e Automation Software for Sales & Support (2026) Meta Description: Explore the 8 best AI voice automation platforms in 2026. Compare enterprise-ready tools for sales, support, scheduling, and intelligent call handling.

8 Best AI Voice Automation Platforms in 2026

The era of "Press 1 for Sales" is effectively over. In 2026, customers expect immediate, intelligent conversation, and businesses that stick to rigid keypad menus are actively losing revenue.

Modern voice automation has evolved far beyond simple call routing. Today's best platforms enable you to deploy infinite agents that sound, think, and react like your top employees, handling complex sales objections, scheduling appointments, and resolving support tickets without a human ever picking up the phone.

But with hundreds of new tools flooding the market, finding one that actually delivers low latency and stability is a challenge. We have analyzed the top contenders to bring you the 8 platforms that are truly enterprise-ready.

Here is the list.

How to select the best AI voice automation platforms

To ensure this list serves both technical engineering teams and non-technical business owners, we evaluated eight platforms based on four critical performance metrics:

Latency & Human-Likeness: We prioritized platforms that minimize the "awkward pause" (sub-1000ms response times) and offer voices that capture human nuance, including the ability to handle interruptions and "barge-ins" naturally.
Integration Capabilities: A voice agent is only as good as the data it can access. We selected tools that offer deep, native integrations with major CRMs (HubSpot, Salesforce) or robust APIs that allow the agent to trigger complex backend actions.
Reliability at Scale: We looked for infrastructure capable of handling hundreds of concurrent calls without degrading audio quality or crashing, ensuring stability for high-volume campaigns.
Flexibility (Code vs. No-Code): We purposefully included a mix of "developer-first" APIs (for maximum control) and "no-code" visual builders (for rapid deployment) to cater to different organizational needs.

Also Read: AI Voice Agents-The Complete Guide to Voice Chat

A Quick Overview of the Best AI Voice Automation Platforms

Tool	Best for	What it does best	Key strengths	Pricing
Plivo	Businesses needing reliable AI phone calls at any scale	Automates real customer phone conversations across voice, SMS, and WhatsApp	Owns its full telephony stack for ultra-low latency and 99.99% uptime	Pay-as-you-go; Enterprise from ~$1,000/month
Bland AI	Enterprises running very high call volumes	Handles massive inbound and outbound call campaigns	Scales concurrent calls with highly programmable logic	Custom pricing (contact sales)
Vapi	Developers building custom voice agents with BYOK	Orchestrates STT, LLMs, and TTS with extremely low latency	Model-agnostic, developer-first infrastructure	Usage-based, $10 free credit
Retell AI	Developers turning LLMs into voice agents fast	Converts existing LLMs into real-time phone agents	Industry-leading latency with minimal VoIP setup	Pay-as-you-go; Enterprise available
Synthflow	Agencies and non-technical teams	Builds appointment booking and lead intake agents without code	Visual builder with deep CRM integrations	Pay-as-you-go; Enterprise tier
Poly AI	Large consumer brands with complex calls	Handles messy, interrupt-driven customer conversations	Best-in-class speech understanding for accents and noise	Custom enterprise pricing
Cognigy	Enterprises with regulated contact centers	Automates complex support flows with compliance controls	Hybrid NLU + GenAI for safe automation	Custom enterprise pricing
Talkie AI	Healthcare clinics and medical offices

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Top 8 AI Voice Automation Platforms

Plivo

Best for: Businesses that need to automate actual customer phone calls with high reliability and low latency, scaling from simple no-code workflows to complex, programmable enterprise solutions.

Plivo is a voice-first AI agent and cloud communications platform that distinguishes itself by owning and operating its entire telephony, messaging, and AI stack. Unlike many tools that rely on third-party carriers like Twilio, Plivo's single-stack approach significantly reduces latency and improves reliability, boasting 99.99% uptime and compliance with standards like HIPAA, GDPR, and PCI DSS. Small businesses can start quickly with its no-code builder, "Vibe," using plain English instructions, while enterprises can leverage powerful programmable APIs to build complex, multi-channel workflows that share context across voice, SMS, and WhatsApp without ever switching platforms.

Key features

Built-In Telephony: Native phone numbers, global connectivity, and SIP trunking without dependence on external carriers.
Real-Time Audio Streaming: Streams live call audio via WebSockets for low-latency speech recognition and natural turn-taking.
Multi-Channel AI Conversations: Extends agent logic and context across voice, SMS, and WhatsApp for consistent interactions.
No-Code AI Agent Builder (Vibe): Allows users to create and deploy voice agents by defining goals and workflows in plain English.
Programmable APIs & Integrations: Full control over workflows with well-documented APIs and webhooks to connect with CRMs and internal systems.

Pros

Reduced Latency: Owning the telephony infrastructure eliminates hops to third-party carriers, ensuring faster response times.
Production-Grade Reliability: Trusted by Fortune 500 companies with a 99.99% uptime guarantee.
Seamless Scalability: Start with a small no-code workflow and scale to a fully programmable production system without rebuilding.

Cons

Overkill for Basic Needs: Not ideal for businesses that only require a simple IVR or voicemail system with no AI logic.
Configuration Required: Not suited for users seeking a pre-scripted, vertical-specific agent with zero configuration.

Pricing

Plivo offers pay-as-you-go pricing on our Professional plan with no monthly commitment, while Enterprise plans start at $1,000 per month for teams that need higher scale and dedicated support.

Bland AI

Best for: Hyper-scalable, enterprise-grade automated phone calls and voice agent workflows where large call volumes and deep customization matter most.

Bland AI is a voice automation platform focused on handling both inbound and outbound phone interactions using realistic conversational AI. Built with enterprise needs in mind, it provides programmable call flows, voice synthesis, and integration hooks that let teams automate complex telephony use cases, such as sales outreach, customer support, appointment reminders, and high-volume engagement, without relying on large human call center teams.

Key features

Realistic, human-like voice agents capable of sustaining natural phone conversations.
Developer-first APIs and webhook access for custom call logic and integration with CRM/telephony systems.
Support for high concurrency and massive call volume automation.
Voice cloning and multilingual voice customization options.
Pathways or programmable conversation flows to define logic, routing, and call outcomes.

Pros

Handles large call volumes reliably without degradation
Strong customization through APIs and programmable logic
Voice quality is more natural than many competitors

Cons

Steep learning curve for non-technical teams
Costs can escalate quickly with high usage

Pricing

Bland AI does not publish pricing publicly, and you need to contact their sales team for current plans and quotes.

Vapi

Best for: Developers who want a low-latency orchestration layer to mix and match the best AI models (BYOK) for their specific needs.

Vapi is a dedicated infrastructure that glues together various AI components rather than offering a single black-box solution. It handles the difficult mechanics of voice conversation, such as turn-taking, endpointing (knowing when someone has finished speaking), and latency optimization, while allowing you to plug in any provider you want. This means you aren't locked into a specific voice model; you can use Deepgram for transcription, OpenAI for intelligence, and ElevenLabs for speech, all orchestrated seamlessly by Vapi.

Key features

Developer APIs and SDKs for full workflow control
Real-time voice orchestration with low latency (sub-600 ms)
Plug-and-play with multiple STT, LLM, and TTS providers
Support for inbound and outbound voice agents via telephony or web embeds
Multilingual support and customizable conversation logic

Pros

Allows instant swapping of LLMs, voices, or transcribers as better models hit the market
"Bring Your Own Key" model avoids the usage markups typical of all-in-one platforms
Clean, modern API with excellent documentation tailored specifically for software engineers

Cons

Not beginner-friendly or no-code
Costs increase as external services scale

Pricing

Usage-based, pay-as-you-go pricing with a free $10 credit, plus custom enterprise plans via annual contract.

Retell AI

Best for: Developers seeking the fastest route to convert an existing LLM into a low-latency voice agent.

Retell AI is an AI voice agent platform that lets businesses build, deploy, and manage conversational phone agents that sound human, handle inbound/outbound calls, and automate routine workflows with low latency and high reliability. It combines speech-to-text, LLM intelligence, and telephony integration into a unified system for customer service, lead qualification, scheduling, and more.

Key features

Connects to any custom LLM backend (OpenAI, Anthropic) via WebSocket
Visual dashboard for testing prompts and voices without code
Built-in noise cancellation for clear audio transcription
Supports both phone numbers and web-based audio streaming
Detailed post-call analytics including latency breakdowns

Pros

Visual playground enables testing ideas in minutes
Industry-leading latency (often <800ms) for natural pacing
Removes the need to build complex VoIP infrastructure

Cons

Complex logic requires hosting and managing your own server
Creates a dependency on their proprietary gateway

Pricing

No platform fees with pay-as-you-go usage pricing, plus a custom enterprise plan for high-volume teams.

Synthflow

Best for: Agencies and non-technical teams who need a no-code visual builder to automate appointment setting and lead intake.

Synthflow AI is a voice automation platform designed to help businesses automate inbound and outbound phone interactions using intuitive visual builders and enterprise-grade telephony. It combines speech recognition, natural language understanding, and human-like voice synthesis to create AI agents capable of handling real customer conversations at scale.

Key features

Visual drag-and-drop flow builder for designing conversation paths
Native deep integrations with GoHighLevel, HubSpot, and Zapier
One-click appointment booking and real-time calendar syncing
White-labeling capabilities allowing agencies to resell the software
Pre-built templates for niche industries like real estate and dental

Pros

Enables rapid deployment of functional agents without any coding knowledge
Seamlessly automates post-call tasks like updating lead status in CRMs
Agency-focused features simplify client management and resale
Huge library of templates drastically reduces setup time

Cons

Lacks the granular control and flexibility of code-based solutions
Customizing complex backend logic beyond standard integrations is difficult

Pricing

Synthflow's pricing consists of a usage-based "Pay as you go" model that is free to start and a custom "Enterprise" tier for teams handling more than 10,000 minutes per month.

Poly AI

Best for: Large consumer brands (restaurants, hospitality, banking) needing human-like voice assistants that handle messy, complex conversations.

PolyAI distinguishes itself by building voice assistants designed for "customer-led" conversations—meaning the caller can speak freely, interrupt, tell stories, or mumble, and the AI will still understand. Unlike developer-focused tools (like Vapi) or sales-focused tools (like Air.ai), PolyAI is a managed enterprise solution. They use proprietary speech recognition models trained specifically on billions of seconds of conversational data to handle heavy accents and background noise better than off-the-shelf models.

Key features

Proprietary speech recognition tuned for names, addresses, and noisy backgrounds
Enables free-flowing, customer-led conversations without rigid IVR menus
Detects frustration to trigger seamless handoffs with full context
Native support for 120+ languages and accents in a single assistant
Pre-built voice modules for hospitality, banking, and dining

Pros

Handles interruptions and messy speech significantly better than competitors
Resolves 80-90% of calls autonomously due to superior understanding
Managed service model eliminates hallucination risks for enterprise brands

Cons

High cost makes it unsuitable for small businesses or startups
Closed "black box" system requiring their team for all changes

Pricing

Poly AI does not publish pricing publicly, and you need to contact their sales team for current plans and quotes.

Cognigy

Best for: Large enterprises automating complex contact centers with a mix of precise NLU and Generative AI.

Cognigy is an enterprise-grade platform designed to sit directly on top of existing contact center infrastructure (like Genesys or Avaya). It distinguishes itself with a "Hybrid AI" approach, allowing businesses to combine rigid NLU for compliance-heavy tasks (like payments) with Generative AI for natural conversation. This ensures high-stakes customer service interactions are both fluid and strictly controlled.

Key features

Visual low-code flow editor for designing complex conversational logic
Native integration with major CCaaS platforms (Genesys, Avaya, NICE)
Hybrid engine combining traditional NLU with Large Language Models
Seamless "Agent Handover" that transfers full call context to human reps
Enterprise-grade security and compliance certifications (GDPR, SOC2)

Pros

Safely automates highly regulated enterprise processes
Preserves context perfectly when transferring calls to humans
Deep integrations with backend systems like SAP and Salesforce
Scales effectively to handle massive enterprise call volumes

Cons

Implementation is complex and often requires professional services
Pricing and architecture are overkill for SMEs or simple use cases

Pricing

Cognigy does not publish pricing publicly, and you need to contact their sales team for current plans and quotes.

