The Elements of Voice First Style

Chapter 3. Why Voice First Automation

Let’s take a step back and ask ourselves these basic questions: Why automate conversations in the first place? Why create voicebots? We laid out the case why we believe voice is a compelling medium and why a substantial portion of human-to-human communication is carried out through the medium of voice. But why create voicebots? What purpose do they serve?

One can create a voicebot for the sheer delight of creating something that attempts to emulate a human being in an activity that is quintessentially human. Or one can attempt to create a human-like sounding, human-like acting voicebot as a way to better understand the mechanics of human-to-human communication (say, in a research setting where such activities can help sharpen concepts, expose assumptions, put the spotlight on hidden biases).

In the world of business, the reasons for creating voicebots are concrete and straightforward. Here are some of them.

Reduce Costs

Like in the case of all automation, the voicebot is introduced to reduce cost in the quest to scale profitable growth. Specifically, in the business setting, the aim is to reduce the number of human agents needed to handle customer support cases. Why? Because a human agent’s hour costs several dollars, while the voicebot’s costs several cents.

Handle Spikes

Voicebots are also used to handle those periods when a contact center is flooded with emails, texts, and phone calls. A contact center may operate comfortably with 100 ...