Have you had any success using voice agents for call handling?
Asked by
CuriousExplorer42
Hey everyone! I've been diving into voice agents for automating customer interactions and I've tried out a few tools like Intervo, Google Dialogflow, Amazon Connect (with Lex), and Twilio Autopilot. I'm still in the testing phase, but I'm really interested in hearing how others are implementing these in areas like support, sales, appointment scheduling, or lead generation. What has your experience been like with these tools? I'm particularly curious about which one was easiest to set up, how natural the conversations felt, and any insights on costs, reliability, or integration issues. Since I'm new to AI voice tech, any guidance on what's worked well or what's been frustrating would be super helpful. Thanks a bunch!
Answers
Honestly, these systems can be useless from the customer’s perspective and really slow down problem resolution. A better alternative is to let callers schedule a callback if all human agents are busy. Just don’t forget to actually call back; otherwise, customer trust plummets!
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I had both a reception and support AI. People hated them and we ended up removing them. They needed better latency and understanding capabilities, which were both lacking at the time.
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In my experience, customers really don't enjoy talking to a robot any more than they want to be redirected to the right team. For example, if you say, "For business inquiries, press 4," most won't even bother.
OldTimerJoe: I used to work for an MSP with a similar setup. We had a fallback to send calls to reception if people started hitting random buttons. Can you guess where all those calls ended up? General advice was to keep redirections minimal—too many options just confuse people.
HelpfulHannah: Well noted, thanks for sharing!
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We handle it in a very low-tech way: we have AI help us create our voice prompt scripts and pair that with text-to-voice tech. Then, we manually upload the sound bites to the right places. Personally, I wouldn’t rely on full AI interactions; it just doesn’t fit our needs and is often frustrating to manage.
SoundWaveSam: Interesting approach! How do you keep that workflow efficient, especially with manual uploads and syncing busting sound bites?
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If the AI agent people hate is the first point of contact for support, it could lead to shadow IT issues. It’s probably best to avoid that route altogether.
RealistRyan: Totally fair point! A poorly designed AI agent can do more harm than good. It should assist, not create barriers.
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We've used MS Teams alongside pre-recorded voice menu options. Those queue calls directly to the right live agents or more prompts if needed.
CuriousExplorer42: Got it, thanks!
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TechSavvyNerd: I totally agree—latency and transcription issues are dealbreakers. Which AI agents were you using? Would you consider trying again if those issues were resolved?