Talkie AI

Best for: Medical clinics and healthcare providers automating patient scheduling and front-desk triage.

Talkie.ai specializes in voice assistants for the healthcare industry, serving as an intelligent virtual receptionist that handles high call volumes without human intervention. The platform focuses on simplifying patient access by autonomously managing appointment bookings, prescription refills, and routing urgent calls, while offering a user-friendly interface for non-technical staff to manage flows.

Key features

Specialized modules for appointment booking and patient triage
No-code visual builder for designing conversation scripts
Seamless handover to live agents for complex medical queries
Multi-language support to serve diverse patient populations
Integrations with medical scheduling systems and calendars

Pros

Drastically reduces front-desk workload and missed patient calls
Pre-trained on healthcare scenarios for better medical context understanding
Rapid deployment compared to general-purpose enterprise voice tools
Ensures 24/7 availability for patient inquiries

Cons

Heavily optimized for healthcare, making it less ideal for general retail sales
Advanced custom integrations usually require enterprise-tier setups

Pricing

Talkie AI does not publish pricing publicly, and you need to contact their sales team for current plans and quotes.

How to choose an AI voice automation platform for your business

Choosing the right AI voice automation platform comes down to understanding how it will fit into your team, your workflows, and your growth plans. These questions will help you evaluate options in a practical, business-focused way.

1. Will your team need a no-code tool or a developer-first platform?

This matters because the people building and maintaining the system determine how quickly you can launch and improve it. If your team is non-technical, a no-code platform lets you move faster. If you have engineers and need deep customization, a developer-first tool gives you more flexibility long term.

2. How many calls do you need to support now and as you grow?

Call volume affects both cost and performance. A platform that works well at a small scale may become expensive or unreliable as usage increases, so it is important to choose something that can grow with your business without surprises.

3. How complex do your conversations and workflows need to be?

Some businesses only need straightforward call flows, while others require integrations, branching logic, or real-time actions. The more complex your workflows are, the more important it is to choose a platform that can handle real conversations rather than rigid scripts.

4. How important are voice quality and response speed for your use case?

Natural speech and quick responses make a big difference in how callers perceive the experience. If the AI sounds robotic or pauses too long, it can reduce trust and engagement, especially in customer-facing roles like sales or support.

5. Does the pricing model align with how you plan to use the platform?

Pricing structures vary widely between platforms. Understanding whether you are paying per minute, per call, or per feature helps you estimate costs accurately and avoid unexpected increases as your usage grows.

Try Plivo Free

Exploring AI voice automation should feel straightforward and low-risk. Plivo lets you start with a free trial and complimentary credits so you can test real voice automation use cases without any upfront commitment.

You can create and run AI-driven phone calls using Plivo’s visual tools or APIs, allowing you to see how automated voice interactions behave in real conditions. This includes testing inbound call handling, outbound call flows, and multi-channel automation across voice, SMS, and WhatsApp, all using your own workflows and data.

Starting with a free trial gives you the flexibility to validate performance, reliability, and fit before deciding how extensively you want to adopt AI voice automation across your business.

Start your free trial and build your first AI voice automation experience today.

Feb 16, 2026

5 mins

8 Best AI Voice Agents for Recruitment in 2026

Discover the 8 best AI voice agents for recruitment in 2026. Compare features, use cases, and pricing to automate candidate screening and hiring.

8 Best AI Voice Agents for Recruitment in 2026

Recruitment teams don’t struggle because they lack applicants. They struggle because every job post brings in hundreds of responses, many of them unqualified, and screening them all takes time recruiters don’t have.

AI voice agents help by handling the repetitive, early-stage conversations - screening candidates over the phone, asking the right questions, and routing qualified applicants forward - so recruiters can focus on real hiring decisions.

In this guide, we’ve curated the top AI voice agents for recruitment, based on what actually matters. Let’s begin.

A Quick Overview of the Top AI Voice Agents for Recruitment

Tool	Best for	What it does best	Key strength	Pricing
Plivo	Recruitment teams that want to run real AI voice agents on actual phone calls	End-to-end AI voice agents built on native telephony	Owns telephony + AI stack, low latency, high reliability	Pay-as-you-go (Professional); Enterprise starts at $1,000/month
Lindy	Lean recruiting teams that want fast AI voice automation	Voice agents for calls, follow-ups, and scheduling	Quick setup, strong for coordination tasks	Free tier available; paid plans from $49.99/month
Twilio	Engineering-led teams building custom AI voice recruiters	Programmable voice infrastructure	Maximum flexibility and global scale	Usage-based, approx. $0.008–$0.014/min
HeyMilo	Staffing teams running large-scale AI interviews	AI-led voice interviews with scoring	Scalable, structured screening	Custom pricing (sales-led)
Synthflow	HR teams wanting no-code AI voice workflows	Build custom voice agents visually	No-code flexibility, modular flows	Pay-as-you-go; Enterprise for high volume
CloudTalk	Teams needing a calling platform with AI automation	AI voice agents + call center tooling	Strong dialing, analytics, global coverage	From $25/user/month (annual billing)
Talvin	Teams focused on screening and reference checks	AI voice interviews + automated references	Structured, qualification-first hiring	$175–$750/month
Voiceflow	Product-led teams that want to design and control AI voice logic	Build AI agents using knowledge bases and workflows	Strong conversation design and collaboration	Free plan; paid from $60–$150/month

Top 8 AI Voice Agents for Recruitment

Plivo

Best for: Recruitment teams and hiring platforms that want to run real AI voice agents on actual phone calls, not demos or chat-only experiences.

Plivo is a voice-first AI agent and cloud communications platform built to automate real phone conversations at scale. Unlike many AI voice tools that depend on external telephony providers, Plivo owns and operates its telephony, messaging, and AI layers as a single stack. This gives teams more consistent call quality, lower latency, and better reliability as volume increases.

For recruitment use cases, this matters because screening calls, qualification conversations, and candidate follow-ups need to work predictably. Teams can start quickly using Plivo’s no-code AI agent builder, Vibe, and then add deeper programmable control through APIs as workflows grow more complex, without switching platforms.

Plivo is trusted by Fortune 500 companies worldwide, delivers 99.99% uptime, and complies with standards such as HIPAA, GDPR, SOC 2, PCI DSS, and STAR, making it suitable for high-volume and regulated hiring environments.

Key features

Build AI voice agents on real phone calls: Plivo lets teams build AI agents that answer, route, qualify, and complete conversations on inbound and outbound phone calls using its native voice infrastructure.
No-code AI agent builder (Vibe): Vibe allows teams to create and deploy AI voice agents using plain-English instructions. Recruiters can define goals, workflows, and actions without writing code, then iterate as hiring needs evolve.
Built-in telephony (not third-party): Phone numbers, global connectivity, call routing, recording, and SIP trunking are native to Plivo. This avoids reliance on external carriers and helps maintain low latency and high uptime.
Real-time audio streaming: Plivo streams live call audio over WebSockets to AI runtimes, enabling low-latency speech recognition and responses, natural turn-taking, and interruption handling during conversations.
Programmable voice and messaging APIs: Well-documented APIs and SDKs give teams full control over calls, messages, verification, number masking, and workflows, making it easy to integrate AI agents with ATSs, CRMs, and internal systems.
Multi-channel AI conversations: The same agent logic can run across voice, SMS, WhatsApp, and chat, with shared context across channels so candidates do not have to repeat themselves.

Pros

Reliable performance at scale: Users consistently cite stability and uptime, even with high call volumes.
Strong telephony control: Teams value having direct ownership of routing, numbers, and call behavior.
Flexible for both no-code and API users: Works well for recruiters and engineering teams alike.

Cons

More capability than very simple use cases require: Smaller teams may not use the full platform depth.
Advanced workflows benefit from upfront planning: Complex agent logic requires thoughtful setup.

Pricing

Plivo offers pay-as-you-go pricing on the Professional plan with no monthly commitment, while Enterprise plans start at $1,000 per month for teams that need higher scale and dedicated support.

Lindy

Best for: Recruiting teams that want a flexible, AI voice agent to handle candidate calls, follow-ups, and interview scheduling without heavy engineering work.

Lindy is an AI agent platform that lets recruiters deploy voice-enabled AI assistants to manage candidate communication across phone calls, calendars, and workflows. Rather than being a pure telecom infrastructure provider, Lindy focuses on task-oriented AI agents that can talk to candidates, coordinate schedules, and take action across tools like email and calendars. This makes it especially useful for lean recruiting teams that want automation without building everything from scratch.

Key features

Place and receive natural-sounding phone calls with candidates for screening, follow-ups, and confirmations

Coordinates availability and books interviews directly on connected calendars

AI agents can call candidates, send emails, update records, and trigger next steps automatically
Connects with calendars, email, and internal tools to keep recruiting workflows in sync
Escalates conversations to a recruiter when the AI detects uncertainty or complex questions

Pros

Recruiters can launch AI voice workflows without deep technical setup

Especially effective for scheduling, rescheduling, and candidate follow-ups

Can reason across steps instead of just asking static screening questions

Cons

Lacks deep hiring metrics or ATS-native reporting

Less granular call routing and voice infrastructure control than CPaaS platforms

Pricing

Lindy offers a free plan with 400 credits per month. Paid plans start at $49.99 per month.

Twilio

Best for: Engineering-led recruiting teams that want to build highly customizable AI voice agents on top of enterprise-grade voice and messaging infrastructure.

Twilio is a cloud communications platform that provides programmable APIs for voice calls, SMS, and messaging. In recruitment, it’s often used as the underlying infrastructure for AI voice agents that handle candidate screening calls, interview scheduling, reminders, and follow-ups. Rather than offering ready-made recruiting agents, Twilio gives teams the building blocks to design custom voice workflows tailored to their hiring process.

Key features

Twilio lets you design exactly how calls are placed, routed, recorded, and escalated, giving full control over the candidate calling experience.
Built-in support for international phone numbers, SMS, and voice delivery makes it suitable for distributed or global hiring.
Twilio integrates cleanly with speech-to-text, text-to-speech, and large language models to power conversational AI agents.
Voice events can trigger downstream actions in ATSs, CRMs, calendars, or internal systems.

Pros

You’re not constrained by predefined workflows—every part of the voice experience can be tailored to your hiring process.
Designed to handle high call volumes with strong uptime and telecom stability.
Suitable for advanced or global recruiting operations where off-the-shelf tools fall short.

Cons

Building an AI voice recruiter with Twilio requires technical resources and ongoing development.
As call volume and automation increase, usage-based pricing can become expensive.

Pricing

Usage-based, pay-as-you-go pricing starting at roughly $0.008–$0.014 per minute for voice calls, with additional costs for phone numbers and advanced features.

HeyMilo

Best for: Recruiters and staffing teams that want AI-powered voice interviews and automated candidate screening at scale.

HeyMilo is a recruitment platform built around conversational AI voice and multimedia interviewing, designed to automate candidate engagement, screening, evaluation, and structured interviews. Instead of just asking preset questions, HeyMilo’s AI adapts dynamically to candidate responses and delivers data-backed insights tailored to each role.

Key features

Natural two-way spoken interviews that adapt to candidate responses and assess fit.
Contacts applicants via phone, web voice/video, SMS, email, and WhatsApp.
Provides structured interview reports and scoring to inform hiring decisions.
Works with existing applicant tracking and HR systems to sync data.
Enables interviews and outreach in multiple languages for global recruiting.

Pros

Can conduct hundreds of interviews simultaneously, easing burden on recruiters.
Automated scoring and structured interviews help reduce manual variation.

Cons

AI may struggle with very open-ended or highly contextual responses that a human interviewer would catch.
Teams need to configure questions and scoring to fit specific roles and workflows.

Pricing

HeyMilo does not publish pricing publicly, and you need to contact their sales team for current plans and quotes.

Synthflow

Best for: HR departments at mid-sized companies looking to automate interview scheduling and FAQ handling.

Synthflow is a no-code conversational AI platform that lets users design, launch, and manage AI voice agents to automate phone interactions. Rather than providing a ready-made recruiter bot, Synthflow gives teams a visual builder where they can create custom voice workflows. It emphasizes flexibility and usability, making it suitable for recruiting teams that want to own their own voice agent logic without writing code.

