Technology is evolving fast with the adoption of AI. Businesses are learning new vocabulary just to keep up with the changes happening in the world of customer service, as terms like “AI,” “virtual agent,” “chatbot,” and “conversational IVR” are thrown around. While all of those technologies promise to revolutionize businesses and how they interact with customers, it’s easy for the distinctions to blur.
If You Want More Control & Straightforward Functionality
Conversational AI is primarily an advanced routing tool (IVR). These systems can interpret a caller’s goal using plain language, such as “I need to check my bill,” and then route the caller to the appropriate department or trigger a pre-scripted self-service action. Leaving behind the days of listening to a robotic voice say “Press 1 for…,” wasting your time listening to the entire list before finding the one that fits your needs.
Conversational AI excels at simple, transactional queries that fit a defined, linear path. This solution is a great choice for any business whose main challenge is call-routing efficiency and automating simple, high-volume FAQs. This solution also entirely avoids the threat of “AI hallucinations,” where a generative AI might produce a plausible sounding assertion that is actually incorrect. Conversational AI sticks to the scripts you give them with no “extras.”
If You Want More “Realness” & Complexity
In contrast to conversational AI, Virtual Agents are designed to emulate human conversation with the intent to contain and resolve calls autonomously without ever transferring to a human agent. Unlike Conversational AI that struggles with multi-turn, complex requests, virtual agents leverage advanced understanding to maintain conversation, interpret sentiment, and understand compound requests, like “I want to check my bill and update my payment method.” And they’re built on self-learning models, meaning they can continuously improve and adapt over time by analyzing call transcripts and outcomes, without needing the manual reprogramming that Conversational AI would.
Virtual agents represent a higher investment when looking at AI call takers, but they tend to deliver superior customer satisfaction and a higher rate of automated call containment. They can accomplish agentic tasks, such as creating appointments/reservations, changing payment methods, updating billing, and much more, making them the perfect digital employee. Virtual agents accomplishing this higher-value work (that was previously tying up human agents’ time) effectively transforms self-service capabilities from basic call-steering to full resolution.
The future of customer service is in the technology you select. While both technologies are great as a first touchpoint for customers, choosing which is right for you comes down to how complex you need the functionality to be. Conversational AI and Virtual Agents are defining the future of self-service, providing a cost-effective way to deliver fast, human-like customer support around the clock. Schedule a call with us so we can help you decide what option is best for you and your business.