Voice AI Technology Helping Organizations Alleviate Customer Frustration Rather Than Leaving Them on-Hold

Research has found that two-thirds of consumers find waiting on hold or having to explain the same information to multiple representatives is the most frustrating aspect of getting customer service. This information reinforces the value that Voice AI technology can bring to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of customer service operations and ultimately the relationship between brand and consumer.

That’s the message from Voice AI specialist NLX, which says that automation of customer service operations is proven to not only improve efficiency and service quality but also to reduce cost. In addition, far from replacing human agents, the company says by using the technology to make customer service interaction more targeted and data-driven, it enhances the effectiveness and performance of human agents.

The company’s Voice Compass™ software can be quickly used by organizations to enhance their customer service offering. It delivers voice-guided, self-paced customer journeys that empower customers to complete routine tasks without having to talk to a real person, through the channels that are most familiar to them. Voice Compass Journeys are delivered through web pages, SMS Text, email, mobile phone, chat, voice and other popular channels that are already widely in use.

The research, conducted by HubSpot, reported 33% of customers being most frustrated by having to wait on hold, while a further third are most frustrated by having to repeat themselves to multiple support agents.

The findings have been echoed by similar reports from Zendesk, which found that nearly 60% of customers feel that long holds and wait times are the most frustrating parts of a service experience, and Bain & Company, which reported that a customer is four times more likely to switch to a competitor if the problem they’re having is service-based.

“Voice Compass™ is highly interactive with every step designed to get the customer closer to the satisfactory completion of their request,” explains Andrei Papancea, CEO and co-founder at NLX.

“Currently, when a customer wants to complete a comparatively complex task, like replacing a password or upgrading a flight, almost all of those conversations end up with a human agent. But we know that more than 60% of customers would rather do self-service than wait and talk to a live agent. Now, we are offering organizations a customer self-service option that gives them a ‘live agent’ feel without the wait time.”

Key to increasing the automation of customer support calls, Papancea explains, is the process of making agent handling more efficient.

“This means decreasing overall call times for agents by introducing customer self-service and accelerating call handling by providing clarity about the calls being sent to live agents.”

Voice Compass™ can be integrated with third party applications like CRM systems or Contact Centers. Integrations are already in place to CRM systems such as Salesforce, HubSpot CRM and Zendesk Sell with more being added all the time. It can also integrate with websites and mobile applications, as well as hardware devices such as IoT hardware. A Software Development Kit (SDK) is available free of charge, that can be used to integrate with the Voice Compass service.