Key features

You can design modular voice flows with a no-code builder where specialized "subflows" act as independent agents to manage complex logic, such as a "Verification Agent" for candidate ID or an "Appointment Agent" for booking interviews.
Provides enterprise-grade telephony integrations to ensure reliable inbound and outbound calling.
A dedicated environment to test recruitment scripts and agent responses before they go live with real candidates.
Offers live insights into active calls, allowing recruitment managers to track performance and candidate engagement as it happens.
Allows for the refinement of the AI’s underlying data to ensure the recruiter's brand voice and industry-specific terminology are accurate.

Pros

Teams can build and iterate voice agents without engineering resources.
Works for screening, candidate engagement, follow-ups, and scheduling.
Built to manage higher call volumes as hiring needs grow.

Cons

Requires manual building of hiring-focused flows and templates.
Deep conversational logic and integration workflows benefit from thoughtful design and testing.

Pricing

Synthflow's pricing consists of a usage-based "Pay as you go" model that is free to start and a custom "Enterprise" tier for teams handling more than 10,000 minutes per month.

CloudTalk

Best for: Teams that need a cloud-based calling platform with AI voice agents and automation.

CloudTalk is a cloud call center platform that combines VoIP calling with AI-powered automation and voice agents. While it’s not built exclusively for recruitment, its AI voice agents, smart dialers, and call routing features make it well-suited for hiring teams that rely heavily on phone communication. Recruiters can use CloudTalk to automate outbound candidate calls, handle inbound inquiries, and track call performance through built-in analytics and conversation intelligence.

Key features

Virtual voice agents that can autonomously answer and place calls, handle routine interactions, and support self-serve caller experiences.
Dialers, automated routing, IVR menus, and parallel dialing to manage large outbound and inbound call volumes.
Local numbers in 160+ countries with VoIP calling, SMS, and messaging options.
Connects with CRMs, helpdesks, and workflow systems for synced activity and inbox-to-call continuity.

Pros

Combines calling, campaign automation, and AI workflows in a single system.
Support for international numbers and multi-region operations.
Built-in conversation intelligence and analytics help teams understand patterns and coach more effectively.

Cons

It’s primarily a call center and sales/support voice platform, so recruiters may need extra configuration for hiring use cases.
Broad call center capabilities can overwhelm teams only seeking simple voice agent recruiting tools.

Pricing

CloudTalk offers user-based subscription plans for its core calling platform, starting at $25 per user/month when billed annually, with higher tiers adding advanced features like analytics and automation.

Talvin

Best for: Hiring teams that want an AI voice recruiter focused on structured screening and automated reference checks, not just interview scheduling or call automation.

Talvin is an AI recruitment platform built around voice-based candidate screening and reference checks. Its AI conducts structured, conversational interviews over voice to assess communication, experience, and role fit, then follows up with automated reference calls to gather standardized feedback. Talvin is positioned less as a general-purpose voice agent and more as a screening and validation layer that helps recruiters qualify candidates before human interviews.

Key features

Talvin conducts structured phone interviews to assess candidate fit early, so recruiters aren’t reviewing unqualified applicants.
Instead of manual follow-ups, Talvin collects reference feedback automatically and delivers it in a standardized format.
Interview questions and scoring are tailored to each role, keeping evaluations consistent across candidates.
Recruiters receive clear interview and reference reports rather than raw call recordings.

Pros

Designed specifically to screen and validate candidates, not just move them through a funnel.
Eliminates one of the most time-consuming and error-prone steps in hiring.
Standardized interviews and references make it easier to compare candidates objectively.

Cons

Not intended for outreach campaigns, scheduling-only workflows, or high-volume dialing.
Often paired with an ATS or sourcing platform rather than used end-to-end.

Pricing

Talvin’s plans start at $175/month and scale up to $750/month, based on interview volume and hiring needs.

VoiceFlow

Best for: Product-led recruiting teams that want to design and control the logic of AI voice conversations before deploying them on phone calls.

Voiceflow is a collaborative platform where teams design, develop, and launch AI agents using their preferred models and integrations. In practice, you build an agent by first creating a knowledge base, then adding workflows that define what the agent should do, integrating third-party tools through APIs, and finally launching the agent through Voiceflow’s web chat UI or the Dialog API.

For recruitment, this is useful when you want an agent that can answer candidate questions, guide screening conversations, and trigger workflow steps like collecting details, confirming availability, or handing off to a human, all while staying consistent with your hiring process.

Key features

Import documents and data so the agent answers using curated, controlled information rather than guessing.
Create multi-step tasks the agent can complete, so conversations can lead to actions, not just responses.
Connect the agent to third-party services using Voiceflow Functions and API blocks.
Deploy using Voiceflow’s web chat UI or build your own interface using the Dialog API.
Designed for teams to build and iterate together, rather than working in isolated scripts.

Pros

Strong control over how screening and interview conversations are structured.
Teams can refine conversations without touching telephony systems.
Recruiters, designers, and product teams can work together on flows.

Cons

Requires a telephony platform to place and receive calls.
Teams must design screening logic from scratch.

Pricing

Voiceflow offers a free Starter plan, with paid plans starting at $60/month (Pro) and $150/month (Business), while Enterprise pricing is custom for high-volume teams.

Questions to ask before choosing an AI voice agent for recruitment

1. Who actually owns the calling infrastructure?

When evaluating an AI voice agent, one of the first things to understand is how calls are handled behind the scenes. Some platforms rely heavily on third-party telephony providers, while others manage their own calling infrastructure more directly.

This distinction matters because it affects call quality, routing control, and reliability as usage grows. Tools with tighter control over their telephony stack tend to behave more predictably, especially when call volume increases or issues need to be diagnosed quickly.

2. Does the agent respond quickly enough to feel natural?

Voice conversations depend on timing. Even small delays between a candidate’s response and the agent’s reply can make the interaction feel uncomfortable or disjointed.

A well-designed AI voice agent should respond promptly and consistently throughout the conversation. This usually reflects how well speech recognition, language processing, and voice generation work together in real time. If responses feel slow or uneven during a demo, that friction will likely show up even more in real recruiting scenarios.

3. Is the product actually designed for recruitment conversations?

Recruitment is not a generic use case. Screening candidates requires structured questions, follow-ups based on previous answers, and clear decision points about what happens next.

Some voice agents are flexible but require significant customization to support hiring workflows. Others are built with recruitment logic in mind from the start. The difference shows up in how easily the agent can handle screening, availability checks, and smooth handoffs to human recruiters.

4. How does it handle things going off script?

Real conversations are rarely perfect. Candidates interrupt, misunderstand questions, or give incomplete answers.

An effective AI voice agent should be able to handle these moments without breaking the experience. This includes asking for clarification, continuing the conversation naturally, or exiting gracefully when needed. Systems that cannot manage these situations tend to feel fragile in real-world use.

5. Will it still work when hiring volume increases?

Hiring needs fluctuate. A tool that performs well for a small number of calls may struggle when activity ramps up.

It is important to understand how the platform behaves under higher load, both technically and operationally. This includes call quality, reliability, and whether usage scales in a predictable way. A system that handles growth smoothly allows recruiting teams to expand outreach without introducing new problems.

Try Plivo free

Getting started with AI voice agents for recruitment doesn’t need to be complicated or risky. With Plivo, you can sign up for a free trial account and get free credits to test real AI-powered phone calls, without committing upfront or changing your existing hiring workflows.

You can experiment with live screening calls, candidate follow-ups, and interview coordination using Plivo’s no-code tools or APIs. This lets you simulate real recruiting scenarios with your own data and logic before deciding how deeply you want to scale automation across voice, SMS, and WhatsApp.

Get started with your free trial today and begin building your first AI voice agent for recruitment.

FAQs

What is an AI voice agent in recruitment?

An AI voice agent is a system that conducts phone conversations with candidates to handle tasks like screening, availability checks, and interview scheduling.

Can AI voice agents replace recruiters?

No. They are designed to support recruiters by automating repetitive early-stage tasks, not to replace human decision-making.

Are AI voice agents reliable for candidate screening?

They work well for structured, rule-based screening, but nuanced evaluation and final decisions should still be handled by humans.

What should companies look for when choosing an AI voice agent?

Key factors include call quality, response speed, recruitment-specific workflows, and the ability to scale reliably with hiring volume.

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Feb 16, 2026

5 mins

Best AI Voice Agents for E-commerce (2026): Top Platforms Compared

Compare the best AI voice agents for e-commerce in 2026. See which platforms handle real calls, integrate with your stack and scale reliably.

Best AI Voice Agents for E-commerce (2026):

Top Platforms Compared

E-commerce brands don’t lose customers because of poor products, they lose them because conversations aren’t fast enough. Buyers now expect real-time assistance for order status, delivery issues, returns and payments, often beyond business hours.

That’s where AI voice agents help. Unlike IVRs or basic bots, modern voice agents can understand natural speech and intent, answer calls instantly, pull order data from your systems, resolve common issues and hand off to humans when needed. For e-commerce teams, this means fewer missed calls, lower support costs, and faster resolution.

This list has analysed the best AI voice agents for e-commerce in 2026, focusing on how they actually perform in production, what role they play in your stack and which types of teams they truly fit.

Platform Comparison

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Top 10 AI voice agents for E-commerce (2026)

Platform	Voice Handling	Telephony Ownership	E-commerce Integrations	Multi-Channel Continuity	Production Readiness
Plivo	Real-time inbound & outbound	Native	Native + API-driven	Voice, SMS, WhatsApp, chat	High (built for scale)
Aircall	Inbound & outbound calls	Native (cloud phone system)	Strong CRM/helpdesk	Voice + limited messaging	High
Dialpad AI	Human calls with AI assist	Native	CRM-focused	Voice-centric	High
Voiceflow	Voice via integrations	Integrated (Twilio/Vonage)	API-based	Voice + chat	Medium
Cognigy	Enterprise contact-center voice	Integrated (CCaaS partners)	Enterprise systems	Voice + digital channels	High
Talkdesk	Contact-center voice automation	Native (CCaaS)	Retail CX tools	Voice + digital channels	High
Five9 IVA	IVA layered on CCaaS	Native (CCaaS)	Enterprise CRM	Voice-first	High
Kore.ai	Conversational AI platform	Integrated	Broad enterprise	Voice + chat	Medium
Replicant	Autonomous inbound voice	Integrated	Limited e-commerce depth	Voice-only	Medium
Ada	Chat-first, voice expanding	Integrated	E-commerce helpdesk	Chat + emerging voice	Medium

Plivo

Primary Role in Your E-commerce Stack

Acts as a backbone for customer-facing automation across order status, delivery issues, returns, COD confirmations and payment follow-ups.
Replaces basic IVRs and overflow call handling with actual AI-driven conversations that feel natural and can resolve issues or escalate intelligently.
Serves as an AI voice agent platform and a communications layer, not just a pre-programmed bot or a basic call tool.

How It Works in Practice

Runs on native, carrier-grade telephony not dependent on third-party calling plugins, thus reducing latency and call failures.
Supports real-time inbound and outbound voice, including barge-in, transfers, call recording and queueing.
Lets you build custom voice agents using no-code instructions (Vibe) or programmatically via Voice, SMS and WhatsApp APIs.
Handles multi-channel engagement from one platform, making it easier to maintain customer context.
Integrates into backend systems via webhooks and APIs, so agents can fetch order data, update CRMs, trigger refunds or log tickets.
Scales globally with direct carrier connectivity and 99.99% uptime, which matters during sales spikes and seasonal traffic.
Offers easy integrations with CRMs and data tools and e-com apps like Shopify and WooCommerce.

Smart choice if you

Need reliable, real-time voice automation for customer support or sales in e-commerce.
Need HIPAA, GDPR, PCI DSS, SOC 2 compliance.
Want to avoid handling different telephony, AI and messaging vendors.
Expect call volume spikes during promotions, launches or holidays.
Plan to expand beyond voice into SMS or WhatsApp without changing platforms.

Not a fit if you

Only want a simple chatbot or basic call routing with no backend logic.
Need a fully packaged, zero-configuration voice bot with no customization.
Don’t plan to use voice as a serious support or revenue channel.
Want built-in analytics dashboards without integrating your own reporting tools.

