Every day, millions of text messages flash across screens worldwide — appointment confirmations, security codes, and delivery alerts. But how do businesses deliver these messages at scale, instantly, and to any corner of the globe?

The answer lies in an SMS Application Programming Interface (API).

It lets businesses automate and integrate text messaging directly into their apps, websites, or CRM systems; no manual effort or custom-built infrastructure required. 

Need to send 10,000 shipping notifications in seconds? Done. Want to track responses or handle incoming texts automatically? The SMS API handles it all.

In this blog post, we’ll explore how SMS APIs work, why they’re revolutionizing customer communication, and how even non-technical teams can use them to save time, reduce costs, and keep customers engaged. Let’s get started.

SMS API 101

An SMS API is a powerful tool that allows businesses to send and receive SMS messages programmatically. This technology helps businesses add SMS features to their applications, improving customer communication.

What is an SMS API?

An SMS API is a software interface that enables sending and receiving text messages via an SMS gateway.

It connects traditional telecom networks with the internet, allowing developers to use web-based code to communicate directly with carrier networks. This integration makes it simple to incorporate SMS functionality into applications.

With an SMS API, developers can use standard coding methods to handle texts effortlessly. This keeps your business running 24/7, delivering alerts, updates, or info to customers at any time.

How does SMS API work?

An SMS API connects your business software (like apps or websites) to mobile phone networks. It acts like a translator and a messenger.

To use these APIs effectively, it's important to understand how they work and the basic concepts behind SMS. Let’s break it down step by step.

• Your software sends a message request: When your app or website needs to send a text (e.g., a shipping update or login code), it tells the SMS API: “Send this message to this phone number.”
• The API prepares the message: The SMS API takes your request and converts it into a format that mobile networks understand. It handles technical details like country codes, carrier rules, and message formatting.
• The message travels to the recipient: It sends the message to mobile networks, which deliver it to the recipient’s phone. If the person replies, the API sends that reply back to your software.
• Automation and scale: The API handles all the technical steps like checking for errors, confirming deliveries, and retrying failed messages. This lets you send thousands of texts at once without manual effort.

Basic SMS concepts

SMS is a foundational tool for modern communication, but using it effectively requires understanding a few key concepts:

Sender ID

This is the name or number that recipients see when they receive your message. It could be a short code (e.g., “12345”), a long code (a standard phone number), or an alphanumeric ID (e.g., “YourBiz”).

A recognizable sender ID builds trust and ensures recipients know the message is from you.

Latency

Latency refers to the delay between sending a message and its delivery. Lower latency means faster delivery.

For example, providers like Plivo optimize this by maintaining points of presence (PoPs) at major internet exchange hubs across various global regions. These PoPs ensure messages travel through Plivo’s high-speed network within each region, minimizing delays even for cross-region traffic.

This setup keeps round-trip times low, so messages arrive almost instantly.

Messaging throughput

This is the number of messages a system can handle per second. High throughput is critical for businesses sending bulk SMS (e.g., marketing campaigns or alerts).

Reliable providers ensure their infrastructure scales seamlessly to handle spikes in demand without delays.

Delivery status

SMS APIs provide real-time updates on the delivery status of a message, indicating whether it was delivered, failed, or is pending.

For example, you might see “delivered” (success), “undelivered” (carrier issue), or “expired” (message timed out). This helps businesses confirm critical notifications (like transaction alerts) have reached customers.

Message encoding and character limits

SMS messages have specific rules for formatting and length to ensure they work across all devices and networks:

• Standard SMS: Uses Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM-7) encoding, which supports basic text (like letters, numbers, and common symbols). These messages can be up to 160 characters long.
• Unicode SMS: Supports emojis, special characters (e.g., accents, Chinese, or Arabic script), or fonts outside the GSM-7 standard. These messages are shorter and limited to 70 characters.

If a message exceeds these limits, it gets split into multiple parts (e.g., a 162-character text becomes two messages).

While most phones stitch them back together, this can increase costs.

Plivo offers an intelligent message encoding feature that automatically detects subtle Unicode characters that are often overlooked. This feature replaces these with similar GSM-encoded characters, ensuring your message is limited to 160 characters.

This eliminates the need to send multiple messages, making your communication more efficient.

Benefits of SMS API

Using an SMS API offers numerous advantages for businesses looking to enhance their communication strategies. Here are some key benefits:

Capture immediate attention

SMS APIs ensure your messages reach customers instantly, making them one of the most effective communication channels.

A survey shows that 80.5% of consumers check their text notifications within five minutes, meaning your alerts, promotions, and reminders are seen almost immediately. This rapid visibility increases engagement, response rates, and customer interactions.

Unlike emails or push notifications that may go unnoticed, SMS messages create a direct and personal connection with recipients, prompting quicker action.

Automated messaging solutions

SMS APIs let businesses automate routine messages like appointment reminders, payment alerts, and order updates. But the biggest benefit isn’t saving time, it’s making customers happier.

43% of marketers say better customer service is the biggest benefit of automation.

For example, a store could automatically send texts like “Your package is on the way!” or “Your order is ready for pickup!” after a purchase. These quick, helpful updates keep customers informed without anyone on the team having to type a single message.

Two-way conversation

SMS APIs let customers reply directly, turning texts into real conversations.

Take LAZ Parking, for example. It manages over 3,400 parking properties across 38 U.S. states. They needed a seamless way for drivers to pay for parking without downloading an app or standing in line. Here’s how they resolved this problem:

• Drivers text a unique code (posted in the parking lot) to a number leased through Plivo’s SMS API.
• They instantly receive a payment link to complete the transaction on their phones.
• If they’re stuck, replying “HELP” triggers automated support, guiding them through the process.

No maintenance worries

Cloud-based SMS APIs eliminate infrastructure headaches. Providers handle updates, scaling, and security and your team just needs to integrate the API and send messages.

No need to worry about server crashes or compatibility issues. It’s like having a dedicated IT team managing your messaging backbone 24/7.

Cost-effective strategy

Traditional marketing can get costly, and you might not even reach the right customers.

That’s why an SMS API is so useful.

It lets you send fast, affordable messages directly to thousands of people who actually want to hear from you. This makes it a simple way to grow your business and get your updates seen by the right audience.

Global reach with multilingual support

SMS APIs offer businesses the ability to connect with a global audience, transcending geographical boundaries.

Platforms like Plivo offer SMS solutions that send messages to 220+ countries and territories, with tools to adapt content to local languages, customs, and cultural preferences.

For businesses targeting international markets, this feature is crucial. It allows for consistent communication, whether you’re sending promotional offers, service updates, or support messages. Plus, by using an SMS API, companies can ensure their messages are culturally sensitive and localized.

This helps build trust with customers and increase brand loyalty across diverse demographics.

Use cases of SMS API

SMS APIs have a wide range of applications across various industries. Here are some common use cases:

Digital marketing and sales

Text message marketing is a great way for businesses to reach customers directly. It lets companies share sales updates, discounts, and important news straight to their customers’ phones.

A 2023 report on mobile users found that over half of customers (52%) prefer getting updates via text, making it a key part of any business’s marketing plan.

GoCheckin, a tool created by Fastboy Marketing, helps beauty salons send appointment reminders and special deals to their clients. They use Plivo to manage and send large numbers of texts quickly and reliably.

Using text messages instead of an app, Fastboy simplified the process for salons to connect with clients.

Notifications and alerts

Automatic updates and account alerts help keep customers in the loop and strengthen their trust in a business.

Text messages work especially well for sharing fast, dependable updates about purchases, security warnings, or changes to their accounts.

Online stores use texts to update customers at every step of the shipping process.

Take Luxer One, a company based in California that installs secure package lockers for apartments and homes as an example. They use text messages to let residents know when a package arrives.

Before switching to texts, they relied on emails — but many residents didn’t see or check their emails, causing packages to go unclaimed and frustrations to rise.

With text messages, Luxer One now ensures nearly every alert (over 99%) reaches customers, making package pickups smoother and customers happier.

Customer care

SMS APIs enhance customer care by enabling businesses to offer fast, personalized, and efficient support. Customers receive instant responses to their inquiries, leading to quicker resolutions and improved satisfaction.

For example, an e-commerce company can send immediate order confirmations, delivery updates, or troubleshooting guidance via SMS, keeping customers informed at every step.

Additionally, with conversational AI, you can provide instant help 24/7, reducing the burden on your team and allowing them to focus on more complex tasks. This streamlines support operations, strengthens customer relationships, and drives loyalty, all while offering a seamless customer experience.

Two-factor authentication (2FA)

Businesses use SMS services to send 2FA login codes for added security.

When users log in, the system texts a code to their phone to verify their identity. This method is popular because texts arrive quickly and people check them instantly.

Banks, apps, and online shops rely on SMS for this step — it’s simple for users and reduces fraud risks. Some companies pair it with backup options (like email) in case phones aren’t accessible.

Reminders

Sending appointment reminders by text is a simple way to keep customers informed and reduce missed appointments.

Once you connect an SMS service to your current setup, the system automatically sends reminders at the right time. For example, when an appointment is coming up, the service instantly delivers a text to the customer’s phone.

A dental clinic could text patients a day before their visit, helping them remember their appointments and show up on time.

Best practices for implementing SMS API

Implementing an SMS API can significantly enhance your application's communication capabilities. Here are some best practices to ensure a successful SMS API integration:

Set clear objectives

Setting clear objectives is key to successfully using an SMS API. Start by deciding what you want to achieve with your text messages. For example, you might want to keep customers informed, send alerts, or promote your products.

Also, establish key performance indicators (KPIs) to measure how well your SMS efforts are working and identify areas for improvement.

Prioritize business messaging guidelines

Following business messaging guidelines is crucial for staying compliant and building trust with your audience. Make sure to comply with local laws like the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) in the U.S. and the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) in Europe.

It's essential to have a clear opt-in process, so people know they are agreeing to receive your messages.

Moreover, always identify your business in the texts you send. This helps create transparency and trust with your subscribers.

Use API personalization

71% of consumers expect companies to deliver personalized interactions, and 76% get frustrated when this doesn’t happen.

Taking advantage of the personalization features in your SMS API can greatly improve how your audience interacts with your messages. You can customize texts based on user data, preferences, or behaviors, making your messages more relevant.

For instance, if a retail store knows that a customer often buys running shoes, sending a text about a new running shoe launch or a special offer can make the message feel more relevant.

Also, consider A/B testing different personalized messages to find out which ones work best for your audience.

Avoid spamming subscribers with promotions

Sending too many irrelevant marketing messages can drive customers away. In fact, 47% of customers found such texts annoying and 28% stopped using the brand.

This shows how important it is to limit how often you send messages. Instead of just pushing promotions, focus on making each message valuable.

You can offer helpful information, special deals, or important updates. Sharing relevant content also keeps your audience engaged. On top of that, always provide an easy way for subscribers to opt out of messages. This gives them control over what they receive and helps improve their satisfaction.

Monitor and analyze

Monitoring and analyzing your SMS campaigns is important for ongoing success. Use analytics tools to track performance, including delivery rates, open rates, and engagement. 

Encouraging feedback from recipients can help you understand their preferences and improve future messages. Regularly review your SMS strategy based on the data you collect, and make adjustments to optimize your performance.

