What does it take to build a voicebot that exceeds expectations? We lay down the 7 important things you must remember when building a voicebot for your business. Read more!

The world has changed a lot since artificial intelligence was first conceptualised by John McCarthy in 1956. We’ve come a long way and live alongside AI in harmony today. Voice and chat AI bots are capable enough to do everything from streaming music, autonomously driving cars or even providing great customer support!  

While text-based AI chatbots have been around in customer service for a while, voicebots and voice AI is 3.7x faster than typing and is rising in popularity. Both voice and chat AI can bring your CX and CSAT up, but voicebots and chatbots have a few key differences.

And for those, who have decided to build a voicebot, we’ve put together a list of the best practices so you can get the best for your brand. 

What is a voicebot?

A voicebot is an AI-powered conversational solution that interacts with users in natural language. It uses natural language processing (NLP), automatic speech recognition (ASR), and speech-to-text (STT) to respond with relevance and accuracy.

While these 3 make up the architectural foundation of the technology, as a builder of one for your own business, you must take several factors into account.

Types of voicebots

Voicebots are of two types –

• Voicebot with chat support
• Voice-only bots

1. Voicebot with chat

Voicebots with chat support converse with users with the help of voice inputs and chat responses. Such a voicebot works particularly well for use cases that can’t be automated simply through voice inputs and outputs. For example, this is the case for an insurance business that’d like to collect and process crucial paperwork. The voicebot will walk the user through the entire application process and when it requires, say an ID proof, it can simply let the user submit it through a link sent on chat.

This also works for clearing payments through a chatbot integrated with payment gateways.

2. Voice-only bots

You’re probably either familiar or an ardent user of voice AI techs like Siri and Alexa. They are what we call “voice-only” bots since their work doesn’t require them to solve use cases like document collections. They are able to perform functions independently of one another and tend to sort of work like personal assistants and less like a customer support channel.

Know everything about voice AI in our all-in-one comprehensive guide!

1. Take all utterances into account 

People are more descriptive while explaining an issue through speech than they are in the text. 

Voicebot AI support gives customers the latitude to speak and elaborate their concerns freely. While you must define the intent you want your voicebot to understand during actual customer conversations, you also need to take into account the different utterances that come into play.

Everyone speaks differently. Your voicebot may be equipped to provide an adequate resolution, it can still fail to appropriately assess what the user means just because of – one specific defined intent.

One of the best voice AI practices is to stock as many utterances as you can to a particular intent. This ensures your voicebot knows what the speaker means even if the spoken input does not match the defined intent verbatim. 

2. Dig more details and personalise your responses

Your voice AI can only perform optimally if it knows who it’s speaking to. With no info on the speaker, your voice AI chatbot will not really be helpful. It’s important for your voice AI to get all the relevant information from and on the user before it can attempt to deliver a solution.

For example, a customer who wants to book an appointment might even require a reminder, say 2 hours before the scheduled appointment. Now, your voice AI can simply book the appointment and close the conversation. But it can even go further and ask the customer if they’d like to be reminded about this later.

Your voice AI can not only complete the primary objective but also ensure the customer shows up to the appointment without fail. 

Similarly, your voicebot built for excellance can learn from customer behaviours and their order history to give relevant shopping recommendations based on previous tastes. One of our top tips to build voice AI is to give customers a smart enough solution that gives them what they need when they need it! 

3. Add a touch of personality

Voicebots are capable of having intuitive and natural conversations that are so real that users feel they’re talking to a real person. When talking to a person, you associate a personality with them. One of the best voice AI practices is to give your bot a personality.

You can train and build a voicebot to respond to queries in a way that reflects your brand’s tone of voice.

Give your voicebot a friendly personality. A voice AI with personality is interactive (keeps your user gripped) and makes your customers associate your brand with consistency in delivering responses.

For example, build a voicebot that starts the conversation with “Hi [user’s name]! My name is [bot name] and I hope you are doing great this evening. I’d love to help you if you are stuck anywhere!”

4. Handle errors with multiple iterations

While a voice bot AI can be sophisticated enough to handle most queries, businesses should train theirs to deal with situations where it cannot understand the user. Instead of building a bot that will never fail, equipping your voice AI to handle errors with natural iterations scores fairly well on our top tips on building a voicebot.

Just like anyone speaking naturally would enable your voicebot to respond in different ways.

“I am not sure I understand. Could you please repeat that for me?”

“Uh oh! I don’t think I understand what you mean. Please explain your concern.”

“Sorry! I didn’t catch that. Could you please try explaining it again?”

And if your voicebot is still struggling to understand the user, ensure a smooth hand-off to a live agent to minimise inconvenience for the user.

5. Build a voicebot to evolve and learn

What makes voice AI ideal for a growing business today is that the technology is future-ready.

AI voicebots set themselves apart because of their ability to constantly learn new information autonomously. This means the voice AI is constantly evolving, trying to be a better version of itself with every other interaction. 

Customers’ preferences, behaviour and expectations are constantly changing and you should ensure your voicebot is up-to-the-minute with changing dynamics. 

Pro Tip: Learning is as good as its practical application. Ensure your voice AI is thoroughly tested after iterations to avoid any preventable mishaps during support conversations. Continuous learning keeps your bot in the best shape.

6. Make your voicebot journeys easily navigable

To get people to use your voice chatbot, it needs to be simple and easy to use. When introducing people to new technology like voice AI, you can give them a quick introductory message that walks them through all the different ways it can assist the user. 

People are more likely to avail support when it’s easily accessible to them and they know exactly how to use it. Going the extra mile to build a voicebot that’s easy to use will play a pivotal role in how successful it is among users. 

Psst…We have talked about why short and direct AI conversation flows are essential for an elevated user experience in our perfect recipe for a robust conversational AI strategy!

7. At last, build a voicebot with a solution provider that goes above and beyond

Your voice AI can become your identity. It represents your brand in front of your users. And so, you wouldn’t want any stone left unturned to deliver great CX. It goes without saying that to build a voicebot, you need to identify and choose a provider that suits your business.

Not every voice AI solution provider is equipped to serve use cases from different industries. This means that they might not have adequate training datasets to build a voicebot for a specific industry. 

Ensure your voicebot tech stack is from a credible and authentic source that specialises in your use cases.

Once your voice AI is in full swing, you’d love to know: How to Measure the Success of Your Voice AI Bot?

When all is said and done…

We’re seeing a steady rise in businesses adopting conversational AI over the years. To put that into perspective, the number of voice assistants will outnumber the global population by 2024!

Improving CX is a top priority for brands and there’s no better way to do it than with a conversational AI. A well-made voice AI can do wonders for your business while keeping your customers as happy as they can be.

The keyword here is well-made. 

At Verloop.io, we’re dedicated to helping businesses build robust conversational AI strategies tailored to their needs. Get in touch with us now for a free consultation and demo!