Aircall

Primary Role in Your E-commerce Stack

Aircall is a cloud-based business phone and customer communications platform that encapsulates voice calls, messaging, contact-center workflows and AI-powered tools to help sales and support teams manage inbound and outbound customer conversations from a single hub.
Designed to replace traditional desk phones and stand-alone VoIP systems with a modern unified system that supports direct calling, routing, conferencing and analytics without infrastructure.
Aircall’s AI Voice Agent sits within the platform to automate basic call handling, answer inbound calls using natural language, capture caller details and hand off to humans with customer context.

How It Works in Practice

Its AI Voice Agent can handle inbound calls 24/7, respond using natural language, capture caller details or FAQs, and escalate with context.
Aircall’s broader AI tooling (often sold as an add-on) includes call summarization, transcription, sentiment analysis, action items, key topic recognition and real-time coaching insights to boost team performance and intelligence.
Aircall integrates deeply with CRMs and helpdesk tools such as Salesforce, HubSpot, Zendesk, Shopify, Gorgias, Intercom, Zoho, Slack and more.
Supports smart call routing, IVR menus, queueing, power dialers and contextual pop-ups that help agents see caller history and reduce manual steps.
In addition to voice calls, Aircall can connect WhatsApp messaging with your phone numbers, allowing teams to manage calls, texts, voicemails and WhatsApp messages from one unified workspace.

Smart choice if you

Want a cloud phone system that replaces traditional telephones and integrates voice + messaging + CRM in one place.
Are an SMB or mid-market team looking for easy setup and deep CRM/helpdesk integration with real-time call logging and analytics.
Want AI insights such as call summaries, sentiment analysis and action items tagging to support coaching and quality.

Not a fit if you

Are looking for standalone, autonomous voice agents that can handle complex transactional workflows (like order lookup, 2-way payment flows, or deep e-commerce logic) without human reliance. A lot of features in Aircall are paid add ons.
Want carrier-grade telephony control with full low-level API access.
Require multi-channel unified conversational state that seamlessly moves between voice, SMS, WhatsApp, and web chat without separate configurations. Aircall integrates channels but isn’t designed as an omnichannel conversational AI platform at the same depth as standalone bot stacks.

Dialpad AI

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Primary Role in Your E-commerce Stack

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Dialpad is an AI-enhanced unified communications and contact-center platform built on VoIP telephony that combines voice calls, messaging, meeting tools and AI insights into one app.
Its AI layer focuses on increasing support and sales team productivity by transcribing calls, summarizing conversations, analyzing sentiment and providing live assistance to human agents rather than purely replacing them.
For e-commerce teams, Dialpad helps streamline customer support calls, sales conversations and agent workflows.

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How It Works in Practice

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Dialpad’s AI layer is built into its communications platform so transcription, summaries, sentiment tagging and insights happen automatically during calls and meetings.
Live coaching and assist cards support tailored guidance during conversations, helping teams improve performance and consistency.
Its AI Agent and Generative AI features can provide answers from integrated knowledge bases and assist with repetitive tasks like scheduling or information lookups. Although this operates within a supervised environment rather than as a fully autonomous consumer voice bot.
Dialpad integrates with CRMs and support systems such as Salesforce, Zendesk, and others allowing call data and AI insights to sync into broader e-commerce workflows but developers/administrators need to configure these links during setup.

Smart choice if you

Want a combined AI-assisted communications and contact-center platform that brings voice, meetings and messaging into a single system with powerful transcription and insights.
Run a support or sales team that benefits from live coaching, post-call summaries, sentiment analysis, and automated QA workflows.
Are okay with a human-centric workflow where AI helps agents rather than fully automates customer calls end-to-end.

Not a fit if you

Want a standalone autonomous voice agent that handles inbound and outbound calls entirely without human support.
Need native telephony automation APIs for deep programmatic control or highly customized voice bots.
Require multi-channel conversational continuity across voice, SMS, WhatsApp and other messaging in a single automated AI experience.

Voiceflow

Primary Role in Your E-commerce Stack

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Voiceflow is a collaborative low-code/visual AI agent platform that helps teams build and deploy custom voice and chat agents without heavy engineering. Designed to automate customer conversations from support to transactional workflows using drag-and-drop flows and business data logic.
Voiceflow puts the workbench in your hands, giving you control over conversational design, logic, and integrations across channels.
In e-commerce, Voiceflow is often used for support hotlines, FAQ automation, lead qualification, virtual assistants and prototype voice interactions especially where you want custom behavior tied to backend systems.

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How It Works in Practice

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You design conversations using a visual workflow canvas that supports branching logic, variables and external API calls making it easier to map complex dialogues.
Agents can be trained on your business data like product info, order records, policies via a scalable vector database.
Voiceflow doesn’t host telephony itself; instead it connects through providers like Twilio or Vonage so your voice agent can receive inbound calls and make outbound calls.
Voiceflow supports team collaboration, shared templates and component reuse so designers and developers can iterate rapidly.

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Smart choice if you

Want a no-code/low-code platform to design voice and chat workflows without deep engineering.
Need highly customized conversational logic tied to your backend systems or data.
Run cross-functional teams that must collaborate on agent design and iteration quickly.
Plan to automate support workflows, order inquiries, FAQs or lead capture across voice and chat.

Not a fit if you

Need out-of-the-box telephony automation with native phone infrastructure. Voiceflow relies on third-party telephony providers.
Want a fully autonomous voice agent that runs on phone lines without manual integration setup.
Require production-ready voice performance metrics or carrier-grade latency guarantees.
Are focused on voice only without chat or UI context.

Cognigy

Primary Role in Your E-commerce Stack

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Enterprise grade conversational AI platform designed to automate complex customer interactions across voice, chat and messaging by building intelligent AI agents that understand, decide and resolve user intent.
It’s commonly used in contact centers, service automation and omnichannel workflows where customers use multiple channels (voice, text, social) and expect consistent responses.
For e-commerce, Cognigy helps automate service touchpoints like support conversations, order inquiries, returns handling and FAQs with AI agents that can grasp intent and navigate conversations dynamically.

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How It Works in Practice

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Cognigy uses Generative AI, NLP and machine learning to build agents that do more than keyword matching. They can reason through dialogue, recall context and pursue goals within interactions.
Agents can be deployed across voice calls, chat widgets, messaging and social platforms with shared logic, enabling seamless context.
Cognigy supports multilingual interactions supporting 100+ languages and large concurrent loads of 25K+ interactions, making it suitable for global e-commerce brands managing peak traffic.
Built-in dashboards and data feeds (OData) let teams monitor performance metrics, conversation flows and optimize based on real usage.

Smart choice if you

Need robust omnichannel AI automation across voice, chat and messaging with shared logic.
Operate a large, international e-commerce operation with high volume and multilingual support requirements.
Want enterprise-grade integration with existing contact center systems, CRM, ticketing tools and backend APIs.
Have a technical team or partner to configure, train and maintain sophisticated AI workflows.

Not a fit if you

Need a standalone plug-and-play voice bot.
Your priority is simple, requiring phone-only automation.
You want the fastest path to production with zero customization, setup and customization of NLU, dialogs and backend connections take planning and expertise.

Talkdesk

Primary Role in Your E-commerce Stack

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Talkdesk is a cloud contact center and customer experience automation platform that helps businesses manage and optimize customer interactions across voice, chat, SMS and digital channels from one unified system. It’s a full CX automation ecosystem with AI agents layered in for intelligent self-service and agent support.
The platform’s core mission is to automate customer experience workflows end to end, reducing manual work and improving resolution times while keeping context and empathy in place.
For e-commerce teams, Talkdesk is often used to handle support hotlines, returns calls, order inquiries, live agent augmentation and self-service using both human and AI capabilities.

How It Works in Practice

Talkdesk’s Autopilot and AI Agents use generative AI and conversational intelligence to automate self-service across voice and other channels 24/7. They can interpret customer intent, respond naturally and escalate when needed.
Built-in tools like Talkdesk Navigator help with real-time routing and prioritizing inquiries based on context and integrations with CRMs and backend systems let agents retrieve and update order or customer data during automation.
The platform includes call monitoring, analytics, sentiment scoring and performance insights to help teams improve support quality and train agents more effectively.

Smart choice if you

Need an enterprise-grade contact center platform that blends automation with human support across channels.
Want AI-assisted self-service and agent augmentation rather than just basic scripted bots.
Run support or service teams with high call volumes where routing, analytics and quality management are key.

Not a fit if you

Are looking for a standalone e-commerce voice bot system. Talkdesk is primarily a contact center platform with AI layers.
Want simple phone automation without broader CX complexity.
Need lightweight plug-and-play voice bots with minimal integration work.

Five9

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Primary Role in Your E-commerce Stack

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Five9 is a cloud-based contact center platform aimed at automating and optimizing customer service interactions across voice, chat, SMS and other channels. At its core, it helps brands deliver connected, personalized experiences at scale using AI and unified CX tools.
Its Intelligent Virtual Agent (IVA) and AI Agents are conversational automation layers that can handle self-service interactions like routine inquiries.
For e-commerce, Five9 is typically used to automate order status, FAQs, returns and basic support calls, functioning as shared infrastructure for AI support rather than a standalone voice-only bot.

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How It Works in Practice

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Five9’s AI Agents and Intelligent Virtual Agent (IVA) use conversational AI and natural language understanding to automate routine interactions across voice and digital channels.
AI Agents combine generative AI, NLP and conversational logic to detect intent, extract key details, tap knowledge integration and deliver customized responses reducing the need for human intervention on routine issues.
Five9’s IVA builder offers no-code visual workflows and templates so non-technical teams can configure self-service paths for common scenarios like order lookup, appointment scheduling and password resets.
Voice quality and presentation are improved with tools like Virtual Voiceover, which can generate high-fidelity, human-sounding speech prompts on the fly, including custom branded voices.

Smart choice if you

Need a cloud contact center platform that can centralize voice and digital support and automate repetitive inquiries across channels.
Want conversational AI that blends generative responses with scripted logic and can escalate smoothly to human agents.
Care about multi-modal customer journeys that span across voice, chat, SMS and rich media in a unified experience.

Not a fit if you

Are looking for a standalone, lightweight voice‐only AI bot that you can launch with minimal integration.
Want to own telephony infrastructure or programmable telephony APIs. Five9 is a packaged cloud service, not a telephony-centric CPaaS.
Need simple DIY voice automation for a small e-commerce team without contact center context.

Kore.ai

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Primary Role in Your E-commerce Stack

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Enterprise grade conversational AI platform designed to build, deploy and manage intelligent AI agents across voice, chat and digital channels with focus on service automation, workflow orchestration and customer support experiences.
It supports brand-aligned, natural voice interactions capable of understanding context, interruptions and topic changes for realistic conversations.
For e-commerce, Kore.ai offers Retail-focused AI solutions that help deliver 24/7 self-service, answer product and order queries and assist with purchase decisions without human agents.

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How It Works in Practice

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Agents can operate on voice calls, chat, messaging apps and contact center systems while preserving conversation context across channels.
The platform includes a visual AI agent builder and orchestration tools, letting both business users and developers design and manage intelligent workflows.
Kore.ai provides a marketplace with 200+ pre-built enterprise templates to speed up deployment and reduce development time.
Supports deep integrations with data sources, CRM and backend systems so agents can retrieve, update and act on real business data.

Smart choice if you

Want a powerful, enterprise-grade conversational platform that lets you build custom, complex voice and chat automations across channels.
Need deep integrations with backend systems, CRM or order management data so AI can handle conditional logic in real customer workflows.
Have technical resources to configure, extend and govern AI agents for complex business logic.

Not a fit if you

Want a prebuilt, lightweight plug-and-play AI voice bot for simple e-commerce queries with minimal integration.
Need standalone telephony infrastructure or a voice bot you can launch in minutes without orchestration tooling.
Are looking for pure voice automation without multichannel context or engineered workflows.

Replicant

Primary Role in Your E-commerce Stack

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Replicant is an enterprise-grade conversational AI platform designed to automate routine customer interactions across voice, chat and SMS. Supports worflow in high-volume support environments where call center load is heavy and manual handling slows response times.
Its AI agents aim to resolve inbound customer interactions autonomously using natural language understanding and context-aware dialogue to mimic human responders.
For e-commerce, this means it can handle order inquiries, returns, delivery status, account questions and FAQs without human agents for the bulk of interactions, freeing up seniors for complex cases.