Experience the benefits of an SMS API with Plivo

When selecting an SMS API for mass communication, it’s important to choose a trusted cloud platform known for reliability, security, and ease of use. Here’s why Plivo stands out as a top choice for businesses:

• Global connectivity: It allows you to send messages to customers all over the world through a network of reliable carriers.
• Advanced features: You can manage sender IDs, use special characters for better readability, and access detailed analytics to optimize your campaigns in real time.
• Seamless integration: Plivo’s SMS API works well with popular tools like Zapier, making your workflows simpler.
• High reliability: The platform is built on a strong infrastructure capable of handling large message volumes. With fault-tolerant systems and high availability, it guarantees a 99.99% uptime for all global connections.
• Competitive pricing: You only pay for what you use. Plivo offers volume discounts for regular usage, helping you save more as your messaging needs grow.
• 24/7 customer support: Plivo provides various support plans to fit any organization's needs, from a free basic plan to a premium plan with 24/7 support.

Ready to streamline your communication? Contact us today to learn how Plivo can elevate your business messaging!

We use our voice to search, command, and communicate with our devices every day. But how do they actually understand us?

The answer lies in voice recognition technology. This powerful tool allows us to interact with machines using our voices, making our lives easier and more convenient.

In fact, 61% of Americans now use voice search on their smartphones, showcasing its growing importance.

But what is voice recognition?

This blog post answers exactly that. Let’s explore how it's changing the way we interact with the world around us.

What is voice recognition?

Simply put, voice recognition refers to technology that converts spoken words into actions or text. It’s designed to handle everything from simple commands to complex instructions.

These systems often have a console or web-based interface where users can log in, give voice commands, and perform tasks without needing to type.

Take airports, banks, and hospitals, for example. Many rely on voice recognition for robotic assistance to improve operations. Popular voice assistants like Siri, Cortana, Alexa, and Google Home are further proof of how integrated this technology has become in everyday life.

How does voice recognition work?

Voice recognition works by capturing the sounds we make and translating them into a digital format that computers can understand.

Think of it like this: as you speak, a microphone picks up your voice and passes it through an analog-to-digital converter. This process turns the audio into digital signals, which are then analyzed for key features like vocabulary, phonetics, and syllables.

The system stores these features in its memory and continuously makes them available for comparison when you speak.

The system relies on a large digital database stored in your computer’s RAM, which helps speed up the process. When you speak, the system matches your words with those stored in the database and quickly displays them as text on the screen.

Core components and key technologies

To further understand how voice recognition works, it’s important to break down the core technologies and components that make it possible.

Listed below are the key components that convert spoken language into text or actions for accurate, natural interactions:

Automatic speech recognition (ASR)

ASR is the backbone of voice recognition. It captures and converts spoken language into text by analyzing audio wave patterns and matching them to phonetic components in a database.

Plivo’s ASR further simplifies building voice applications. It offers real-time transcription and acts on partial results as the customer speaks. Additionally, it supports 27 languages and improves accuracy with speech hints for unusual words.

Plivo also provides prebuilt models for quick setup and a profanity filter to keep transcriptions clean. It can detect both speech and keypad inputs at the same time.

Natural language processing (NLP)

Once speech has been transcribed, NLP interprets the meaning behind the words. It helps the system understand context, grammar, and intent, ensuring accurate responses even when dealing with complex language.

Text-to-speech (TTS)

TTS converts text into spoken language, enabling systems to respond with natural, human-like voices. This makes voice assistants more engaging and easier to interact with.

Acoustic modeling

Acoustic modeling focuses on the sound of speech, capturing how different phonemes are produced in various environments. It ensures the system can accurately interpret speech, even in noisy or challenging conditions.

Language modeling

Language modeling predicts the most likely word sequences based on context, improving accuracy and reducing ambiguity. This way, the system can choose the right words, especially when multiple options are possible.

Applications of voice recognition

Voice recognition isn’t just for personal use. It’s also changing the way businesses work. As the technology keeps improving, it's having a big impact in many areas, including:

Personal assistants and smart devices

Personal assistants like Siri, Alexa, and Google Assistant are voice-activated tools that help with everyday tasks. You can ask them to answer questions, control your home, set reminders, and more — just by speaking.

For instance, when an individual asked Google Assistant about the weather in New York City, it provided a detailed forecast for the day.

Enterprises

Voice technology is changing the way businesses operate. 

Take customer support, for example. Interactive voice response (IVR), when used with voice recognition systems, can help route calls to the right departments, saving time and reducing the need for human intervention.

Plivo makes this even better with its Smart IVR. It uses artificial intelligence (AI), contextual awareness, and data to create more personalized caller experiences.

Plus, the system upgrades your traditional IVR with AI voice agents and advanced audio streaming. This leads to faster interactions, less agent burnout, and happier customers while improving operational efficiency.

What's more, voice recognition can easily integrate with customer relationship management (CRM) and enterprise resource planning (ERP) platforms. This makes it simpler for teams to stay on top of tasks without switching between multiple systems.

Specialized industries

When a customer calls you, they want to feel heard and appreciated. A voice assistant makes this possible. It focuses on the customer, improving their experience and bringing benefits to your business.

Here are a few examples of different industries to show how it works:

E-commerce

61% of consumers prefer fast replies from AI over waiting for a human representative. This highlights the need for quick and 24/7 customer support. Unlike human agents, voice assistants never clock out.

For example, in an e-commerce setting, a voice assistant can instantly respond to queries like “Where’s my order?” or “What’s your return policy?” without placing the customer on hold.

It can also guide users through troubleshooting steps or help them modify an order, all through simple voice interactions.

AI’s constant availability reduces waiting times and keeps customers happy. At the same time, it frees up human agents to focus on more complex issues.

Healthcare

About 50% of Americans don’t follow their prescriptions as advised. This issue leads to 125,000 preventable deaths, 33% to 69% of hospitalizations, and half of all treatment failures in the U.S.

Voice assistants help address this problem. Patients, especially older adults, can use these tools to set reminders for taking medications on time. This simple solution ensures they don’t miss doses.

AI-powered voice assistants also make healthcare more accessible. Patients can book doctor appointments just by speaking to a voice assistant.

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They can even upload medical reports without visiting a clinic or dealing with complicated forms. This makes it easier to share information with doctors, get accurate advice, and lower the chances of readmission.

Education

Voice assistants take language learning beyond traditional classrooms with real-time translations and interactive lessons. They help users practice pronunciation, engage in conversations, and learn vocabulary in a natural setting.

For example, you can ask Google Assistant “How do I ask for directions in Spanish?”

Upon understanding your query, it’ll share translations and contextual usage tips, creating a personalized learning experience anywhere, anytime.

Banking

In banking and finance, voice assistants automate routine tasks, saving time for both customers and employees. They provide instant updates on account balances, process transactions, and even offer tailored financial advice.

For instance, a banking app with voice integration might allow users to say, “Locate a nearby ATM,” or “Block my card.”

Customers are also better equipped to manage their finances without reading confusing menus or visiting a physical branch.

Benefits of voice recognition

Voice recognition technology has evolved rapidly, offering businesses new ways to operate efficiently and connect with customers. Here are some of the key benefits:

Accessibility

Voice recognition makes technology more inclusive. For individuals with disabilities, it provides a way to interact with devices without relying on touch or sight.

Someone with limited mobility may use voice commands to control smart home devices or write messages hands-free. Additionally, speaking is often faster than typing. This allows users to input information more effectively.

Productivity and efficiency

The average employee spends around 60% of their time on “work about work.” This includes tasks like searching for files, managing emails, attending unnecessary meetings, and following up with colleagues. Voice recognition can help reduce this wasted time by automating routine tasks.

For example, employees can use voice commands to quickly pull up documents, schedule meetings, or send follow-ups without interrupting their workflow.

Cutting down on administrative tasks provides employees with more time to focus on meaningful, skill-based work that drives growth.

Security

Voice recognition provides an added layer of security and customization. With voice biometrics, businesses can securely verify users, reducing the risk of fraud. For instance, financial institutions can use voice authentication to confirm customer identities over the phone.

Even better, personalized voice commands let businesses tailor services, such as allowing frequent customers to reorder with a simple command, enhancing convenience and loyalty.

Better customer experience

Voice recognition simplifies how customers interact with businesses.

Automated voice systems can answer questions like, “What’s the status of my order?” or “Can I update my address?” This saves customers time and makes the process more convenient.

Meanwhile, human agents are free to handle more complicated requests, improving overall service quality.

Challenges and ethical considerations

Voice recognition technology offers exciting possibilities, but it comes with challenges and ethical issues that businesses must address. Some of these are:

Accuracy concerns

“Sorry, can you say that again?”

You’ve probably heard this from your voice assistant more times than you’d like. Or worse, it just goes silent after failing to understand you.

Voice recognition has been around since the 1950s, but one issue has stuck with it over the years — accuracy.

It’s no surprise that 73% of businesses cite poor accuracy as the main reason they avoid using voice technology. This challenge has pushed companies to focus on improving AI algorithms that can better process and understand voice inputs.

Data privacy

Many people are unsure about trusting voice technology with sensitive tasks, like handling personal information or payments. They want to control their data and understand how others use it.

A report from PwC shows that lack of trust is one of the top reasons people avoid voice technology. While over half of users make small purchases through voice assistants, they rarely use it for anything more significant. These concerns make it harder for businesses to adopt speech recognition.

If users don’t feel secure, they may hesitate to use the technology.

User bias

Bias in training datasets can lead to unfair outcomes, such as systems that work better for certain groups of people than others.

To build trust, businesses need to be clear about how they use voice recognition. 

This includes being upfront about data collection and obtaining user permissions in an honest way. Transparency and fairness should always be priorities when adopting this technology.

Future trends in voice recognition

Voice recognition technology has made huge strides over the years. From the early days when systems could only recognize a few numbers to today's more advanced solutions, it has become a key part of many industries.

But as impressive as the progress has been, there's still a lot to look forward to. Here are some of the exciting advancements to expect in the near future:

Improved accuracy and understanding

Voice recognition systems are already quite good, but they still have room for improvement. The technology struggles with accents, complex sentences, or words that sound the same but mean different things.

In the future, we can expect these systems to get much better at understanding different ways people speak. With the help of AI and deep learning, voice recognition will be able to pick up on speech patterns, understand different pronunciations, and even recognize emotions in voice.

Better context awareness

In the next decade, voice assistants are likely to become better at understanding the context of a conversation. This means that if you're talking about a movie, your assistant might suggest similar movies or showtimes nearby, even if you don’t ask.

Improved privacy and security

As voice recognition becomes more common, keeping our data safe will become even more important. Future voice systems will likely use advanced biometric features, which means they can not only understand what you’re saying but also recognize who’s speaking.

This could lead to a more secure way of protecting your data.

Universal accessibility

Voice recognition is already helping people with disabilities, but there’s even more to come. As the technology grows, we’ll see devices that can translate sign language into spoken words or read printed text aloud with more natural-sounding voices.

Individuals with mobility issues will also benefit from better voice-activated controls, allowing them to manage their environment without needing to use their hands.

Experience the power of voice recognition with Plivo

Plivo-powered AI Voice Agents are changing how businesses work. These voice assistants can handle tasks like setting appointments, sending reminders, and offering personalized advice, all using your preferred knowledge base.

With AI shopping assistance, you can boost sales, and with real-time translations, you can break down language barriers in education. Plus, your customer support can run smoothly 24/7 with no issues.

For customers, this means they can get things done easily with just a voice command. They can check their order status, update accounts, or solve problems without even touching a screen.

Once they share their information, the system keeps it safe and uses it across different support channels, so they don’t have to repeat themselves. Plivo makes communication easier by letting customers speak in their language and getting answers instantly, anytime.

Contact us today to see how Plivo can improve your business and customer experience.

The American Journal of Managed Care states that clinic wait times affect overall patient satisfaction and influence perceptions of healthcare providers. In 2023 alone, over 382 million health records were compromised — 1.2 times the U.S. population.

