabled the company to reduce the average handling times by 14% and call transfers by 5%.
2. AI Interactive Voice Response (IVR)
Interactive Voice Response (IVR) systems have been a fundamental part of call center operations. Along with call routing, IVR helps call centers route incoming calls even more effectively by capturing each caller’s intent and available customer data. In addition, multi-level IVR self-service menus can help callers receive information and handle certain basic issues (like checking account balances or scheduling appointments) independently without needing to talk to a live agent.
When AI came into the mix, IVR systems have become much more advanced. AI-powered IVR systems help optimize call routing, eliminate call transfers, reduce handle times, improve First Call Resolution (FCR) rates, and enhance customer satisfaction while also enabling you to reduce the number of calls that need to be handled by human reps. Based on McKinsey, next-gen IVR systems can reduce the number of live-agent calls by over 10% and deliver a fivefold improvement in CSAT scores.
Recommended reading: How AI Benefits Customer Service and How it is Used in Contact Centers
3. AI speech recognition, transcription, and call summarization
Another capability that AI brings to VoIP voice communication is speech recognition. In the call center environment, AI speech recognition technology (also known as Automatic Speech Recognition) is used in call/ voicemail transcription and call summarization. It basically converts spoken human speech into written text in real time, making conversations searchable, and summarizes each call. Just think about the efficiency it brings to call centers.
Firstly, call center managers can review transcribed calls or (even better) call summaries to assess the quality of interactions, evaluate agent performance, or just search for specific information without having to listen to the entire call recording. That also provides quick access to past interactions so your reps can easily refer to previous conversations and deliver a more personalized experience to customers.