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How It Works in Practice

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The platform’s “Thinking Machine” uses speech recognition (ASR), natural language understanding (NLU) and agentic reasoning to interpret and act on customer speech in real time.
Replicant can automatically handle inbound voice calls by listening, replying, asking for follow-ups and escalating when needed, aiming to resolve up to 80% of interactions without human intervention.
The platform encapsulates conversation intelligence, automated Q&A along with insights into performance, turning every conversation into actionable data to offer better service quality and AI behavior over time.
Replicant projects often go from pilot to production in weeks with pre-built conversational components.

Smart choice if you

Need 24/7 automation of high volumes of inbound customer calls and messages with a single conversational engine.
Have complex support workflows including returns, order changes, delivery status, account questions and need reliable voice automation without building from scratch.
Operate at mid-to-enterprise scale where automation can dramatically cut handling times and want to reduce load on human agents.

Not a fit if you

Only need lightweight or simple automation. Businesses that want a basic interactive voice bot with minimal backend integration may find Replicant overbuilt.
Don’t plan to integrate with existing CRM/order systems.
Want an extremely cheap, no-setup-required solution.

Ada

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Primary Role in Your E-commerce Stack

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Ada is an AI customer experience platform built to automate service interactions using AI customer service agents that resolve inquiries across channels such as chat, voice, email and messaging. It’s designed as an omnichannel self-service automation platform rather than a simple scripted bot.
The core platform lets brands deploy AI agents that autonomously resolve questions, reducing reliance on human agents for repetitive support and freeing up teams to focus on complex e-commerce tasks.
Unlike narrow chatbots, Ada’s agents are built to interpret context, manage multi-step processes and handle inquiries across multiple languages and channels.

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How It Works in Practice

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Users can build Playbooks (guided SOPs) that instruct AI how to handle specific multi-step processes at scale and refine these based on testing and feedback.
Supports 50+ languages and is designed so that agents learn and improve through simulations, real-world performance analysis and optimization tools.
You can simulate conversations, test variations, analyze outcomes and optimize agent behavior before and after launch, giving more control over performance outcomes.
Though it doesn’t have telephony-native to its own, Ada provides open APIs and backend connectors for integrating CRM, order systems and e-commerce platforms to fetch and act on real customer data during interactions.

Smart choice if you

Want AI customer service automation across channels with the same logic and context continuity.
Need to reduce support costs and handle volume spikes without scaling human teams.
Value multilingual support and contextual reasoning above rigid script-based replies.
Prefer tools with visual Playbooks and optimization workflows that don’t require deep coding.

Not a fit if you

Want true telephony-native voice automation. Ada typically integrates with voice channels rather than running native telephony infrastructure.
Are looking for a simple, lightweight voice bot with minimal configuration.
Need ultra-low-latency, call-centric performance guarantees.

FAQs

What can an AI voice agent realistically handle today?

AI voice agents can handle order status checks, delivery updates, return/refund questions, COD confirmations, appointment scheduling, basic FAQs and call routing. Complex disputes, escalations or edge cases are recommended to move to a human agent.

Do I need to replace my entire support team to use AI voice agents?

No. most teams use AI voice agents as a first line of response to handle volume and after-hours calls. Human agents step in only when needed with full context delivered from the AI conversation.

How hard is it to set this up for an e-commerce business?

It depends on the platform. Some tools require stitching together telephony, bots and integrations. Others provide native voice, APIs and messaging in one system. Expect anything from a few days for basic flows to a few weeks to make deep integrations.

Can AI voice agents connect to my order system or CRM?

Yes, if the platform supports APIs or native integrations. This is critical for real use cases like fetching order status, logging calls or updating tickets. Without backend access, voice agents are limited to surface-level conversations.

Is voice really better than chat for e-commerce support?

Voice may not be better for everything but it’s prompt and efficient for urgent issues. Customers call when orders are delayed, payments fail or something goes wrong. AI voice agents help you answer instantly instead of losing the customer to hold music.

The Most Practical Path to Voice Automation at Scale

Most AI voice tools look impressive in demos but struggle when real customers call at high volumes. The difference comes down to infrastructure. Platforms that rely on stitched-together telephony, bots and messaging often break under load or add operational complexity.

Plivo works because it starts at the network layer. With native telephony, global carrier connectivity across 190+ countries and AI agents that run across voice, SMS, WhatsApp and chat, it’s built for real customer conversations. You can launch fast with no-code tools, integrate deeply via APIs when needed and scale on usage-based pricing without any long-term lock-ins.

If your e-commerce team wants reliable voice automation that actually works in production, not just another tool to manage, this is the most balanced and future-proof choice going into 2026.

Try Plivo Free

Getting started with Plivo is simple, quick and comes with no strings attached. You can sign up for a free trial account and get free credits to explore the platform’s voice, SMS, chat and WhatsApp capabilities before buying credits or subscribing to the platform.

You can experiment with API calls, add phone numbers and build or test workflows using Plivo’s no-code tools helping you simulate real-life use cases like AI voice agents, automated messaging or multi-channel engagement with your own data and logic.

Get started with your free trial now and begin building your first insurance agent today.

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Nov 21, 2024

5 mins

7 Best Bird Alternatives in 2024

Find 7 best Bird alternatives offering enhanced features, better pricing, and improved integrations for your business needs.

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Nov 15, 2024

5 mins

How Does Automated Ticket Resolution Work?

Automated ticket resolution helps you deliver a positive customer experience while freeing up your human agents to handle core tasks. Here’s how it works.

No items found.

Manual ticket resolution seems simple, but behind the scenes, it's often a chaotic jumble of incessant tasks piling up and often just waiting to go wrong.

According to data, the average overall resolution rate across industries is approximately 76.2%.

In addition, the Service Quality Measurement (SQM) Group reports that 20% to 30% of tickets require more than one interaction to resolve.

Plus, as your business scales up, critical issues often escalate with traditional ticketing, and customer requests increase day by day. You could find your customer service teams scrambling to categorize, prioritize, and assign hundreds of queries while simultaneously tracking responses and updating ticket statuses.

Here, automated ticket resolution works wonders. It delegates the repetitive yet crucial components of ticket resolution to AI and empowers your human agents to do more.

In this article, we go over how automated ticket resolution functions, its benefits over traditional ticketing resolution, and how to get started with the most suitable tool.

What is automated ticket resolution?

Automated ticket resolution means using AI-driven ticketing systems and workflow software to manage customer requests from when a ticket is created to when it is resolved—with minimal or no human intervention.

Key components

AI and ML: These ticket resolution systems use AI&ML algorithms to analyze and process tickets.
NLP: It enables the system to understand the context and intent of customer messages, allowing for more accurate ticket handling.
Automated workflows: The system can perform various tasks automatically, including:some text
- Creating tickets
- Labeling and sorting
- Routing to appropriate agents and departments
- Escalating and handing over complex issues to human agents when necessary
- Following up with customers

How does automated ticket resolution work?

Did you know that after implementing automated ticketing, medium enterprises saw response times decrease from 1 day to 2 hours and resolution times from 3 days to 1 day?

Let’s take a closer look at the key functions of automated ticket resolution that make it happen:

1.Data collection and integration

Ticket resolution starts with consolidating all your data sources—emails, SMS, social media, web forms, calls, and live chats—on a single dashboard.

To accomplish this, use an omnichannel customer service platform such as Plivo CX. With its unified agent desktop feature, the tool eliminates data silos, brings all incoming customer requests to a single window pane, and allows human agents to have a broader context of customer issues across channels—that too without having to switch between channels.

2.Data preprocessing

AI-powered ticketing programs clean, sort, label, and categorize the data you collated into sections for easier analysis. This step also includes removing duplicates, correcting input errors, and standardizing structure to improve the accuracy of the subsequent processes.

3.NLP

After preprocessing, the system uses its NLP capabilities to analyze, interpret, and understand each customer’s request, intent, and urgency. Moreover, predictive and sentiment analysis is employed to accurately identify context, enhance categorization, and yield problem-solving responses.

4.Fast ticket categorization

Using insights from the ML analysis and NLP, the automated ticketing system sorts each request into predefined categories such as technical issues, billing inquiries, product return and shipping, etc. This allows for quick routing of each request to the appropriate channel.

Categorization also facilitates seamless rerouting when customer service escalation is essential. With Plivo CX, you get to create custom workflows and automations using a simple drag-and-drop interface without having to code.

5.24/7 response

For low-level to medium-level queries that barely require sophisticated expertise, the system routes them to integrated AI-powered chatbots.

To help you provide 24/7 customer service and handle maximum queries during peak seasons, Plivo CX provides OpenAI-powered self-service chatbots. You can train the bot using your company’s custom dataset to ensure accuracy and relevancy. Once deployed, the chatbot can automatically handle routine customer inquiries, freeing up your agents.

Plus, the tool also ensures brand consistency by seamlessly training AI agents to align with your company's unique voice and policies.

6.Agent assistance

For high-level tickets that the AI self-service bots cannot resolve, the automated ticket resolution system redirects or escalates them to a human agent of relevant expertise.

For example, by intuitively prioritizing urgent tickets to the most suitable agents, Plivo CX dramatically reduces response times and enhances customer satisfaction.

7.Learning and improvement

Since AI ticketing systems leverage ML, they relentlessly learn from previous patterns and customer interactions, improving ticket categorization and enhancing the quality of responses over time.

With Plivo CX, you can maintain agility and freshness through effortless updates to your AI agents, allowing you to seamlessly adapt to new product launches, promotions, or policy changes.

Benefits of automated ticket resolution

Here are the key reasons why you must implement an automated ticket resolution system if you are looking to scale or streamline your CX operations:

1.Improves efficiency

An average company receives over 17,630 tickets monthly, with a 76.2% resolution rate. It means that out of every 100 tickets, you can only sort two-thirds of them.

The remaining one-third of queries are mostly unresolved due to complexities, such as missing information, errors by human agents, friction in cross-departmental collaboration, delayed support, or disjointed responses—issues that are common with traditional ticket resolution.

However, when you embrace customer service automation, AI-powered ticketing handles repetitive and time-consuming tasks like triaging requests and labeling to accelerate resolution time. This is important as HubSpot data suggests that 90% of customers seek immediate response, ideally within 10 minutes.

2.Reduces errors

Customer support errors usually stem from inadequate data handling, human errors during analysis, and siloed datasets, which affect cross-departmental access to essential information for request handling.

Inadequate handling includes duplicate datasets, inaccurate or incomplete data, and decayed data across different operational channels.

When cross-departmental data-sharing barriers exist, customer support can become fragmented and inefficient. A common scenario is when a customer representative responds to a ticket already handled by another department.

Due to these disconnected support offerings, Salesforce found that 55% of consumers once felt like they were speaking with different departments instead of a company.

Automated ticket resolution eliminates such errors by delegating repetitive, error-prone tasks to AI. With NLP and ML, these systems identify and remove duplicate or inconsistent data and ensure a cleaner, more accurate dataset.

Plivo CX’s omnichannel platform solves disjointed departmental collaboration by centralizing customer data and streamlining data communication. This prevents double ticketing and helps your agents track every request from start to resolution.

3.Round-the-clock availability

In a CM survey, 60% of respondents expect round-the-clock availability. Three in four GenZ and Millennial consumers also highly appreciate this. But that’s almost impossible with traditional ticket resolution.

On the other hand, automated ticket resolution leverages AI to operate 24/7 and handle customer requests even without human intervention. Businesses can also engage and resolve queries even when employees are out of the office or closed for the day.

4.Cost-effectiveness

The cost to set up a functional customer support team depends on your business size, the number of customer requests you handle daily, and your industry. For instance, a business with over a hundred requests daily would need about five to ten human agents to be fully operational.

According to IBM, customer support costs businesses about $1.3 trillion annually. Moreover, according to Glassdoor, a customer support agent in the US earns an average of $45,000 yearly. Imagine having to build a team of five or maybe ten.

Embracing automated ticket resolution helps solve this budget problem by reducing the need to acquire more human agents.

A single AI-powered ticketing system can handle hundreds of requests simultaneously and still operate at its peak. Besides, Plivo CX’s self-service chatbots reduce customer support expenses by over 30% annually.