For healthcare providers, the message is clear: effective communication and tight compliance are key. Communication gaps can result in missed appointments, no-shows, data breaches, and delayed patient care.

That’s where healthcare interactive voice response (IVR) systems come in. They streamline patient workflows and help you focus solely on providing quality patient care.

But how do you know if your facility will benefit from IVR?

In this blog post, we’ll cover everything you need to know about healthcare IVR and its benefits so that you can discern whether it’s the right fit for your facility.

What is IVR in healthcare?

IVR in healthcare automates communication between providers and patients. Through an IVR, patients can navigate options, schedule appointments, and even get answers to common questions, without needing to talk to a live agent.

Simply put, an IVR for hospitals is a virtual receptionist that works 24/7 without getting overwhelmed.

What may happen when a healthcare facility doesn’t use an IVR system? Well, consider these:

• Legal penalties and data breaches can cost your facility millions annually.
• Your staff may get overwhelmed by calls, becoming more likely to make mistakes. This also leads to frustrated patients and increased liability.
• Repetitive, time-consuming tasks like scheduling appointments and sending patient reminders drain morale, causing high turnover rates and additional hiring costs.
• Long wait times and poor communication drive patients away, damaging your facility’s reputation and revenue.

Healthcare IVR systems simplify workflows, reduce such errors, and improve patient experience by streamlining communication.

Benefits of using IVR in Healthcare

All patient and provider workflows can work without an IVR, but they significantly become more efficient with one in place. Plus, IVR benefits in healthcare extend beyond patients, they’re just as valuable for healthcare providers.

Let’s understand the benefits of healthcare IVR solutions for your facility.

For patients

24/7 accessibility to information and services

The last thing any healthcare facility wants is for patients to feel stranded during emergencies or delayed care. IVR ensures that doesn’t happen. 

With automated, pre-recorded responses, patients can get their queries resolved and schedule appointments, even outside facility hours.

Patients don't need to wait long to connect to a nurse or admin staff for simple, non-urgent tasks. For instance, they can access critical information like clinic hours, lab results, or prescription refills, whenever they need it.

When patients feel heard, it automatically decreases the number of no-shows or patients going to other, more accessible facilities.

Faster appointment booking and issue resolution

When patients are able to book appointments at their convenience without waiting for clinic hours, their trust in the healthcare provider increases. In addition, it reduces frustration from limited clinic hours or long hold times on the phone, leading to higher satisfaction.

If the requested time slot isn't available or the patient needs to cancel their appointment, the IVR can offer alternatives and cancel the appointment by prompting patients to enter the reason.

The added benefit is that it frees up your administrative staff to focus on patient care.

Improved privacy during sensitive communications

Patients can securely input sensitive information like their date of birth, medical conditions, insurance details, etc. with voice prompts. It makes patients feel safer than sharing such information in an environment with a staff with the possibility of someone overhearing it or misusing it.

For added protection, IVR systems can also authenticate callers with secure methods like PINs, passwords, or date of birth before granting access to personal health information (PHI) so that only authorized individuals can access sensitive data.

Providers like Plivo go a step further by offering compliance with national and global privacy and security regulations including the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), the second of three System and Organization Controls (SOC 2), Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS), and General Data Protection Regulation (EU) (GDPR). This reassures patients their data is safe with your facility.

For providers

Increased security and compliance

Along with safeguarding patient trust, IVR systems also shield healthcare facilities from costly lawsuits and fines due to data breaches.

HIPAA violations can cost up to $50,000 per incident, with a maximum annual penalty of $1.5 million for repeated violations. Hence, having HIPAA-compliant IVR systems becomes key. They securely handle patient information, whether collecting payment details or routing sensitive calls, and minimize the risk of data breaches.

Moreover, during IVR feedback collection, patients can use harsh language to express their frustration. However, Plivo’s automatic speech recognition (ASR) feature uses a profanity filter to ensure the transcription excludes offensive terms. This helps maintain a professional and neutral tone in records and protects your staff from unnecessary negativity.

Reduced errors in patient interactions

More than 200,000 annual patient deaths in the United States occur due to preventable medical errors. While these include severe surgical mistakes, they also often stem from errors like miscommunication, double booking, or delays in follow-up care.

With automated patient communication, IVR eliminates such issues.

It takes care of missed or delayed follow-ups with specialists, incorrect patient records due to manual errors, overlooked warning signs due to gaps in follow-up care, etc. Automating such critical communication touchpoints reduces recurring errors and medical errors.

Reduced staff workload and operational costs

No-shows hit where it hurts: revenue. While cancellation fees might offset some of the losses, they don’t eliminate the financial strain on your facility.

IVR appointment booking, patient reminders via IVR, and confirmations can reduce no-show rates by up to 30% in outpatient clinics.

For busy clinics, this means significant cost savings annually. Plus, fewer calls about basic tasks like appointment scheduling or follow-up reminders mean less workload for staff, reducing burnout and improving productivity.

Improved patient satisfaction scores

The Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) provides a standardized way to access the Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (HCAHPS) score. It helps hospitals and governing bodies evaluate patient satisfaction through quantitative measurement.

How do IVR systems help?

Well, they improve these scores by automating patient satisfaction surveys. Patients can easily share feedback about their experience, from communication and staff responsiveness to wait times. This data helps hospitals or clinics identify and address problem areas.

As per the program, facilities with higher HCAHPS scores earn higher reimbursements. So happier patients can directly boost your facility’s bottom line.

Real-life Use Cases of IVR in Healthcare

From scheduling appointments to getting patients’ prescriptions, IVR for hospitals can make many workflows efficient. Let’s look at how you can benefit from implementing IVR systems in your facility with the highlighted use cases.

Preliminary health assessments

A healthcare provider needs to assess the health of each patient before consulting them or referring them to a specialist. Doing so in person can be inefficient, with nurses potentially asking inconsistent questions or overlooking crucial information, increasing the risk of errors.

IVR systems support preliminary health assessments with voice or keypad prompts to collect necessary information from patients before speaking to their healthcare provider. This saves time when dealing with urgent cases.

For instance, if you use Plivo-powered AI voice agents, it can identify high-priority cases immediately based on patient responses. The system can route the call to a nurse or schedule an immediate appointment.

Multilingual support

With over 49.6 million people in the U.S. speaking a language other than English, language barriers quickly become a hindrance to providing quality care.

To make healthcare more accessible, healthcare providers use IVR systems with multilingual support. When calling a provider, patients can select their language using a keypad or voice command. This reduces miscommunication and missed appointments due to patients being unable to navigate the system in their preferred language.

Appointment booking

It now takes an average of 26 days to schedule a new patient physician appointment in 15 of the largest cities in the United States. Naturally, a busy clinic receiving over 100 appointment requests a day will struggle to manage scheduling.

You can implement an appointment scheduling IVR script to take care of the scheduling workflow:

• The IVR greets the caller and asks them to select a service or department.
• The patient inputs their preferred date and time (via text or speaking it aloud).
• The system checks the clinic's scheduling system in real-time and confirms the slot, or offers alternative slots.
• Finally, the IVR sends confirmation through the patient's provided contact details.

Patient medication reminders and lab results

Typically, nurses or administrative staff manually sift through patients' medical files to identify who needs medication reminders and who has pending lab results. They spend hours attempting to reach patients and document the responses received.

However, an IVR menu automatically identifies patients requiring medication and those with new lab results. It also places calls at pre-scheduled times and confirms whether patients have taken medications or if they have any issues to report.

Healthcare providers now only have to review the flagged cases that require urgent attention.

It’s also convenient to automate post-care calls and messages or direct incoming callers to the provider via IVR menus.

Pro Tip: Opt for an IVR provider that supports both dual-tone multi-frequency (DTMF) and voice input for greater accessibility and ease of use.

Prescription refill requests

Patients can call anytime for prescription refill requests. Here’s what the process would look like:

• Patients call the clinic or pharmacy and input their prescription details via keypad or voice.
• The system automatically routes the request to the appropriate pharmacy or alerts the doctor for approval.
• Once approved, the patient receives a notification via text or email with the refill status and pick-up details.

Billing and payment-related inquiries

Map out the flow focusing on common billing-related inquiries and admin tasks like:

• Checking account balance
• Making a payment
• Insurance-related questions or coverage verification
• Check claim status
• Get financial assistance
• Receive personalized support in cases of disputes

If the query requires further assistance, like disputing a charge, the IVR routes the call to the billing department. Automating routine billing inquiries enables administrative staff to focus on resolving complex issues, while patients gain 24/7 access and faster resolution.

For more comprehensive guidance on implementing IVR solutions, go through this guide.

Integrate Plivo’s VoIP into your communication system to build a smart IVR

A system that streamlines everything from basic tasks like scheduling appointments to more complex needs, such as language support and speech recognition, can really help your facility run more efficiently. However, digitizing workflows should never mean compromising patient data security.

Plivo is one such provider. It offers sophisticated speed recognition across 27 languages and their regional variants for natural conversational flows without conventional keypad inputs.

In case you want just a basic text-based system, it lets you create a multi-level IVR. You can even use Plivo's ready-to-use templates for different levels of patient interactions.

Additionally, Plivo’s voice-over Internet Protocol (VoIP) solution redacts patient messages to ensure sensitive information stays secure.

As noted by the Director of Enterprise Data, Women’s Health Clinic: 

Plivo also provides custom hint word optimization to better recognize proper nouns, homophones, and industry-specific terms. So implementing healthcare industry jargon like “referral”, “medication dosage”, etc. in the IVR system results in more accurate conversations.

Whether you're new to IVR or looking to upgrade your existing system, Plivo makes it easy to integrate advanced communication features into your healthcare workflows. Contact us to get started.

Experts project the global Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) services market to reach USD 361.53 billion by 2031. This growth is driven by businesses seeking more flexible, cost-effective solutions for their communication needs. However, to meet customer expectations, VoIP call quality must remain front and center.

With a staggering 93% of customers expecting their issue to be resolved on the first call, businesses are under increasing pressure to provide efficient customer service.

Good VoIP call quality can make or break the customer experience. In this blog post, we will explore 11 steps to ensure your VoIP calls show just how committed you are to great service.

The inside scoop on call quality

Call quality refers to the clarity and reliability of a voice call when using a VoIP phone system. It includes factors like audio clarity, the absence of delays or dropped calls, and the communication flow between the caller and agent.

More than technical metrics, good VoIP call quality ensures a smooth experience, customer satisfaction, and business success.

Poor call quality often results from choppy audio or dropped calls caused by network congestion, insufficient bandwidth, or a poor internet connection. For more in-depth insights, let’s understand the process of VoIP data transmission and what affects the call quality in a VoIP system.

Process of VoIP data transmission over calls

VoIP calls turn sound waves into digital signals and packetize them for transmission before reconverting them into sound waves as they reach the other end. Here are four key steps involved in data transmission:

• Signal conversion: When you speak into the VoIP device, it captures your voice as an analog signal. VoIP codecs turn the analog signal into digital data and break it into small digital packets.
• Data transmission: These digital packets are then transmitted over the internet. Every data packet travels the fastest route possible.
• Signal reassembly: As it reaches the other end, the VoIP system decodes and reassembles the data packets into an analog audio stream.
• Protocols and codecs: Session initiation protocol (SIP) handles the call lifecycle from connection to end, while an audio codec compresses and decompresses spoken words.

The source(s) of your VoIP problems

VoIP call quality issues arise when there’s a failure in packet transmission.

As mentioned, analog sound gets converted to packetized digital data. These voice packets travel through the user’s device, the router, the VoIP provider’s media server, and the carrier network before reaching the recipient's device.

