What is a voicebot?

Voicebots are software powered by artificial intelligence (AI) that allow a caller to navigate an interactive voice response (IVR) system with their voice, generally using natural language. Callers don’t have to listen to menus and press corresponding numbers on their keypads. They speak to the IVR in a simplified simulation of a call with a live operator.

What are the benefits of voicebots?

Customers are frustrated by unwieldy, impersonal IVR systems. The best experience a legacy IVR can deliver is still not a good experience. And bad experiences with IVR are costly.

At the same time, updating legacy IVR systems is difficult, time-consuming and costly. Voicebots take the voice interaction between caller and IVR further than limited short-term fixes like automatic speech recognition (ASR) with predefined expressions.

As a conversational IVR, a voicebot goes beyond understanding words. A voicebot’s job is to determine what the customer wants and guide them to an effective response. Using machine learning, a voicebot is continuously improving itself — and the customer experience.

Voicebots also make it possible for customers to achieve two things at once — like changing an address and adding someone else to an account. This flexibility isn’t a feature of linear IVR systems that can’t handle multitasking.

As more companies introduce smart voicebots, customers will become more frustrated with old-style systems or compromise fixes.

See how Genesys voicebots make customer interactions easier →