5.Scalability and proactive support

The more your business grows, the more customer requests you have to handle. That’s unavoidable. However, AI-powered resolution systems and workflow programs have been built to handle large scaling. Unlike traditional ticket resolution approaches, your software grows with your business, often at no extra expense.

Plivo CX’s customer support platform also offers proactive support, which is essential for automated ticket resolution. It does this by leveraging predictive analysis, NLP, and machine learning to anticipate customer needs based on past interactions or data and trigger appropriate workflows.

Plivo CX: Deliver top-notch customer experience with intuitive automation

Efficient automated ticket resolution relies on powerful workflows. Plivo CX provides a no-code/low-code platform to easily design these workflows, guiding tickets from creation to resolution with NLP analysis, auto-responses, and escalations.

Drag-and-drop workflows, personalized components, and seamless integrations ensure a tailored and optimized customer support journey.

Interestingly, you don’t need to be a technical whiz to set one up, here’s how:

In addition to that, Plivo CX offers several features, such as:

Unified communication: As noted before, you can manage all customer conversations across channels like email, voice, SMS, WhatsApp, and live chat from a single, agent-friendly platform
Seamless integrations: Connect Plivo CX with your existing tools, including CRM, ERP, helpdesk, home-grown systems, and more
AI-powered automation: Deploy smart chatbots to handle routine inquiries, freeing up agents to focus on personalized support
Data-driven optimization: Track real-time analytics and generate custom reports to gain insights into customer interactions and agent performance
Communication with media support: Enhance interactions with multimedia support, including images, videos, and documents
Increased productivity: Streamline workflows with message templates, internal notes, and skills-based routing
Comprehensive features: Leverage call recording, IVR, multi-language support, and robust security features for a complete solution

Book a demo now!

Nov 14, 2024

5 mins

How to Use Voice Transcriptions for Customer Analytics

Discover how voice transcriptions can revolutionize customer analytics by converting spoken feedback into actionable insights.

Transcription

Voice

Nov 13, 2024

5 mins

What’s an Average SMS Marketing Conversion Rate and How to Maximize It

Are your SMS marketing campaigns not bringing in the expected results? Discover seven ways to maximize SMS marketing conversion rate.

SMS Marketing

If you are running an SMS marketing campaign, the stakes are always high, and it has to bring you the maximum ROI.

To make sure you leave no quarter to things going wrong, you must monitor the SMS marketing conversion rate to ensure your efforts bring the expected results.

In this post, we will check how to calculate SMS marketing conversion rate and also improve it for the best results.

What is the SMS marketing conversion rate, and what are the factors influencing it?

SMS marketing conversion rate is a metric that tracks if consumers took the expected action upon receiving the SMS. It could be making a purchase or signing up for newsletters or more.

Factors that influence SMS marketing conversion rate include the following:

Relevance of messages
Effective targeting to reach the audience most likely to convert
Appropriate timing of the message
Clear call to action in the message

What is an average SMS marketing conversion rate?

In 2023, eCommerce brands worldwide observed a 7.6% click rate and a 0.13% conversion rate on average. This positive change resulted in a 9.4% growth in orders.

Therefore, eCommerce brands increased their SMS marketing budgets and sent 57.9% more SMS campaigns compared to 2022.

How to calculate SMS marketing conversion rate

Theoretically speaking, you can calculate the SMS marketing conversion rate (CVR) by calculating the number of conversions and dividing it by the number of messages delivered. That makes the SMS marketing CVR formula to be:

SMS Marketing CVR = (Number of conversions/Number of messages delivered)*100

But it’s tough to keep track of this number manually. A better solution is to integrate your marketing platform with CRM or the eCommerce platform to automatically calculate the numbers.

For instance, the all-in-one customer engagement platform Plivo CX easily integrates with your Shopify store and tracks the open rate, click rate, conversion rate, and revenue generated by the campaign.

7 ways to maximize SMS marketing conversion rate

Now that we have the basics cleared, here are seven practical tips to increase SMS marketing conversion rate:

1. Segment audience

One of the simplest ways to improve SMS marketing conversions is to segment your consumers based on demographics, interests, and more.

Segmentation gives you more insights into your consumers and helps you tailor the message accordingly. After segmentation, you can send personalized messages to specific consumers. It improves the chances of engagement and conversion.

Tip: Use an SMS marketing automation platform like Plivo CX for a trouble-free segmentation process. It automatically divides users into segments based on key attributes, such as demographics, browsing activity, online behavior, etc.

Plus, you can send more relevant messages targeting different user segments with Plivo CX.

2. Optimize messages

After segmenting the consumers for better targeting, the next step to increase conversions would be optimizing messages. It can be done by:

Keep the message concise
Use simple and direct language
Make the message engaging by using graphics
Add a clear and compelling call to action

Tip: Use generative AI to your advantage to create multiple versions of a campaign and shortlist the best one.

Plivo CX comes with an inbuilt Copywriter AI that instantly crafts campaign messages for you. You just need to fill out the form with your campaign objectives, goal, parameters, timing, urgency, expected tone, and voila!

3. Optimize timing and frequency

Apart from optimizing messages, identifying the optimal timing is also important. Send messages to your consumers when they are most likely to be active. Also, identify the right timing by analyzing past campaigns, open rates, and consumer data.

However, choosing the right frequency of messages is also important. Too many messages are spam, and too few are not effective enough. Hit the right balance for the best results.

Tip: Identifying patterns in data manually is tedious. Here is where AI can come to your aid again. Plivo AI assistant also suggests the right time to send messages by analyzing past data.

4. Test campaigns

Once you have optimized messages and frequency, it’s time for testing. Run different variations of optimized messages and gather metrics.

With these results, you can check what’s working and what’s not. Once you have the data, promote the campaigns that are giving expected returns.

Tip: Plivo CX automatically tracks the important metrics: delivered rate, open rate, click rate, conversion rate, and revenue. This data allows you to allocate budgets to campaigns with higher SMS marketing conversion rates.

5. Create customer journeys

SMS supports every stage of the consumer life cycle and not just conversion. It helps in the initial acquisition phase, onboarding, engagement, support, and building long-term brand advocates.

But how do you plan for the entire consumer lifecycle? A marketing platform that designs consumer journeys will automate the entire process.

Tip: Plivo CX allows you to design the entire consumer journey. You can set up trigger events and deliver the right message at the right time based on the consumer's activity.

For instance, you can set up a trigger event to send a welcome message right when they sign up or send an abandoned cart message if they leave the cart without making a purchase.

6. Run different types of campaigns

Create different types of campaigns to keep the customers engaged and support the entire customer journey. Some common campaigns are:

Cart abandonment: These campaigns help to convert back the customers who are having second thoughts. It could contain a special discount, a free shipping offer, or an inventory alert.
Flash deals: These campaigns provide enticing offers for a limited period, creating fear of missing out (FOMO) in consumers.
Exclusive deals: These campaigns are exclusive to SMS subscribers, providing a special discount code or early access to a new collection.
Seasonal and holiday discounts: Consumers have a holiday shopping budget, and these campaigns directly tap into that budget.
Win-back deals: Lastly, offering deals to consumers who haven't shopped with you in a while could be great to win them back.

A marketing automation platform can help you design all these campaigns based on consumer behavior and actions.

Tip: As suggested previously, Plivo CX works end-to-end for Shopify consumers. You can run different campaigns based on their action and purchase history.

7. Integrate with other channels

Lastly, integrate SMS with other marketing channels to provide the most consistent brand experience to your consumers. By integrating platforms, you can deliver the message on the channel where it works best.

For instance, if you find flash deals working best on SMS, plan those campaigns on SMS.

Another example is if you find cart abandonment to be working best on email. Deliver those over email. You have all platforms integrated into one, creating a huge data powerhouse for better personalization for all campaigns.

Tip: Plivo CX serves as an omnichannel platform that combines all common marketing channels: SMS, MMS, WhatsApp, and email (coming soon). It establishes an integrated system for all your marketing efforts and consumer data.

This integration lays the groundwork for improved personalization, making all campaigns more compatible with the platform.

Run effective SMS marketing campaigns with Plivo CX

To sum it up, Plivo CX can be a great asset to your SMS marketing efforts, as it supports the entire customer journey by:

Gathering customer data
Segmenting based on key attributes
Designing campaigns with AI support
Delivering campaigns with an inbuilt carrier network
And gathering metrics

Plivo CX also works end-to-end for Shopify consumers with all the necessary features required to boost conversion.

The best part is, Plivo CX leverages Plivo’s proprietary premium carrier network that lets you send personalized messages to 220+ countries and territories at an affordable rate.

You can send a text message in the US for as little as $0.0065 from Plivo compared to the $0.0150 /SMS cost of competitors. As a result, you can slash SMS costs by 70% and triple your marketing ROI.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

1. What is the conversion rate for SMS marketing?

In 2023, eCommerce brands worldwide observed an average 7.6% click rate and a 0.13% conversion rate.

2. What is the success rate of SMS marketing?

In 2023, eCommerce brands worldwide observed an average 7.6% click rate and a 0.13% success rate.

3. How to calculate SMS conversion rate?

You can calculate SMS marketing CVR by taking the number of conversions and dividing it by the number of messages delivered.

SMS marketing CVR formula= (Number of conversions/Number of messages delivered)*100

4. How do you calculate ROI for SMS marketing?

SMS ROI is calculated by dividing the profit of the campaign against the total investment made in it. A simple SMS marketing ROI formula for a marketing campaign is:

ROI = ((Total revenue- Campaign cost)/Campaign cost)*100.

5. What is the CTR of SMS marketing?

In 2023, eCommerce brands worldwide observed an average 7.6% clickthrough rate (CTR) and a 0.13% conversion rate.

6. Is SMS marketing expensive?

No, SMS marketing is not expensive if you choose the right marketing platform. By using Plivo CX, you can send a text message in the US for as little as $0.0065 compared to the $0.0150 /SMS cost of competitors.

7. How can I increase my CTR in SMS?

Seven ways to increase click rate are:

1. Segment audience

2. Optimize messages

3. Optimize timing and frequency

4. Test campaigns

5. Create customer journeys

6. Run exclusive deals

7. Integrate with other channels

8. What is a good SMS click rate?

In 2023, eCommerce brands worldwide observed an average 7.6% click rate and a 0.13% conversion rate.

9. What is the cost of SMS?

The cost of SMS depends on the provider. With Plivo CX, you can send a text message in the US for as little as $0.0065 compared to the $0.0150 /SMS cost of competitors.

Nov 11, 2024

5 mins

WhatsApp vs. WhatsApp Business: Key Differences Explained

Learn about WhatsApp Business vs. WhatsApp and how each platform caters to personal and business communication needs.

WhatsApp Business API

WhatsApp is the most used mobile messenger app globally, with over two billion active monthly users worldwide. More than 596 million messages are sent each day on WhatsApp. And, while WhatsApp is primarily popular as a peer-to-peer messaging app, a growing proportion of those millions of messages originate from businesses.

The WhatsApp Business app configures this powerful messaging channel so businesses can easily engage with customers. The WhatsApp Business platform offers tools like automated messaging, analytics, and advanced customer segmentation to manage communications at scale. While many of these tools aim to serve larger enterprises, entrepreneurs and small business owners can also make use of the WhatsApp Business platform.

In this guide, we’ll help you understand the difference between the consumer-focused WhatsApp experience and the platform’s WhatsApp Business version. By the end of this post, you should be able to make a more informed decision about which version of WhatsApp best meets your business needs.

WhatsApp vs. WhatsApp Business

WhatsApp offers various iterations, from WhatsApp for Individuals to the WhatsApp Business app to the WhatsApp Business Platform. Let’s do a quick rundown of the differences between these tools.

Aspect	WhatsApp account	WhatsApp Business app	Whatsapp Business Platform
Users	Individuals	Small business owners	Medium to large enterprises
Functionalities and features	Basic messaging tool	Set away messages, quick replies, categorize and label conversations	Advanced (messaging templates, chatbots, WhatsApp flows)
Message templates	No	No	Yes
Schedule messages	No	Yes	Yes
Product catalog	No	Yes	Yes
Set business hours	No	Yes	Yes
Pricing	Free	Free	Paid

How to choose the right WhatsApp solution for your business

Most businesses need more than what an individual WhatsApp account can offer. That means selecting between the WhatsApp Business app and the WhatsApp Business Platform. Consider three primary factors when weighing your options:

Your business size
Your communication needs
Your customer engagement goals

If you’re a small business managing a handful of interactions daily, the WhatsApp Business app’s essential features, like quick replies and product catalogs, may be enough.