Each step in this process presents an opportunity for call quality issues. Network issues such as packet loss, bandwidth usage, and insufficient internet connection speed can result in poor call quality.

To improve VoIP call quality, you’ll need to ensure smooth packet transmission. While you cannot control issues on the recipient's end, you can follow best practices for call quality for your browser software development kit (SDK).

Types of VoIP call quality issues

Here’s a list of some common call quality issues faced in VoIP systems.

• Audio latency: Latency can cause delays in audio delivery, leading to awkward timing where participants may speak over each other.
• Jitter: Jitter in VoIP calls means skipped audio or silent gaps caused by irregular packet delivery, which disrupts the rhythm of conversation.
• Packet loss: Missing or delayed data packets, often due to bandwidth restrictions or unreliable internet connections, can result in missing audio.
• Poor network connections: Weak or unstable internet connections can degrade call quality, causing latency, jitter, and packet loss.
• Codecs used: Low-bandwidth codecs may compromise audio quality.
• Quality of Service (QoS) policies: QoS settings that don’t prioritize VoIP traffic cause network congestion, which negatively impacts call quality.

How to improve VoIP call quality when hiccups strike

Here are 11 steps to enhance VoIP performance.

1. Monitor call quality

Monitoring VoIP call quality is essential for identifying and resolving issues.

Track call quality metrics such as jitter, packet loss, and mean opinion scores (MOS) with tools that give visibility into network health. You can also enable logging for individual devices to track events of errors. Network management software can help monitor bandwidth usage.

Improving VoIP call quality also involves enhancing the customer experience once calls are connected. Actively respond to complaints about choppy audio, echoes, or dropped calls.

Consider upgrading VoIP equipment and implementing an effective IVR (interactive voice response) system to streamline customer interactions. When cross-referenced with objective metrics, subjective issues can help identify and resolve call quality problems.

For instance, VoIP service providers like Plivo offer Call Insights to track key metrics.

Plivo’s Call Insights help assess call quality for packet analysis of voice traffic. The Call Summary Dashboard summarizes performance data and segments calls by subaccount, geo-location, hangup details, carrier network, and device metadata.

It also lets you collect end users’ feedback with the Call Quality Feedback API to determine the root cause of frequently reported issues.

Using this feature, you can obtain detailed call statistics of each call to troubleshoot VoIP issues. Additionally, it becomes convenient to discover patterns by drilling down the key vectors influencing quality and correlate them with audio quality issues.

2. Upgrade your router

Most small and medium business routers are basic and require little maintenance. If you're scaling your business and experiencing VoIP call issues, consider upgrading your router. Choose a router compatible with SIP and VoIP for better call quality and high-speed connectivity.

An upgraded router offers advanced features, such as QoS settings to prioritize VoIP traffic, implement jitter buffers, and segment voice traffic with a virtual local area network (VLAN). These features ensure smoother voice communication by reducing latency and packet loss.

3. Increase bandwidth

Voice packets pass through routers and servers before reaching the other end, and any congestion in the route can degrade VoIP call quality.

Network congestion occurs when multiple applications use bandwidth simultaneously, much like traffic on a busy highway, slowing down communication.

Opt for higher bandwidth if your network cannot handle several devices and users. This offers speedier data transfer when multiple users or devices are logged in simultaneously, lowering congestion and increasing overall VoIP call quality.

4. Configure QoS

Another way to beat congestion is to prioritize VoIP calls on your network.

Network prioritization involves adding dedicated lanes for VoIP calls, ensuring that voice packets have the bandwidth to travel smoothly.

Configure QoS to prioritize VoIP calls over other data types on your network to reduce VoIP latency and packet loss. Setting up QoS for VoIP involves configuring the router’s bandwidth settings to optimize VoIP network settings, which may require assistance from an IT professional.

5. Set up a jitter buffer

Another way to beat network congestion or packet loss is by setting up a jitter buffer. A jitter buffer helps smooth VoIP call quality by collecting, storing, and sending voice packets at even intervals.

While the jitter buffer may introduce a slight delay due to packet processing time, it will reduce interruptions caused by packet delivery inconsistencies. More stable and clear voice communication significantly enhances the call experience.

6. Segment traffic with a VLAN

A VLAN enables devices of any geographical location to share a connection to specific servers.

Segmenting voice traffic with a VLAN prioritizes VoIP calls over other data, improving call quality even in large or distributed networks. Therefore, VLAN is a network prioritization method for businesses operating in multiple locations or operating a VoIP call system with remote workers.

Most enterprise networks support VLAN configuration, so check with your network provider to see if this option is available.

7. Purchase a high-quality headset

Headsets can also be a VoIP call quality hazard as they may be prone to connectivity and sound issues.

Some headsets may not be compatible with certain operating systems, while some have advanced features that detect long silences and disconnects. In addition, certain headsets also have microphones that pick up incoming audio, prioritize one-way audio, and cause sound distortion.

Purchase high-quality wired VoIP headsets as wireless headsets can have adapter and driver configuration issues that cause static or white noise. What’s more, headsets with noise-canceling features can ensure call quality even in noisy environments.

8. Choose the right codec

The codec you choose for your VoIP phone system will determine bandwidth usage and affect call quality. Codecs like G.711 offer excellent sound quality but consume more bandwidth. Others, like G.729, focus on maximizing compression to reduce bandwidth usage at the cost of some audio quality.

Consider the impact of these codecs during peak usage times — G.729 may result in a few lost packets. Still, it may provide better VoIP bandwidth management, improving overall call quality.

9. Avoid WiFi

WiFi coverage is often spotty, especially in larger office spaces with network congestion. It wasn’t designed for real-time applications like VoIP, and multiple devices on the network can compete for bandwidth, degrading call quality.

If you’re facing VoIP call quality issues, consider a wired ethernet connection over WiFi for a stable internet connection.

Ethernet connections help avoid interference from other devices, such as smartphones and microwaves, which can cause crackling or humming sounds during calls.

10. Prioritize mobile phone traffic

VoIP systems offer the flexibility of mobile apps, allowing users to make VoIP calls from mobile phones. While some features may be limited to desktop apps, mobile VoIP calls provide remote work advantages for sales and support teams.

In terms of voice quality, VoIP calls made on a mobile phone are similar to voice-over-IP methods like FaceTime audio.

A strong LTE connection is usually sufficient for maintaining high VoIP call quality. You can prioritize VoIP traffic on your mobile device by disabling cellular data for other apps to improve VoIP call quality.

Pro Tip: Avoid relying on shared internet connections due to potential network congestion when using public WiFi.

11. Improve call handling with a well-designed IVR

A well-designed IVR system is essential for improving VoIP call quality and enhancing customer satisfaction.

With Plivo’s PreAnswer feature, you can engage callers before they connect to a live agent. Offering helpful information, promotions, or answering FAQs while they wait keeps them informed and reduces the strain on agents. This leads to shorter wait times, fewer call drops, and a hassle-free experience.

Creating an intuitive IVR menu prevents confusion and frustration. It’s also vital in businesses that handle sensitive information like banking. Integrate clear, concise, and easy-to-navigate IVR menus to reduce call wait times and improve customer satisfaction significantly.

Keep testing and optimizing the IVR for peak traffic to ensure quick routing and smooth call handling during busy times.

VoIP calls made seamless with Plivo

If your team faces issues with VoIP call quality, try these steps and eliminate stuttering, echoes, dropped calls, or other communication disruptions.

Plivo’s Voice API offers VoIP services with powerful features like call forwarding, call recording, and call analytics. It integrates voice calls into your browser and mobile applications to ensure exceptional call quality. The advanced call insights facilitate:

• Proactive call quality monitoring
• Quick identification and troubleshooting of VoIP issues
• Detailed call statistics
• User feedback gathering

For a smoother communication experience, contact us today and see how Plivo can improve your VoIP call quality.

Voice AI technology drives a $12 billion market projected to quadruple by 2029. Major companies such as Amazon, Apple, and Google have already demonstrated its potential. Today, voice AI is much more than simple command systems and preset responses — it handles complex conversations, grasps context, and provides human-like interactions at scale.

For business leaders and developers, this translates to automated customer support, multilingual communication, and accessible digital experiences. With 157 million users expected to rely on voice agents by 2026, companies need to integrate Voice AI to stay competitive.

Here's your guide to voice AI's components, applications, and business impact.

What is an AI voice?

AI voice is a technology that simulates human-like speech from text inputs or other sources using deep learning models trained on real voice data. It creates natural-sounding voices that can be customized based on gender, age, accent, and emotions.

Using AI voice agents in businesses means you slash support costs and offer 24/7 availability — like Bank of America's virtual assistant Erica, which handles over 2 billion customer interactions.

With AI voice, you can automate customer service, handle high call volumes, and provide consistent service quality across all customer interactions through voice bots and IVR systems. Modern AI voice tools analyze speech context, understand user intent, and generate appropriate responses without human intervention.

How do AI voices work: A detailed breakdown

AI voice systems convert human speech into actionable computer responses through five core components — each handles a specific task in the voice interaction chain. Here’s a walkthrough of these components.

Automatic speech recognition (ASR)

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ASR is the first step to speech-to-text conversion. When users speak to a voice assistant or call customer service, ASR converts their speech into text in a few steps:

• Audio capture: First, ASR captures audio through your microphone and splits it into tiny segments of 10-20 milliseconds. It then converts these segments into spectrograms — visual maps that show sound frequencies over time.
• Sound analysis: Deep learning models analyze these spectrograms and match them to phonemes (basic speech units). The system's neural networks break down the audio, compare it against existing speech patterns, and identify matching words from its data pool.
• Noise management: ASR filters out background noise and audio glitches that could affect accuracy before processing the text.
• Speech processing: Finally, a language model combines the identified phonemes into words and sentences. It checks the probability of word combinations to ensure that the transcription makes sense in the user's target language.

Modern ASR handles diverse accents, speaking speeds, and background conditions. The flexibility makes it effective for customer service, voice commands, and automatic transcription.

Natural language processing (NLP)

Next, NLP converts the text from ASR into meaningful actions. Here's how:

• Text breakdown: NLP splits user input into analyzable chunks and runs a syntactic analysis (checking word patterns and sentence structure). 
• Meaning extraction: The system collects the core meaning from text and analyzes it semantically (context and word relationships) to understand the user intent.
• Entity recognition: NLP spots and labels key information like customer names, account numbers, dates, and locations to process requests.
• Intent classification: The system identifies the specific action a user wants to take, whether it's checking a balance, scheduling an appointment, or filing a complaint.
• Sentiment analysis: NLP looks at word choice and phrasing to gauge user emotions and helps systems respond appropriately to satisfied or frustrated customers.

Dialog management

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Dialog management links the voice AI components together. It controls voice AI conversations through two core processes:

1. Dialog modeling

The system records essential information to maintain the conversation state. It tracks discussed topics, stores user-provided details and identifies missing information needed to complete requests. This data is often structured into slots in a form populated with values gathered during the interaction. 

For example, in a hotel booking conversation, it tracks check-in dates, room preferences, and guest information until all required fields are complete.

2. Dialog control

The system determines the next action based on the collected information. It decides when to request missing details, verify unclear inputs, or proceed with task completion. Confidence scores guide these decisions; high scores lead to task execution, while low scores trigger clarification requests.

For example, if the check-in date is unclear when booking that hotel room, the system will ask for confirmation before proceeding.

Natural Language Generation (NLG)

The process converts system decisions into human-friendly responses. It begins when NLG receives input from the dialog management system. This input contains the intent and relevant information needed for the response.

The system then structures this data into a logical sequence and applies grammar rules specific to each language.

