Customer service demands are rising, and many organizations are still searching for effective ways to maintain top-level communication despite limited staffing resources. Learn in this blog post how conversational AI and voicebots are driving a new kind of customer service and why now is the ideal time to delve into this technology.
To achieve the speed and quality required for modern, high-level customer service, automation tools are essential. Over time, we’ve become accustomed to chatbots, which can often handle simple customer queries without the involvement of human service staff.
With the rapid development of artificial intelligence in recent years, new perspectives on automated customer communication are emerging. Conversational AI enables not only automated responses to service inquiries through simple chats but also through conversation simulations that give customers the feeling they are talking to a "human" representative.
What Does the Future of Customer Service Look Like?
The cross-industry trend toward digitalized, rapidly growing business models often brings a sharp increase in service inquiries across various channels. It’s no wonder that customer service departments frequently reach their capacity limits. Decision-makers are increasingly asking how to handle a large volume of customer inquiries without hiring an excessive number of service agents.
A key insight is that many inquiries consist of simple, repetitive questions. Service agents often answer the same questions multiple times a day, such as:
What is my customer number?
Where is my package?
How can I change my address?
How does the ordering process work?
Where is my invoice?
While these types of inquiries can be processed quickly and easily, the high volume makes them time-consuming and frustrating for service agents. According to Parloa, call center agents in Europe and the U.S. spend 90 million minutes each day answering simple, repetitive customer inquiries.
The pressing question is whether, and how, these standard inquiries can be automated, freeing service agents to focus on customers whose inquiries require human expertise. As with many automation discussions, artificial intelligence (AI) steps in as a disruptive technology, enabling possibilities that were largely unthinkable just a few years ago.
What Is Conversational AI?
Conversational AI is a specific type of artificial intelligence designed to conduct human-like conversations. Technologies such as Natural Language Processing (NLP) and Machine Learning (ML) are used to understand spoken or written language, respond to it, and learn from it.
Typical applications of conversational AI include chatbots, virtual assistants, and voice control systems. The goal is to enable natural, intuitive interaction with AI, making the experience feel like a conversation with another human. In customer service, conversational AI can understand simple customer queries and provide meaningful, natural-sounding responses using a human voice.
Speech Assistants vs. Conversational AI
Traditional speech assistants are usually designed to understand predefined commands or requests and carry out simple tasks like weather reports or reminders. They often rely on relatively simple scripts and are rule-based, meaning they can only respond in a limited capacity outside their predefined context. Their responses are generally standardized and follow a clear pattern. They are useful for everyday, repetitive tasks but offer little flexibility or deeper interaction.
Conversational AI, on the other hand, is designed to conduct natural and dynamic dialogues, understand human language, and respond to a broader range of contexts. Instead of just reacting to specific commands, conversational AI can interpret complex questions, learn from previous interactions, and provide context-based responses. This enables deeper, more human-like conversations beyond simple command recognition.
Competitive Advantages of Conversational AI
Conversational AI offers significant benefits for customers, service employees, and companies:
Customers appreciate having their inquiries handled quickly without the frustration of waiting in queues or searching for and entering customer or tracking numbers. And it’s available 24/7, seven days a week.
Service agents gain an average of 30 to 40 percent more time for tasks requiring human judgment and empathy, according to Parloa. This leads to higher job satisfaction, positively impacting motivation and performance.
Companies benefit from higher customer satisfaction and long-term customer loyalty. A top-notch service experience encourages customers to order more frequently and share their positive experiences on review platforms and social media.
Why Early Adoption of Conversational AI Is Especially Rewarding
Currently, the majority of companies still rely on traditional IVR (Interactive Voice Response), which is no longer state-of-the-art. Companies that recognize and implement the potential of conversational AI early on will stand out as customer-centric innovators in many markets. Furthermore, early adoption leads to a more sophisticated AI over time, as it is trained with customer conversation data, continuously improving its performance.
How to Choose the Right Conversational AI
There are various systems on the market, but not all are equally suitable for every purpose. Two of the most important criteria when selecting a conversational AI system are flexibility and ease of use. Key questions include:
How easy is it to train the bot?
Who on my team can operate the system?
Can the system be trained without programming knowledge?
How easy and quick is it to design and adjust dialogues?
Ideally, a conversational AI system should be flexible and trainable without programming knowledge by various team members. Low-code frontends, such as those offered by Parloa, are the optimal solution: Low-code saves time and money by eliminating the need for code creation. Employees can easily train the voicebot with example questions, allowing it to more effectively categorize and process future inquiries.
Conclusion – Parloa Voicebot Relieves Service Teams and Ensures Satisfied Customers
Conversational AI and voicebots help companies handle a high volume of customer inquiries automatically, without compromising on service quality or customer satisfaction. Simple inquiries, which make up a large portion of service requests, can be automated, freeing up service employees to focus on tasks requiring human skills.