However, if your business is scaling and you’re receiving hundreds of inquiries, the WhatsApp Business Platform’s advanced tools such as chatbots, message templates, and analytics. This version makes managing communications more efficient and improving response times easier.

Evaluate your team's capacity as well. Invest in the WhatsApp Business Platform only if you have a dedicated customer support team to streamline operations and enhance productivity. For businesses focusing on personalized interactions, the WhatsApp Business app’s simple interface is more beneficial.

Note: If you decide to use the WhatsApp Business Platform, consider partnering with a WhatsApp Business Solution Provider to integrate your existing systems seamlessly.

WhatsApp Business App toolkit

To further bifurcate between the WhatsApp Business app and the WhatsApp Business Platform, let’s look deeper at the features offered in the WhatsApp Business app toolkit.

Messaging automation

WhatsApp Business app helps you automate messages to save you ample time and ensure timely responses to user queries.

These are the features offered:

WhatsApp away message: Away messages inform customers when you're unavailable, ensuring they know their message is valued and will be addressed when you return. You can create a message template to inform them when you'll get back with a response.
WhatsApp greeting message: Greeting messages automatically welcome customers when they first message you, setting a friendly tone and inviting inquiries. Customize these to reflect your brand's voice. Here are a few examples of Whatsapp greetings to consider.
WhatsApp quick replies: Quick replies offer pre-saved responses to answer frequent questions or common inquiries instantly. Set these up to save time and maintain consistent communication.

Together, these features let businesses maintain open communication, improve response times, and enhance customer satisfaction.

Example of a company giving a pre-saved response to a user query
‍Source

Labels

Once you start engaging in regular conversations with customers, it’s easy to lose track of where each customer stands.

For instance, one customer may be close to purchasing while another might be still learning about your brand. Labels help you organize chats and categorize customers based on their stage in the sales funnel.

By default, the WhatsApp Business app offers five labels:

Order complete
Payment pending
New order
New customer
Paid

The Senior SEO Manager, Felix Milshtein at VCITA shares their experience with this feature: “We use labels to segment clients into categories like 'New Leads,' 'In Progress,' or 'VIP Clients.' This makes follow-ups and prioritizing conversations much easier, especially when managing numerous inquiries.”

WhatsApp Business allows you to add up to 20 labels and assign a color to each, enhancing your ability to quickly identify and manage different customer categories.

Product catalogs

An updated product catalog on WhatsApp acts as a digital storefront for your business. Customers can easily discover everything your company offers and share individual products or services directly in the chat through shareable links.

It lets you add the following details for each product:

Product title
Photos
Description
Price
Product code

You can upload a maximum of 500 products to your catalog. However, it’s vital to ensure that the image of the service/product meets the WhatsApp Business Messaging policy.

Message statistics

WhatsApp Business statistics give you an insight into how successful your communication is with your customers.

It gives you insights into:

Messages sent
Messages delivered
Messages read
Messages received

Use these statistics to benchmark your communication performance against the set standard or to set tangible goals for improvement. Run A/B tests on different messaging styles, times, or content by experimenting with different approaches to see how your consumers respond. Check if either of the communication strategies brings a change in these statistics.

Short links

The short link feature stands out in WhatsApp Business vs. WhatsApp. It’s a powerful tool that simplifies customer connections. The URL can be distributed across various platforms or transformed into a QR code so that it’s accessible wherever your audience is.

You can even add it to your email signature and social media profiles to easily connect with your customers.

These links help you drive traffic to a specific service or promotion.

For instance, Aman Chopra, a Marketing Manager at Stallion Express shares, “I’ve used them in email campaigns, on our website, and even on social media to give users an easy way to directly start a conversation with us without having to go through multiple steps. It's also great for tracking engagement because you can tailor each link to a specific audience or campaign.”

Sharing a direct link to WhatsApp guides clients straight to your inbox, eliminating the usual back-and-forth associated with contact forms.

While the WhatsApp Business app features suffice for small business owners, larger enterprises can benefit from the expanded tools in the WhatsApp Business Platform.

WhatsApp Business app vs. WhatsApp Business Platform: Understanding use cases

The key features of the WhatsApp Business Platform also include rich media support, message analytics, automated replies, interactive elements, end-to-end encryption, business profiles, and message templates. Plus, expanded tools are configured to help large enterprises manage a higher volume of traffic.

Both WhatsApp Business solutions provide various benefits across several use cases. Transactional messages keep customers informed of important updates. Booking appointments becomes seamless while engaging surveys gather valuable insights.

Businesses can easily collect customer feedback to enhance their services. Order status updates foster transparency, and sending OTPs ensures secure transactions. Finally, promotional messages help drive engagement and sales with tailored offers.

Here are two real-life examples to illustrate the differences between the WhatsApp Business app and the WhatsApp Business Platform.

1. PolicyBazaar achieves a 5X increase in insurance premium collections

Company goal:

To shift from impersonal communication to a customer-friendly approach and improve engagement, increase sales, and streamline the claims process.

Problem statement:

‍PolicyBazaar, an India-based insurance marketplace, faced challenges with conventional CRM channels like email and SMS. Although effective, these methods lacked the personal touch needed to engage potential customers meaningfully. With millions of customers relying on the company’s services, the team recognized the need for real-time, custom conversations to improve customer interactions.

The solution:

‍PolicyBazaar revolutionized its communication strategy with the WhatsApp Business Platform integration. They launched personalized campaigns, allowing customers to receive targeted product recommendations directly in WhatsApp, resulting in a 5X increase in insurance premiums collected. The platform also simplified claims through automated notifications and allowed customers to upload documents easily.

With over 30 million messages delivered monthly and a reported 5X increase in sales, WhatsApp became a vital channel for PolicyBazaar.

“WhatsApp has helped us make CRM customer-friendly,” says Nishant Malsisaria, Head of Growth.

2. Buddy4Study witnesses a 25% improvement in student interactions with the WhatsApp Business app

Company goal:

‍To bridge the gap between deserving students and available scholarships by leveraging technology to increase accessibility, awareness, and efficiency in the scholarship application process.

Problem statement:

‍Many students face financial barriers that prevent them from pursuing higher education, and a significant amount of scholarship funds remain unused due to a lack of awareness and transparency in the application process.

The solution:

‍To enhance communication with their primarily young audience (ages 14-35), Buddy4Study adopted the WhatsApp Business app, facilitating seamless onboarding and engagement. This strategic move resulted in a 25% improvement in student interaction and a 20% increase in student acquisition.

By collaborating with corporations, NGOs, and educational institutions, Buddy4Study continues to optimize scholarship programs and ensure that no student has to abandon their dreams due to financial constraints.

Scale your marketing efforts with Plivo’s WhatsApp Business API solution

Keeping your customers engaged as your business scales gets challenging.

While adding WhatsApp marketing to your sales strategy is a powerful way to engage customers, to maximize its benefits, you'll need to follow messaging guidelines and use approved templates to ensure your messages are well-received and effective.

This is where Plivo comes in. As a Meta-registered Business Service Provider (BSP), Plivo simplifies the integration of the WhatsApp Business Platform into your existing system. Its comprehensive APIs and user-friendly documentation let you connect and automate your messaging workflows without extensive technical overhead.

Its no-code, WhatsApp AI chatbot automates your customer service. Set up the chatbot to handle customer inquiries about order status, returns, and product details without needing human agents. While its marketing automation feature helps you create and manage personalized WhatsApp campaigns based on your customers’ purchasing history and preferences.

Plivo enhances messaging efficiency with features such as WhatsApp template statuses and clear reasons for message blocks. These tools simplify communication and help tackle compliance challenges.

Adhering to Meta’s guidelines and regulations promotes a smoother communication experience for both businesses and customers. This approach not only streamlines interactions but also builds trust in messaging services.

With our WhatsApp Business API Guide, getting started with the WhatsApp Business Platform is a breeze. From creating your WhatsApp Business Account (WABA) to simplifying the complexities of billing with Meta, you can easily navigate the setup process from the get-go.

Plivo charges a flat fee of Rs.0.066 (about $0.00080) per conversation on top of Meta’s fees, with volume discounts available to reduce costs based on usage. Moreover, we combine all charges into a single invoice so that you don’t have to manage multiple bills.

Think Plivo might be the right fit? Contact us to discover why thousands of businesses trust us to meet their communication needs.

Nov 11, 2024

5 mins

How to Get a Virtual Number for WhatsApp: The Top 5 Providers in 2024

Looking to get a VoIP number for WhatsApp? Discover the top 5 providers and learn how to easily set up a virtual number for seamless messaging and privacy

WhatsApp Business API

Nov 11, 2024

5 mins

How to Optimize Your Self-Service IVR System

Improve your customer experience with an effective self-service IVR. Learn practical tips to make your IVR system better and increase customer satisfaction.

IVR

Nov 11, 2024

5 mins

7 IVR Script Examples to Help You Build Your Own

Bridge the gap in customer service with effective IVR scripts that streamline self-service, reduce wait times, and improve satisfaction. Explore seven examples.

IVR

Today’s customers want to independently handle customer service needs: 81% say they prefer self-service options, but many businesses believe only 60% want it. This 21-point difference can leave many customers frustrated.

Interactive voice response (IVR) systems bridge the gap between what customers want—self service—and what businesses think they want. But an IVR system can be a double-edged sword. If the IVR script is poorly designed, it can make customers even more frustrated.

A well-crafted IVR script is so important. The right script can save your team time and help customers meet their needs quickly. In this article, we'll present seven examples of effective IVR scripts to inspire you and guide you in creating your own.

What is an IVR script?

An IVR script is a pre-recorded conversation that directs callers through a menu of options when they dial in. IVR systems use both keypad tones (dual-tone multi-frequency, or DTMF technology) and voice commands, along with pre-recorded messages. This means the caller can either press keys or speak to move through the menu.

Newer systems even incorporate artificial intelligence (AI) to create a more personalized experience for each caller.

Why does an IVR script matter?

A well-crafted IVR script can save time and resources while improving call containment rates and customer satisfaction. Companies with IVR systems in place are noticing 3-4% increase in call containment rates and a 10-25% increase in caller satisfaction.

On top of that, IVR offers several benefits:

Cost savings: A good IVR script can reduce calls to your agents by over 10%. This helps you save on staffing costs as customers get the information they need without requiring follow-up assistance.
Consistent experiences: Clear IVR scripts ensure that every caller receives the same professional experience that aligns with your company's image. You control the tone and message for each interaction.
24/7 customer support: When your agents aren't available, IVR can play a message informing callers when they can expect to reach someone.
Improved customer service: IVR reduces wait times and improves First Contact Resolution (FCR) by directing callers to the right person or team, allowing them to resolve issues in the first instance.

How can you write an effective IVR script?

Building a good IVR script takes some thought and knowing what's most important for your business. Let's break down the key steps.

Identify your goals

Start by identifying the goals and challenges you want your IVR system to address. To make a helpful script, you'll need to understand the questions and problems your customers often have. By predicting their needs, your IVR can provide quick answers without a live agent.

Make it easy to navigate

Once you understand your IVR’s purpose, write a simple script that helps callers find their answers in just a few steps. Ensure it’s easy to follow, guiding callers smoothly toward the information they need.

Align the script to your brand

The way your IVR script communicates should align with your brand’s voice. It should be easy for your customers to understand. Even though the IVR handles questions once answered by live agents, it should still reflect your brand.

Keep improving the script

Regularly review your IVR script and update it based on customer feedback and usage patterns. This helps it remain effective and user-friendly.

7 IVR script examples

IVR messages should be concise, swiftly guiding callers to the right answers. A good script helps customers and supports your customer service team by automating common queries and directing complex calls to the right agent.

Now, let's look at examples of IVR scripts for various scenarios.

#1: General greeting scripts

The general greeting acts as the first "hello" your IVR gives to callers. It’s a key moment to make a strong first impression. For example:

"Thanks for calling [your company name].

We're your go-to source for [briefly mention what you offer].