For example, when recommending a product, the system converts structured data like: recommend(product="Premium Plan", features="24/7 support, unlimited calls") to natural responses: "Would you like to try our Premium Plan with 24/7 support and unlimited calls?"

Text-to-speech Synthesis (TTS)

Text-to-speech technology converts written text into spoken words. It follows these steps:

• The process starts with text analysis, where the system breaks text into processable units.

• Next, it converts these units into phonetic symbols that represent speech sounds.
• The system then adds prosody — the patterns of rhythm and sound in speech. This includes marking where to pause, which words need emphasis, and how to adjust tone.
• Finally, deep learning models generate audio waveforms that produce the actual speech output.

Modern TTS systems support different languages and voices and process thousands of requests simultaneously.Putting it all together: The voice AI workflowVoice AI creates a continuous cycle of speech processing and response generation. Here's how the components connect:

1. ASR captures user speech and converts it to text. When a customer asks, "What's my account balance?" ASR processes the audio and produces text output.
2. NLP analyzes this text to identify the user's intent — for example, checking account balance. It gathers key details like account references and command types.
3. The dialog manager takes this processed request and checks if it has all needed information, retrieves the account balance from the connected system, and decides how to present this information to the user.
4. NLG formats the response and turns raw data like "balance: $1,245.50" into a clear statement: "Your current balance is $1,245.50."
5. TTS converts this text response into spoken words delivered to the user through speakers or phone lines.

Plivo's Voice API lets you add call functionality across devices through server-side software development kits (SDKs) in multiple programming languages. You can create interactive voice response (IVR) menus with speech recognition, set up real-time coaching for agents, and detect answering machines for smart responses.The platform processes voice interactions in 28 accents across many languages and supports dual-channel call recording with encryption. Debug logs monitor performance, while webhooks keep you updated on on-call status.

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AI voice applications

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Voice AI is shifting business operations across industries with measurable impact. Let’s look at how these sectors leverage this technology.

Customer service

Voice AI balances automating interactions and conversation quality to deliver stellar customer services to businesses. The technology uses IVR systems to understand

natural language, route calls based on intent, and resolve common issues without human agents. These systems collect customer data, maintain conversation context, and transfer complex queries to live agents with relevant background information.

And the business impact — voice bots will reduce agent costs by $80 billion by 2026, with market growth projected at 23.3% through 2028.

Voice AI handles essential functions like intent detection, authentication, and technical troubleshooting. Companies see measurable results, too — 24/7 availability, simultaneous processing of thousands of conversations, and consistent response quality.

Plivo CX delivers these results with enterprise-grade IVR systems and voice bots that integrate with major platforms like Salesforce and Zendesk.  With this, you can:

• Integrate your voice AI with existing customer relationship management (CRM) systems.
• Monitor performance through real-time analytics, coach agents live, and optimize operations with 99.99% uptime.
• Deploy voice bots that process queries across 220+ countries and territories.

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Also read: How to Use AI to Analyze Phone Calls and Improve Customer Experience

Content creation

AI voice technology improves content production across multiple channels. For example:

• Podcasting creators use AI generated voices to convert written scripts to audio episodes without studio equipment.
• Marketing teams use AI voice generators for consistent brand messaging through video voiceovers, multilingual ads, and customer service greetings.
• Companies clone brand ambassador voices (with consent) for message consistency at scale.
• Publishers and authors turn books into audiobooks in days rather than weeks.

Accessibility

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Users with disabilities need more inclusive digital experiences. Yet, 98% of websites fail basic accessibility standards, which limits access to millions of potential users.

Businesses can fix this through AI voice to help users with visual impairments access digital content through advanced screen readers. Unlike traditional robotic voices, AI voice creates natural-sounding speech that improves comprehension and engagement. This matters for businesses because:

• Users spend more time with accessible content.
• Companies meet Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) compliance requirements.
• More customers can access digital services independently.

AI voice converts written materials into audio formats for education and training to support employees with dyslexia or reading challenges.

Online retailers use AI voices to read product descriptions and reviews to make shopping accessible to visually impaired customers. The result? Increased sales plus brand loyalty among previously underserved groups.

Entertainment

AI voice helps reduce costs and speed up content delivery across multiple formats. The key applications are:

• Gaming: Create character voices and test dialog variations during development.
• Film and TV: Dub content in multiple languages and maintain continuity when human voice actors aren’t available.
• Advertising: Produce regional ad variations with a consistent brand voice.
• Animation: Generate character voices without multiple studio sessions.

Benefits of AI voice for businesses

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Here’s what AI voice means for your business:

• Streamlined customer support: Customer support teams handle cases faster through smart voice routing. The system qualifies leads, sorts urgent cases, and directs conversations to specialized agents based on intent recognition.
• Refined customer experience: Support teams receive prioritized call queues based on real-time voice sentiment analysis. The NLP engine learns from each interaction to refine responses, boosting customer satisfaction (CSAT) scores.
• Personalized and automated customer interactions: The platform learns to build customer profiles from each interaction. Voice patterns and conversation history shape responses so each conversation feels natural and informed.
• Reduced customer support costs: Voice automation cuts training costs and agent onboarding time. As the system manages routine conversations through NLP engines, new team members handle complex queries sooner.
• Used by differently-abled customers: Screen reader integration and voice commands make your services work for everyone. Customers with different abilities complete transactions independently using ASR technology.

Also, with Plivo-powered context-aware AI Voice Agents trained on knowledge base of choice, businesses can effortlessly manage everything from scheduling appointments and sending reminders to offering tailored financial advice. Boost your sales with AI-driven shopping assistance, break down language barriers in education through real-time translations, and provide outstanding customer support without a hitch. The possibilities are endless!

For your customers, this means:

• Self-serve: Customers get things done through simple voice commands. They check order status, update accounts, and solve issues without ever touching a keypad or screen.
• One-time data collection: Customers share information once, and you use it everywhere. The voice system securely stores customer data and shares it across your support channels so no one repeats their story.
• Less friction in communication: Voice AI removes communication barriers by letting customers speak in their language. They get instant answers 24/7 without navigating complex phone menus or facing language problems.

The future of AI voice technology and ethical considerations

Voice AI now combines multiple technologies to solve real business challenges. Some emerging voice AI trends include:

• Advancements in NLP create systems that learn your preferences and work habits, making every interaction count. Support teams can now communicate globally as these systems handle multiple languages, accents, and dialects.
• Voice systems work with cameras and motion sensors to understand what you see and do. Visual AI and gesture recognition let you control devices naturally in smart environments.
• The technology reads vocal patterns to detect your mood through tone analysis and deliver empathetic responses.
• The system learns your work patterns and routines through user profiling to respond based on contextual awareness (user location, schedule, and recent activities).
• Voice cloning lets you customize how the system speaks — use your own voice or choose from a library of options. The voice adapts to match different situations and conversations.
• Edge computing processes voice commands directly on your device, giving you instant responses and offline functionalities. Your data stays local instead of going to cloud servers, protecting privacy.
• Internet of Things (IoT) integration predicts what you need based on your habits and responds without you having to activate it first. One voice interface controls all your smart devices.

For those building and deploying these systems, privacy is crucial. Voice data needs data security protocols and consent policies. Voice cloning and sentiment analysis need guidelines to protect users and their data.

Your success with voice technology depends on getting this balance right. Build in privacy and security from the start, set clear guidelines, and you'll create systems your users trust and value.

Transform your communication strategy with Plivo Voice AI

With Plivo, there’s no room for privacy and security concerns. The enterprise-grade Voice AI platform provides the security protocols and infrastructure to launch context-aware voice bots while protecting customer data. You get immediate access to:

• AI integration: Connect with any STT, TTS, or LLM provider through simple APIs for maximum flexibility.
• Rapid recovery: Switch to backup networks in less than two seconds during outages to maintain operations.
• Dialog management: Maintain conversation context and natural flow across all interactions.
• Performance analytics: Track and optimize voice bot performance through detailed metrics and insights.
• Crystal-clear audio: 16kHz high-quality audio for smooth interactions.
• Unmatched reliability: 99.99% platform uptime for uninterrupted service.

Automate your support operations with Voice AI. Contact us to build your voice AI strategy.

Businesses have plenty of options when choosing CPaaS (Communications Platform as a Service) platforms, but two top contenders often stand out: Telnyx and Twilio. Both are feature-rich and reliable but excel in different areas.

For instance, Telnyx boasts a 91% customer satisfaction score, significantly outperforming Twilio in the category. Meanwhile, Twilio offers tiered support plans with varying response times and costs to accommodate diverse business needs.

The best communication platform for businesses rounds out the existing gaps of your CPaaS platform. Plivo is one such provider (we’ll explore it later in the article).

So, how do Telnyx and Twilio stack up? Let’s dive into a Telnyx vs. Twilio comparison to help you decide which fits your needs the best.

Telnyx vs. Twilio: A quick comparison

Before we dive into a detailed comparison, here’s a brief overview of both CPaaS platforms. Read on for an in-depth analysis of Twilio features, Telnyx capabilities, Telnyx API features, and their pricing structures.

Note: As per G2’s comparison report, Telnyx is rated an impressive 8.9 out of 10 as a CPaaS, edging out Twilio, which holds a solid score of 8.0.

Telnyx vs. Twilio: Detailed feature comparison

When it comes to SMS API comparison, both platforms offer solid solutions. They excel in programmable voice and messaging but differ in key areas such as pricing, customer support, and overall customer satisfaction.

Let’s take a closer look at these.

Telnyx SMS API features and use cases

Features

• Intelligent message encoding: Automatically get the most compact encoding possible, minimizing cost per send.
• MMS support: Drive two-way engagement with cross-channel messaging for MMS and more using a single API.
• Automatic opt-outs: Let your customers unsubscribe from future sends with a simple “stop word” message. (e.g. STOP)
• Message concatenation: Split and send a lengthy message into two messages without failures.

Use cases

• Account notifications
• SMS customer service
• SMS marketing
• Two-factor authentication (2FA)

Twilio SMS API features and use cases

Features 

• Screen-sharing and live chat: Add live chat, share screens, and create custom video players.

• Real-time route optimization: Automatically reroute global traffic every 75 seconds to avoid outages and latency.
• Messaging insights: Access real-time analytics for monitoring and troubleshooting message delivery and engagement.
• Message fallback: Benefit from automatic fallback to SMS when a message is not deliverable via WhatsApp or shortcode.
• MMS support: Drive two-way engagement with cross-channel messaging for MMS and more using a single API.
• ‍ Personalized messages: Customize messages for reminder notifications, delivery updates, and more.

Use cases

• Appointment reminders
• Delivery notifications
• Emergency alerts
• Send marketing messages (two-way communication)
• Account notifications
• Verifications and OTPs

Telnyx Voice API features and use cases

Features

• Media streaming: Access raw audio stream of calls in real time to integrate advanced artificial intelligence (AI) or machine learning (ML) capabilities.
• Text-to-speech and speech-to-text: Speak dynamic text in 29 languages and accents, powered by Amazon Polly, and get real-time transcription on a live call.
• Answering machine detection: Detect voicemail systems with exceptional accuracy using advanced AI techniques.
• Smart IVR: Build a multi-level IVR phone tree to intelligently route your call flows via voice commands.

Use cases

• Build a scalable IVR for a better customer experience
• Omnichannel marketing
• AI-powered conversations and voice analytics
• Manage a contact center
• Voice-based 2FA
• Customer survey and feedback collection

Twilio Voice API features and use cases

Features

• Actionable insights: Get actionable insights from your conversations with voice intelligence for a deeper understanding of every customer.
• Global conferencing: Add multi-party calling experiences, global dial-in support, and support for up to 250 participants with Payment Card Industry (PCI) and Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) compliance.
• IVR creation: Build a self-service auto attendant menu that customers can navigate in 100+ languages.
• Data security and compliance: Ensures all the messages and calls comply with HIPAA, General Data Protection Regulation (EU) (GDPR), American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) Service Organization Control (SOC) 2, and Coalfire ISO certification.

Use cases

• Self-service customer support
• Voice-based lead qualification
• Real-time call transcriptions for compliance
• Voice-based lead qualification
• Automated call tracking in customer relationship management (CRM) systems

Telnyx Verify API features and use cases

Features

• Real-time reporting and insights: Get real-time analytics on verification success rates, delivery statuses, and user behavior to optimize verification workflows.

• Phone number validation: Identify and validate phone numbers in real-time, including carrier type, to prevent fraud and optimize delivery strategies.
• Multi-factor authentication (MFA) support: Integrate MFA with existing workflows to provide an additional layer of security for user logins and transactions.

Use cases

• Verify user identities during payment transfers, account changes, and other high-risk actions
• Safeguard sensitive patient data and meet HIPAA compliance
• Validate buyers and sellers before money transfers

Twilio Verify API features and use cases

Features

• Silent network authentication: Authenticate securely without user interaction, protecting accounts and transactions seamlessly within your app.
• Improved compliance: Build compliant healthcare and financial applications without requiring personally identifiable information (PII).
• Actionable insights: Access dashboards showing conversion and success rates by region and channel, along with SMS fraud trends to optimize fraud prevention.
• Multiple delivery channels: Deliver OTPs through SMS, WhatsApp, voice, and email, all via a single API.

Use cases

• Login protection
• Signup verification
• Personalize messaging and voice calls
• Improve message deliverability
• Enrich data and risk models

Twilio’s Flex and Engage

Twilio’s Flex and Engage are designed to help businesses deliver better customer experiences. Telnyx, on the other hand, doesn’t have a similar customer engagement tool suite offering real-time customer data analytics.

Let’s explore how Twilio’s tools support seamless communication and engagement.

Twilio Flex

Twilio Flex is a digital engagement center that lets you add a real-time data layer and AI capabilities to customize every sales and service interaction. With this solution, your customer service team can easily centralize support across chat, phone, and WhatsApp, customizing the interface to match their existing tools and processes.

Twilio Engage

Twilio Engage is a platform for personalized, data-driven marketing and customer engagement. It helps orchestrate real-time customer experiences from one central platform based on customer data across any communications channel.

Telnyx pricing vs. Twilio pricing

Let’s compare Telnyx pricing vs. Twilio pricing to get a clear view of how their cost structures compare.

Telnyx pricing

Note: Telnyx provides a lower-cost alternative for businesses needing cost-effective VoIP solutions.

Twilio pricing

Telnyx vs. Twilio customer support

Comparing Telnyx and Twilio in terms of customer support, both offer distinct approaches to assist businesses and end-users. This comparison highlights the key differences in their customer support plans.

Telnyx customer support

Telnyx goes beyond just offering communication solutions. It provides comprehensive, reliable support to ensure your business runs smoothly. Here’s how:

• Free in-house support: Talk to a telecommunications specialist via chat or call, available 24/7, year-round.
• Portal access: Set up, manage, and monitor your telecommunications through the Mission Control Portal.
• Automatic discounts: As your traffic hits higher volume thresholds, Telnyx applies discounts automatically.

Twilio customer support

• Developer plan: Provides basic support with API status notifications and web support, but no guaranteed response times.
• Production plan: Offers more robust support, with guaranteed response times for priority issues (3 hours for P1, 6 hours for P2, and 9 hours for P3), live chat support, and phone support, with a minimum monthly cost based on usage.
• Business plan: Delivers faster response times and higher-touch support, including phone and live chat. The pricing scale depends on monthly spending, starting at a minimum of $250 for the production plan.

Telnyx vs. Twilio: Pros and cons

We’ve outlined Telnyx vs. Twilio reviews to understand which solution provider better suits your business.

Telnyx pros and cons

Pros

• Users appreciate the intuitive and easy-to-navigate dashboard, which simplifies understanding and managing communications. (G2)
• Many reviewers highlight Telnyx's cost-effective pricing structure compared to competitors. (G2)
• Quick response times and effective issue resolution, enhancing user satisfaction. (TrustRadius)
• Developers find the API documentation thorough and intuitive, facilitating seamless integration into applications. (TrustRadius)

Cons

• Challenging to navigate initially, especially setting up SIP trunking and VoIP calls. (G2)
• A few users have pointed out that Telnyx could improve its interface and tools for handling bulk number queries and large-scale operations. (TrustRadius)
• Some users mention occasional latency or delays, especially during high-traffic periods. (Capterra)

Twilio pros and cons

Pros

• Users appreciate Twilio's straightforward API, which simplifies integration into various applications. (G2)
• Users like how it offers a wide range of communication services, including SMS, voice calls, and video conferencing. (G2)
• Highly scalable and reliable, making it suitable for businesses of all sizes. (G2)

Cons

• Some users find that while basic features are easy to use, advanced functionalities can be complex to implement. (G2)
• The pricing may be higher for businesses with high communication volumes, potentially affecting cost-effectiveness. (G2)
• Users report poor communication and a lack of accountability throughout Twilio's regulatory compliance process. (Trustpilot, TrustRadius)
• Their 2FA process is tedious which if you're not careful could result in you losing your number. (Capterra)

Why Plivo is the ideal alternative to Telnyx and Twilio

While Twilio and Telnyx are top players in the CPaaS space, having a second provider in your software stack can add a layer of reliability. As one of the top Twilio alternatives, Plivo can address the most common issues you may have:

• Inconsistent quality and deliverability in some regions
• Rising costs as the business’s customer base grows
• Lackluster customer support
• Ongoing technical issues

With direct connectivity to carriers in over 190 countries, Plivo ensures consistent quality and a 99.99% uptime guarantee, keeping your messages and calls on track.

Plivo also stands out with its six global points of presence (PoPs), strategically placed near high-traffic internet exchange points (IXP). This infrastructure provides your customers with top-tier voice call quality.

Plus, its developer-friendly, straightforward API documentation ensures an easy setup.

Additionally, with Plivo, you can save more as your business scales. It offers competitive pricing, along with volume-based discounts that start as low as $1,000.

Here’s a quick rundown of Plivo’s API solutions:

• SMS API: Plivo’s SMS API lets you send and receive text messages globally. Whether you're sending promotional offers, appointment reminders, or verification codes, Plivo makes it easy to integrate SMS into your application.

• Voice API: Plivo's Voice API allows you to make and receive high-quality voice calls, automate workflows with IVR, and even build custom call centers.

It takes care of three of the major call quality metrics: latency, jitter, and packet loss. You can see and monitor these metrics on the call insights dashboard that provides a quality score as a mean opinion score (MOS).

• Verify API: Plivo’s Verify API streamlines user authentication with 2FA, using SMS, voice calls, or email for businesses that need to securely verify users, or add extra layers of security during sign-ins. Plus, it addresses Telnyx use cases like MFA and fraud prevention like Twilio to secure user interactions.

• WhatsApp Business API: With Plivo’s WhatsApp Business API, you can engage with customers on the world’s most popular messaging platform. Plivo makes it easy to integrate WhatsApp into your business communication, allowing you to send order updates, customer support messages, and promotional content.

You can use Plivo as your primary provider or a failover option, addressing common challenges that Twilio and Telnyx may not fully resolve. Book a demo to know why thousands of businesses trust Plivo for efficient communication.

Managing large-scale conversations can be a challenge—especially for growing businesses.

To meet this demand, Meta launched the WhatsApp Cloud API in May 2022. This API lets businesses quickly connect with customers, offering a secure and scalable way to chat — no matter where they are.

While the Cloud API is easy to set up with no hosting fees, it does limit customization and control.

That’s where Plivo’s WhatsApp Business API comes in. Plivo offers more flexibility and control during setup, which can be beneficial for businesses in need of a more tailored solution.

In this guide, we’ll cover everything from setting up the Cloud API to real-world use cases, and also explore how Plivo’s API can offer more customization for businesses that need it.

WhatsApp Cloud API 101

Before launching the WhatsApp Cloud API, Meta offered three versions of WhatsApp:

• The standard WhatsApp app for personal use.
• WhatsApp Business for small- to mid-sized businesses.
• WhatsApp Business API for companies that needed advanced features.

So, what makes WhatsApp Cloud API different from all of these versions?

Let’s learn more about it.

What is WhatsApp Cloud API?

The WhatsApp Cloud API is a version of the WhatsApp Business Platform that runs on Meta’s cloud servers.

Unlike the older version, which required hosting on private servers or through a business solutions provider (BSP), the Cloud API removed the need for businesses to manage their own servers.

Why did Meta create the Cloud API?

The older on-premises API had its drawbacks. Set up took time, updates were slow to reach businesses, and server maintenance was expensive.

How does WhatsApp Cloud API work?

Here’s how the WhatsApp Cloud API works:

• Cloud-based architecture: Hosted on Meta’s servers, it provides a reliable and scalable infrastructure for messaging.
• Messaging capabilities: Businesses can exchange text, images, videos, and documents programmatically using API endpoints.
• Automation and bots: It supports automated workflows, such as sending appointment reminders or responding to frequently asked questions.
• Integration-friendly: The API connects seamlessly with other tools, streamlining customer communication processes.
• Multi-agent support: Teams can manage conversations collectively, ensuring faster response times and better customer service.

What’s the difference between the WhatsApp on-premises API and Whatsapp Cloud API?

Understanding the differences between the WhatsApp on-premises API and the WhatsApp Cloud API is key to choosing the right solution for your business.

Let’s explore how they compare.

WhatsApp business Cloud API features

The WhatsApp Cloud API comes with features that allow businesses to easily connect WhatsApp with their existing tools and workflows.

Here are its main offerings:

Seamless integration with Meta

Businesses can connect their systems to WhatsApp through Meta’s cloud platform. This ensures smooth and dependable communication with customers.

Versatile messaging options

The WhatsApp Cloud API supports text, media such as images, videos, audio, GIFs, and files, as well as contact cards and location sharing. It also facilitates interactive messages like list messages, reply buttons, and single or multi-product messages.

Additionally, businesses can use message templates for both text and media, incorporating interactive options for customer engagement.

Data access across platforms

The Graph API allows businesses to access and send data easily across different Meta platforms, including WhatsApp, Facebook, and Instagram.

It uses a single point of connection, so businesses don’t need to connect separately to each platform. This makes it simpler for businesses to manage data, whether it's about users, posts, or events, all from one place.

Global accessibility with no setup fees

The WhatsApp Cloud API is hosted in North America, but it allows businesses worldwide to connect with customers. This gives them access to WhatsApp’s large user base.

Meta offers the Cloud API for free, so businesses don't have to pay setup or access costs. However, businesses will still pay for the messages they send.

Easy-to-use API documentation

Meta offers straightforward API documentation, making it easier for developers to connect their systems to WhatsApp. This helps businesses build customized solutions and drive innovation.

Scalable and secure communication

The WhatsApp Cloud API enables businesses to scale their communications as they grow. It meets Meta’s strict security and privacy standards, ensuring both business and customer conversations remain secure.

How to get WhatsApp Cloud API

Setting up the WhatsApp Cloud API can vary depending on the method you choose. Here’s a quick comparison between using a BSP like Plivo and going through Meta directly.

Using an embedded signup

Signing up through a BSP enables you to complete the process in just a few steps. The signup flow is simple and stays entirely within the site.