To continue in English, stay on the line. For Spanish, oprima uno.

If you know the extension you need, please dial it or say it now.

If not, stay on the line to hear more options. Thanks again for choosing [company name]. We value your business!"

Why does a greeting script matter?

Your greeting script is the first thing customers hear when they call for support. If it's too long or unclear, they might hang up. The best greetings are short and clear to get things off to a smooth start.

If you offer multilingual support, give customers the option to choose their preferred language right at the beginning.

#2: Menu options scripts

Menu option scripts guide callers to the right department. Consistency across all menu options ensure every customer has a similar experience.

Here’s what a menu script looks like:

"Thanks for calling [company name]. We'll be with you shortly. Please choose from the following options to help us direct your call:

To reach Sales, press 1.
For Customer Support, press 2.
For Billing, press 3.
If you need Tech Support, press 4.
For anything else, press 5 or stay on the line.
To hear these options again, press 9.

Just a heads-up, this call may be recorded for training and quality purposes.”

Why does a menu options script matter?

Seven out of ten companies have IVR containment rates of less than 30%. Confusing menu options are a big reason for this low rate. If callers don't understand their choices, they're more likely to hang up.

Prevent this by keeping your instructions brief and to the point. State the department name first, followed by the number to press.

Plivo makes building your IVR menu a breeze through tools like PHLO for drag-and-drop design or by coding it with your preferred SDK and Plivo XML. For added efficiency, the PreAnswer XML element can provide callers with key information while they wait.

You can also use PreAnswer to address frequently asked questions. If you have a department that receives the same questions repeatedly, record answers and play them to callers. This can reduce wait times and free up agents to handle more complex issues.

#3: Callback request scripts

Callback request scripts give customers a way to skip the wait on hold. They can simply request a call back when it's less busy and at a time that works for them.

Here’s an example of a callback request script:

"Hello, and thank you for calling [Company Name]. We value your time and are committed to helping you as soon as possible.

Our team is currently busy, but we'd be happy to call you back at your convenience. To schedule a callback, press 1.

If you prefer to stay on the line, please hold, or press 2 to leave a voicemail.

We appreciate your patience and look forward to connecting with you shortly. Thank you for choosing [Company Name]."

Why does a callback request script matter?

Offering a callback option shows customers that you value their time. Clear instructions, such as pressing a button to request a callback, enhance customer satisfaction.

Even if someone decides to stay on the line, just knowing they have the option can make a big difference.

#4: Appointment scheduling scripts

These scripts allow customers to book, confirm, or modify appointments via the IVR system. Your IVR menu should give customers the option to do it themselves or connect them to someone who can help.

Here’s what an appointment scheduling script typically looks like:

"Welcome to [Company Name]! We're ready to help you book your perfect appointment.

To schedule a new appointment, press 1.
To reschedule an existing appointment, press 2.
To cancel an appointment, press 3.
For other queries, press 4.
If you'd prefer to talk to one of our booking experts, press 5 or stay on the line.

We’re here to help Monday through Friday, from [business hours].

Need to hear those options again? Just press 9.

We appreciate you choosing [Company Name] and can't wait to see you soon!"

Why does an appointment scheduling script matter?

Customers appreciate simplicity, especially when booking appointments. A clear and direct script allows them to manage their schedules quickly while reducing strain on agents handling this routine task.

#5: Call transfer scripts

A call transfer script explains what's happening when a customer is being transferred to someone else or a different team. Here’s an example:

"Thank you for your patience.

We want to make sure you get the help you need, so we're transferring your call to an expert who can assist with your specific question.

Please hold for a moment.

We value your call and appreciate you choosing [company name]."

Why does a call transfer script matter?

Call transfers happen occasionally, but they can confuse customers if not done smoothly. A good transfer message reassures them that the wait will be brief, and they won't need to repeat themselves.

#6: On hold or waiting message scripts

Waiting messages inform customers while they're waiting in line for the next available agent. Hold messages play when a call is being transferred, an agent is working to resolve an issue, or the call is connecting to a different team. Typically, both types of messages are repeated periodically, alternating with the hold music.

Here’s an example:

"Thanks for calling [company name]. We're currently experiencing a high volume of calls but appreciate your patience.

You're number [x] in the queue with an estimated wait time of [y] minutes.

In the meantime, you can visit our website at [company website] for more information.

Thank you for choosing [company name]."

Why does an on hold or waiting message script matter?

Waiting can be frustrating, especially if the caller doesn’t know how long they’ll be on hold. Keeping customers updated with their position in the queue and an estimated wait time can reduce frustration and improve the overall experience.

#7: After-business hours message scripts

An after-business hours message notifies callers that your agents are unavailable and informs them when your business will reopen.

Here’s what an after-business hours script looks like:

"Thank you for calling [company name]. Our regular business hours are [start time] to [end time], [days of the week]. We're currently closed but will be happy to assist you when we reopen.

For urgent matters, visit our support center at [company website]. You'll find answers to common questions and troubleshooting tips there.

To leave a message and receive a callback during our business hours, please press 1.

We appreciate your patience and look forward to speaking with you soon. Thank you for choosing [company name]."

Why does an after business hours script matter?

Customers need to know when they can reach you again. Providing an after-hours message helps set clear expectations, builds trust, and offers them a way to leave a message for follow-up.

IVR script best practices

An IVR system is like having a helpful assistant in your contact center. It helps answer calls efficiently, connects people to the right departments, and ultimately improves customer satisfaction.

To ensure your IVR system works seamlessly, refer to these five IVR best practices.

#1: Keep it simple

Use plain language and offer clear choices. Avoid overwhelming callers with too many options or questions.

While IVR systems can be complex, simplicity is key to avoid confusion. Focus on the most common questions that the system can easily answer.

#2: Prioritize popular menu options

Analyze customer data to determine the most popular menu options. Placing these at the top of your IVR menu can reduce frustration and improve call handling times.

For example, if most calls are about billing or account issues, place the "billing and account" option first.

#3: Map out customer paths

Before you start building your IVR menu, plan the different paths customers might take. Your menu will likely include multiple levels, starting with language selection. Some options may lead customers to a specific department, while others might connect them to a recording or automated system.

Consider offering different choices based on time. For instance, you might not want to offer sales options outside of business hours. Instead, you can let customers leave a message.

#4: A/B test your scripts

A/B testing your IVR scripts involves trying out two versions to see which one works best. This can help you identify which approach leads to shorter call times and greater customer satisfaction.

Test small changes like wording or the order of options, or try entirely different menu structures to optimize the experience.

#5: Offer an exit option

No matter how good your IVR system is, some customers will always prefer speaking to a live agent. Make it easy for them by offering an option to reach an agent in the menu. This prevents frustration and reduces hang-ups, guaranteeing that everyone has a path to the assistance they need.

Revamp your IVR system using Plivo

Plivo's Voice API gives you complete control over your IVR system, enabling you to create a great customer experience while managing costs. With service in over 220 countries and territories and a 99.99% uptime guarantee, Plivo is a reliable choice for your IVR needs.

Here are some of its advantages:

Easy to use: Plivo's APIs and XML make it simple to build and manage your own custom IVR menus, even for complex interactions, without needing advanced technical knowledge.
Flexibility: Customers can navigate your IVR using voice or keypad (DTMF), ensuring convenience for all.
Outbound IVR: You can use Plivo's IVR for outbound calls, like for surveys, reminders, or voting.
Scalability: Plivo is designed to handle large call volumes, so your IVR can grow with your business without any problems.
Security: Plivo takes data security seriously by complying with industry standards like PCI DSS, GDPR, and HIPAA to keep your customer information safe.

On top of that, Plivo integrates automatic speech recognition (ASR), so your IVR system can understand and respond to customer inputs — whether they prefer to talk or use their keypad.

Plivo also includes Answer Machine Detection (AMD), which uses heuristic algorithms to identify voicemail with high accuracy. Rather than relying solely on a beep, Plivo analyzes factors like tone of voice and speech speed, ensuring reliable voicemail detection in just three to five seconds.

Ready to create a customer-centric IVR experience? Contact us today to learn how Plivo can help you build an IVR system that improves customer service and streamlines your operations.

Nov 11, 2024

5 mins

What is SIM Swapping Fraud and How to Prevent It

Discover how to prevent SIM swapping fraud at your company with a robust fraud control API like Plivo’s

Fraud Prevention

Voice

Voice API

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Competitor	Unique features	Compliance	Inbound and outbound reach	WhatsApp messaging	Verify API	Pricing
Plivo	SMS analytics Massive SMS carrier network $0 for SMS verification $0 for fraud shield Enhanced security with 2FA	GDPR, HIPAA, CCPA	Outbound: 220+ countries and territories Inbound: 63 countries	Yes	Yes	Starts at $0.0055/SMS
Bird	Pay-as-you-go pricing Integrates easily with your existing CRM, and e-commerce platform to analyze data and create data-driven campaigns	GDPR, CCPA	Outbound: 50 countries Inbound: 140 countries	Yes	Yes	Starts at $45/month
Twilio	Massive SMS carrier network Conversational messaging API Omnichannel messaging support	GDPR, HIPAA, CCPA	Outbound: 210+ countries and territories Inbound: 26 countries	Yes	Yes	Starts at $0.0070/SMS
Telynyx	An array of communication services including SMS, voice, and messaging APIs Advanced analytics and reporting tools	GDPR, HIPAA	Outbound: 140+ countries	Yes	Yes	Starts at $0.004/SMS
Vonage	An extensive suite of APIs including SMS, voice, video, and chat Scale easily without major upfront costs Extensive API documentation	GDPR, HIPAA	Outbound: 220+ countries and territories Inbound: 42 countries	Yes	Yes	Starts at $0.00767/SMS
Podium	Omnichannel communication Live and web chat Customer activity tracking	GDPR, HIPAA	-	No	No	Basic plan starts at $399/month
Sinch	Filters out answering machines on calls In-app video calling into your mobile or web app Enables two-way conversations on WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, Viber, and more	GDPR, HIPAA	-	Yes	Yes	Starts at $0.0078/SMS
Bandwidth	Integrates with Teams, Genesys, Zoom, Five9, Webex, and Google Voice	GDPR, HIPAA	Outbound: 65+ countries	Yes	Yes	Starts at $0.004/SMS

Number Type	Capability	Pricing
Local Numbers	Voice, SMS, MMS	$0.50/month
Toll-free Numbers	Voice, SMS, MMS	$1.00/month
Short Code — Regular*	SMS, MMS	$500.00/month (billed quarterly)
Short Code — Vanity*	SMS, MMS	$1000.00/month (billed quarterly)

Core	Advanced	Ultra
$20/user/month	$25/user/month	$35/user/month

Core	Pro	Power	Enterprise
$15/user/month	$23/user/month	$30/user/month	$50/user/month

True Solo	Solo Plus
$14/user/month	$25/user/month

Starter	Essential	Expert
$25/user/month	$30/user/month	$50/user/month

Device	Function	Usage
SIM Box	Routes calls and messages across multiple SIM cards, each associated with a different phone number.	Used by fraudsters to bypass international call fees or send mass spam messages, masking the origins of communication to avoid detection.
SIM Bank	Manages and stores large numbers of SIM cards remotely, enabling automatic SIM switching without manual intervention.	Fraudsters use these to rotate SIM cards, allowing them to evade traffic limits and support large-scale illegal operations, such as SIM swapping and spam messaging.

AI Voice Agents - The Complete Guide to Voice Chat (2025)

What is an AI voice agent?

Types of AI voice agents

Rule-based AI voice agent

AI-assisted voice agent

Conversational AI voice agent

Voice-activated voice agent

How does an AI voice agent improve customer engagement?

Use case: Get a quick update on order status, 24/7

Benefits:

Use case: Improve language learning for students

Benefits:

Use case: Improve patient outcomes in healthcare

Benefits:

Use case: Streamline routine financial services

Benefits:

Use case: Get personal shopping assistance

Benefits:

Features of an AI voice agent

Natural language understanding (NLU)

Personalization capabilities

Multi-language support

Integration with other platforms and services

Benefits of voice agents

Enhanced user experience

Better cost efficiency

Accessibility for users with disabilities

Data collection and analysis for improved services

24/7 availability

Future of AI voice technology

Key upcoming trends:

Launch an AI voice agent with Plivo