Here’s how to do it with Plivo:

Step 1: Create a WABA in the Plivo console

To set up your WABA in Plivo, register a phone number that can receive an OTP via text or call. You'll use this number to message customers on WhatsApp.

You can either rent a number from Plivo or use your own. If you’re moving from another provider, you can transfer your number to Plivo.

Be sure to check Meta's guidelines and Plivo’s requirements for registration and migration.

Step 2: Customize your WhatsApp profile

Pick a display name for your WhatsApp account and follow the setup guidelines. Then, grant Plivo the necessary permissions to act as your WhatsApp solution provider.

Step 3: Verify successful onboarding

To confirm your setup is successful, check your Meta Business Account. First, choose your Meta account, then go to Business Settings and click on WhatsApp Accounts.

In the Partners tab, Plivo should appear as your partner.

Then, go to the Settings tab, where you'll find 'PLIVO INC' listed as a payment option.

Once you open "WhatsApp Manager," your number should show as connected.

Step 4: Register WhatsApp templates

Businesses must use WhatsApp messages templates approved by Meta. You can create new templates in WhatsApp Manager.

Meta segments templates into utility, marketing, or authentication categories, based on the message content. The category impacts both the conversation type and the cost.

In the Plivo console, you can find template information. Navigate to Messaging > WhatsApp Business Account > Templates to sync and view details from Meta.

Step 5: Manage your business phone number

Go to WhatsApp > WhatsApp Business Account to manage business phone numbers in Plivo.

Select your account and click on 'Configurations.' To add a phone number, use the ‘+Add Phone Number’ button found under account details.

After adding, you can also unlink numbers if needed.

This section also shows the connection status (whether it’s connected, pending, or disconnected), the name status (which reflects Meta’s verification), and the quality rating, based on how recipients respond to your messages.

Using Meta

Using the Cloud API through Meta requires development skills, such as making API calls to send and receive messages and setting up a webhook endpoint to handle message notifications.

You’ll also need to switch between Meta for Developers, your webhook server (like Glitch), and the WhatsApp application to test everything.

To learn more about these steps, refer to Meta’s documentation.

Note: Meta prohibits independent software vendors from developing the WhatsApp Cloud API for clients. Non-compliance with WhatsApp's Commerce Policy may lead to suspension or removal of API access.

WhatsApp Cloud API pricing

Businesses can access the WhatsApp Cloud API for free, but they pay based on their conversations with users.

Conversations on the WhatsApp Cloud API fall into two categories: user-initiated and business-initiated. A user-initiated conversation occurs when a user sends a message to a business, and the business responds within 24 hours. 

On the other hand, a business-initiated conversation happens when the business messages a user after the 24-hour window following the user's initial message.

WhatsApp offers the first 1,000 conversations each month for free. Once businesses exceed this limit, they must add a credit card to their account to continue using the service.

Even if a WABA has multiple phone numbers, the 1,000 free conversation limit still applies, and it resets monthly. In addition, businesses won’t incur charges when users contact them through the business’s call to action (CTA) button.

Pros of using the Whatsapp Cloud API

The WhatsApp Cloud API offers several advantages for businesses looking to integrate WhatsApp messaging into their customer service and communication workflows.

These advantages include:

Faster approval process

Previously, businesses had to go through BSPs and wait for approval before gaining access to the WhatsApp Business API. With the new approach, businesses can now directly access the API, removing the middleman.

Instant updates

Direct access to the WhatsApp Business API ensures that businesses immediately receive updates, including important security fixes.

Reduced costs

Traditionally, BSPs charged businesses for API access.

Now, with the WhatsApp Cloud API, Meta has eliminated setup charges, meaning businesses of all sizes can use the API at no cost.

Cons of using the Whatsapp Cloud API

While the WhatsApp Cloud API offers many benefits, there are also some potential drawbacks to consider:

Customization and control

The WhatsApp Cloud API is a ready-to-use solution managed by Meta. It makes setup and maintenance easy, but businesses can’t change its main features or underlying infrastructure. However, it allows for flexible integrations and workflow setups within its standard limits. For companies with complex needs or very specific requirements, this lack of control might be a drawback compared to on-premises options.

Support and service level agreement (SLAs)

Meta’s Cloud API support is general, whereas the on-premises API often includes specific SLAs and disaster recovery managed by BSPs. Businesses with high-stakes communication needs may find it challenging to operate without dedicated support. Downtimes or delays in issue resolution can impact critical service levels.

Plivo offers strong support with clear SLAs and disaster recovery measures. This dedicated service helps businesses maintain consistent, reliable communication when it matters most.

Feature parity and updates

The Cloud API may lack certain advanced features or update flexibility found in the on-premises API. Businesses using the Cloud API can face restrictions in accessing new tools or controlling update timing, limiting how they manage feature rollouts.

Plivo gives businesses more options, with multiple engagement channels like SMS, WhatsApp, and voice. Its additional features, such as marketing automation, provide flexibility beyond what the Cloud API offers.

For instance, Plivo allows businesses to provide customer support via a no-code AI-powered WhatsApp chatbot. This bot can handle routine customer inquiries, such as order tracking or store hours, without needing an agent. It reduces the workload on human agents and improves response speed.

Plivo also offers data-led routing, which uses customer data to direct queries to the right agents.

For example, if a returning customer has a technical issue, the system can route their inquiry to a dedicated technical support agent. This ensures the customer gets the right help faster and more efficiently.

Latency and performance

Meta’s North American data hosting can cause delays for international users, as requests must travel across continents. For global businesses, this lag can impact response times, making interactions feel slow and lowering user satisfaction.

Plivo’s network, with connectivity in over 220 countries and territories, routes requests closer to users to reduce latency. This setup helps businesses offer faster, more responsive service worldwide.

Automate your WhatsApp communication with Plivo

The WhatsApp Cloud API is fully managed by Meta, making it easier to set up and scale, but it gives you less control over infrastructure.

If you want something quick and easy, go for the Cloud API. If you need more customization and control, the Business API is the way to go.

Plivo offers a reliable and easy-to-use API platform that consolidates all your communication channels under one bill, contract, and point of contact. With competitive pricing and customer support ranked 99/100 for satisfaction on G2, you can count on us for top-tier service.

Plivo’s WhatsApp Business API makes managing customer interactions at scale effortless. Rich messaging and advanced automation tools not only improve customer satisfaction but also make your communication processes more efficient.

Ready to see how Plivo's WhatsApp Business API works for your business? Book a demo today!

Voice Artificial Intelligence (AI) is no longer just a futuristic concept — it’s here, reshaping how businesses engage with customers. With the conversational AI market set to jump from $13.2 billion in 2024 to $49.9 billion by 2030, voice integration is transforming industries.

From handling customer queries to automating workflows, voice AI redefines e-commerce, healthcare, finance, and many industries. It’s not just about commands anymore; voice AI now delivers context-aware, natural interactions that transform customer experiences with real-time assistance and a sense of personal touch.

In this article, we’ll discuss how voice integration in conversational AI drives change, its industry applications, and the advantages it offers for businesses and customers.

What is conversational voice AI?

Conversational voice AI focuses on voice-based interactions between users and machines under the umbrella of conversational AI. It uses speech recognition and natural language processing (NLP) to understand and respond to voice commands. Speech recognition converts spoken words into text, while NLP uses algorithms to understand the intent of the converted text.

The response then reverts to speech through speech synthesis.

Various devices, such as smart speakers, mobile apps, interactive voice response (IVR) systems, and even in-car voice systems, use conversational voice AI to improve user engagement and operational efficiency.

Sneak peek of conversational AI: The OG

Conversational AI comprises technologies and algorithms that create lifelike conversations between machines and users. Users interact with these technologies via:

• Customer support chatbots found in apps or on websites
• Smart assistants like Google Assistant or Amazon Alexa
• Customer support voice bots that handle queries over the phone

Conversational AI systems process voice commands, understand user queries, and provide relevant responses using NLP, machine learning (ML), and speech recognition.

The rise of voice technology in conversational AI

🗣️: Ok Google, navigate to the closest gas station.

🗣️: Hi Siri, remind me to pick up groceries at 10 AM.

🗣️: Alexa, set a timer for 5 mins.

Google, Amazon, and Apple have transformed voice-based interactions using conversational AI.

Voice integration in conversational AI provides a natural and intuitive way to interact compared to traditional text-based methods. It mirrors human conversation, making it faster and easier for users to communicate with AI systems.

With 97% of mobile users relying on AI voice assistants, voice-based conversational AI is now a regular part of daily life. Businesses are adopting voice AI to offer seamless, hands-free experiences as consumers grow familiar with voice commands.

Looking under the hood: Conversational voice AI and customer service

Conversational AI in customer service helps businesses offer instant support to customers and handle routine tasks with ease. Voice-enabled conversational AI answers queries, processes requests, and speeds up customer interactions. This improves efficiency, reduces wait times, and lets agents focus on complex issues.

Let’s explore the different applications of conversational AI that can amp up the game of customer experiences across the board.

Smart call routing

Voice assistants with conversational AI analyze customer inquiries and route calls to the right department.

Unlike traditional IVR systems that rely on keywords, voice AI maximizes IVR menu efficiency through natural language understanding (NLU), allowing customers to speak naturally.

Voice assistants also capture customer details, like names, account numbers, and requested services, giving agents all information upfront. This saves time for both customers and agents.

Omnichannel support

While text, email, and chat are standard communication channels, voice adds immediacy and a personal touch to customer service interactions, which other channels often lack.

With voice AI in their omnichannel support system, businesses can offer seamless platform transitions. For instance, a customer might use voice commands in-store to check product availability and continue the conversation online later.

This unified experience provides a smooth customer journey and boosts customer satisfaction and brand loyalty.

Pro Tip: Add customizable voice IVR to your omnichannel support and build a better brand perception.

Streamline authentication

Automating customer authentication with voice technology and conversational AI reduces time and costs. Additionally, voice authentication using NLP is a more cost-effective alternative to voice biometrics authentication, providing an equally smooth experience.

Simplify troubleshooting

Voice assistants powered by conversational AI and chatbots can handle much of the troubleshooting process, automating common issues and often resolving them without involving an agent. This reduces agents' time on repetitive tasks and boosts customer service operations.

If the bot can’t resolve the issue, it transfers the customer to a human agent. It also gives the agent a detailed record of already taken troubleshooting steps to ensure a smoother handoff.

More agent efficiency = Better customer experience.

Better security and reliability

In industries like finance and healthcare, security is paramount.

Voice AI integration provides robust security measures, such as encrypted voice recordings and secure data transmission. It protects sensitive customer data while meeting industry regulations.

A dependable voice platform with voice AI reduces downtime and ensures continuous service through a well-designed IVR system. For example, banking IVRs improve security and customer interactions and ensure a smooth, secure flow of information.

Multi-language support

Voice technology with conversational AI allows businesses to support multiple languages and create a more inclusive and accessible customer experience. For example, Plivo’s AI voice agents support speech recognition in 27 languages and their regional variants.

Using speech recognition technology, businesses can engage with diverse customer bases worldwide and offer personalized support in various languages. It helps companies enhance customer interactions and improve overall satisfaction.

Hands-free experience

98% of websites don’t provide basic accessibility features, limiting access to millions of users with disabilities. Voice-enabled conversational AI supports Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) and allows more customers to access digital services independently.

Voice technology powered by conversational AI uses advanced speech synthesis to support users with visual impairments. It enables interaction with content through natural-sounding speech, making information easier to understand and more engaging.

These systems convert text into audio, providing access to online shopping, education, and training in a more inclusive way.

Personalization

Conversational AI platforms leverage customer data like browsing history and purchase behavior to offer highly personalized recommendations in real-time. For example, voice assistants can narrow down a general query about a mobile phone to a specific model based on the customer's preferences and budget.

Voice-enabled AI bots, like Plivo-powered voice agents, also guide customers from discovery to checkout, helping them:

• Compare products
• Suggest complementary items
• Offer specific discounts
• Upsell based on past purchases

Unlike text-based bots, voice agents are more personalized, adding a human touch to customer interactions.

Conversational voice AI for different industries

When a customer calls, they want to feel valued and understood. Conversational AI with voice recognition technology puts the customer at the center of the experience.

Here’s how voice AI transforms industries and enhances customer interactions across sectors.

E-commerce

Caption: Personalize customer’s shopping experience with Plivo-powered voice agents

Alt text: Image depicting Plivo-powered AI bots recommending products based on user input

E-commerce customers want quick responses and 24/7 support. If they don’t get it, they may choose a competitor.

While chatbots work well for tasks like answering FAQs or checking order status, voice integration in conversational AI transforms customer service and creates standout shopping experiences by:

• Assisting customers with product selection
• Offering personalized recommendations
• Automating the sales process

Integrating voice agents in customer relationship management (CRM) systems also provides real-time updates, such as order status, with just a voice command. Businesses are better suited to provide a 24/7 personalized shopping experience with quicker response times and higher customer engagement.

Education

AI voice integration with multilingual support can empower inclusive learning experiences in the education sector with personalized tutoring. Voice agents can instantly support students by providing real-time translations and remove language barriers by clarifying complex terms in their preferred language.

This integration reduces the need for multilingual staff, making learning more accessible for global students.

Healthcare

No industry values prompt responses more than healthcare.

Voice integration in conversational AI healthcare sectors improves customer experience, provides timely care, and improves operational efficiency. It simplifies patient care and delivers personalized support through:

• Medication reminders 
• Appointment scheduling
• Preliminary health assessments

In addition, voice agents help healthcare providers automate tasks, improve medication adherence, and lighten their workload, making services more efficient and patient-focused.

Finance

Conversational voice AI supports financial sectors with a forward-thinking approach. Voice agents improve the customer experience by offering quick, accurate responses without wait times. Banks use voice agents to:

• Automate routine tasks
• Provide instant account updates
• Process payments
• Deliver personalized financial advice 24/7

Approaches to deploying conversational AI for voice integration

When you're ready to implement voice-integrated conversational AI, you'll discover several ways to design, build, and deploy a voice assistant. Some approaches may appear cost-effective at first but quickly turn into obstacles, complicating deployment or causing user dissatisfaction.

Here are three primary methods for deploying conversational AI for voice:

1. Partner with a voice-first vendor

Partnering with a voice-first vendor like Plivo is the most efficient and effective way to deploy conversational AI for voice applications.

One of the key advantages of working with a vendor like Plivo is the speed and efficiency it brings to deployment. Instead of building a voice assistant from the ground up, businesses can leverage Plivo’s pre-built solutions and technical expertise. This accelerates time-to-market and reduces the burden on in-house development teams.

Plivo's platform is designed to handle the complexities of voice integration, such as managing call flows, ensuring compliance with global telecommunication standards, and delivering high-quality audio. Additionally, its APIs are highly customizable, allowing businesses to tailor their solutions to fit specific use cases.

2. DIY with a third-party platform

Another approach to deploying conversational AI for voice is using third-party platforms like Google DialogFlow or Amazon Lex. They can handle natural language processing and speech algorithms for your applications.

However, this option may limit control. Performance can vary based on language or application needs, especially in voice-heavy use cases.

3. Port chatbot technology into voice

Many businesses start with chatbots and attempt to convert them into voicebots.

Doing so involves integrating speech recognition and text-to-speech capabilities with the chatbot’s existing NLP engine. This allows the system to understand spoken input, process it, and deliver relevant responses through audio.

Nevertheless, transitioning from a text-based chatbot to a conversational AI voice agent can be challenging.

Chatbots are primarily designed for text-based communication, and the conversion process often leads to issues with speech recognition and intent detection, resulting in subpar performance. It also requires careful attention to voice-specific nuances, such as accommodating variations in accents, ensuring accurate speech synthesis, and optimizing dialogue flow for spoken interactions.

Note: While porting chatbot technology to voice can save time and resources compared to building a voice assistant from the ground up, it may lack the full customization and voice-centric features provided by dedicated voice-first solutions.

Get started with Plivo

Whether integrating AI features into your existing systems or considering third-party solutions, conversational voice AI empowers teams, drives efficiency, and enhances customer experience.

Plivo’s Voice API offers flexibility and seamless integration with your preferred speech-to-text, text-to-speech, and language model providers. It connects directly with OpenAI’s RealTime API through simple integration endpoints for instant deployment. Context-aware AI Voice Agents trained on custom knowledge bases support businesses to:

• Schedule appointments and send reminders
• Offer personalized financial advice
• Boost sales with AI-driven shopping assistance
• Break language barriers with real-time translations
• Deliver exceptional customer support with accurate responses

Plivo’s platform also offers industry-leading performance metrics, including 99.99% uptime reliability and low-latency global connectivity.

To explore the potential of Plivo-powered AI voice agents, contact us today.

Managing customer support is hard. Agents spend valuable time switching between tools, handling repetitive inquiries, and struggling to keep up with the sheer volume of tickets—all while customers expect lightning-fast resolutions.

Delayed responses lead to frustrated customers, lower satisfaction scores (CSAT), and even churn. Meanwhile, your team faces burnout as they try to balance speed with quality in a system that isn’t built for scale.

AI is changing the game. In HubSpot’s recent customer service report, 92% of companies said AI has dramatically improved response times, while 82% credited it with boosting CSAT. By automating repetitive tasks, providing instant responses, and scaling effortlessly, AI equips your support team to meet today’s demands. Here’s how it works.

The Challenges with 100% Human Customer Support 

As your business grows, customer inquiries increase, and keeping up becomes a challenge. Here’s where many customer support teams hit roadblocks:

Constant Hiring
To handle rising demand, you hire more agents. However, research shows that 43% of customer service leaders identify hiring and training as their biggest challenges.This often leads to rushed decisions, high turnover, and operational disruptions.

Training Under Pressure
Every new hire needs time to understand your products, tools, and communication standards. But with tickets piling up, training is often rushed, leading to mistakes and decreased customer satisfaction.

Burnout Takes Hold
High turnover means frequent backfilling, rehiring, and retraining - adding to operational costs. The pressure on existing agents intensifies, resulting in burnout and inconsistent service delivery. Breaking this cycle is critical for delivering reliable, scalable support.

The Heavy Human Toll

This isn’t just about tools and processes—this is real life. Your agents are exhausted, your customers are irate, and you’re stuck in a loop that wears on everyone involved.

• Overworked Agents, Frustrated Customers:
  When your team juggles too many roles and tools, the result is inconsistent service. Customers wait too long and end up frustrated. Over time, lost trust hurts retention and your brand’s reputation.
  
  
• Too Many Tools:
  CRM systems, ticketing tools, chat apps, and more—each one meant to help ends up fragmenting your agents’ workflow. They lose time hopping between platforms, adding stress and slowing things down even more.
  
  
• Scaling Struggles:
  During rush periods, the cracks widen further. Bringing in temporary staff is costly and training them on the fly barely works. Instead of steady support, you’re left in constant damage-control mode, stuck with a team that’s stretched too thin.
  
  
• The Leadership Burden:
  As a manager or team lead, you’re carrying the weight of every decision. The constant juggling act and the emotional toll of trying to keep everyone afloat often go unspoken—but they’re deeply felt.

A Moment to Reflect

77% of CRM leaders believe that AI will handle most ticket resolutions in 2025. This isn’t just a prediction. This data reflects the increasing need for faster, more efficient customer support driven by AI.

To achieve this, you have to pick a tool that supports your support partners and makes their job easier. 

Meet Plivo AI: Your New Support Partner

Plivo AI is an intelligent agent designed to ease the load for your support team. It isn’t here to replace your team. It’s here to empower them. 

💡An AI Agent is a pre-programmed workflow that follows specific steps to complete tasks, like a customer service representative with a detailed manual. It can respond to customers, ask them for details, and take actions on behalf of the company - like updating addresses or processing refund. It combines AI language abilities with access to necessary tools and information, but always works within defined boundaries and processes. 

Here’s how it can change the game:

• Always On, Always Ready:
  Plivo AI works around the clock, making sure your customers get quick, reliable help anytime—whether it’s late at night or during a holiday rush. This consistent support builds trust and gives both your customers and team peace of mind.
  
  
• Effortless Scalability:
  When ticket numbers suddenly spike, Plivo AI scales up instantly—no need to rush through hiring and training. This keeps your service smooth, even during the busiest times.
  
  
• Personalized Problem Solving:
  63% of customers expect customer service agents to know their unique needs and expectations. With a knack for analyzing and learning from past interactions, Plivo AI offers tailored responses for each customer.
  
  
• Smart Automation and Guided Workflows:
  Plivo AI agent simplifies complex tasks by guiding your customers through step-by-step workflows. It’s like having your best agent handling every ticket, reducing mistakes and lightening the load on your team.
  
  
• Less Burnout, More Balance:
  By taking over the repetitive tasks, Plivo AI gives your human agents a chance to focus on high-value interactions. This cuts down on stress and helps create a more balanced work environment.
  
  
• Future-Proof Your Support:
  As your business grows, Plivo AI grows with you. It adapts to rising customer expectations and scaling demands, keeping your support team agile and ready for any challenge. It’s not just a tool—it’s a long-term partner in success.

Agent-Based Model vs. AI-Based Resolution: A Clear Comparison

Implementing AI in customer support offers distinct advantages over traditional human-agent models. Here’s a detailed comparison highlighting key aspects:

Cost Efficiency

Scalability

Efficiency and Consistency

Flexibility and Adaptability

Measuring the ROI of AI-first Customer Support 

One of the most compelling reasons to switch to an AI-based support model is the return on investment (ROI). Here’s how Plivo AI makes a strong case:

95% Query Resolution:

Imagine this: about 95% of customer queries get resolved by AI without the need for human intervention. That’s a massive reduction in workload for your team, allowing them to focus on higher-value tasks.

Cost Savings:

When AI handles most inquiries, you save significantly on salaries, overtime, and training expenses. With fewer errors and faster resolutions, the cost per support ticket drops dramatically.

💡With Plivo, the cost per resolution starts as low as $0.35/resolution. 

Higher Customer Retention:

Faster response times and consistent service mean happier customers. Loyal customers stick around longer, boosting your revenue and reducing the churn that can erode your bottom line.

Measurable ROI:

With the predictable expense model of AI and the dramatic drop in support ticket costs, you can easily measure ROI. Consider that a reduction in support costs, combined with increased customer retention, can lead to a significant boost in profit margins over time.

Energy Reinvestment:

Instead of spending resources on constant hiring and training, those saved funds can be reinvested into business growth, innovation, and even further enhancing customer support strategies.

It’s time to add AI customer support

AI-powered software—especially options with free plans or trials—can offer high potential for ROI, making it an attractive solution for service teams. 

The traditional agent-based model, like Zendesk, has served us well but the rising costs, scalability issues, and inconsistencies in service are clear signs that the old ways are no longer enough—especially when your team is already stretched thin.

Plivo AI offers a fresh perspective. It’s like having your top agent available 24/7, ready to handle demand spikes, keep costs predictable, and deliver a seamless, consistent experience for every customer.