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Compare 10 AI voice agents for real estate in 2026. Evaluate response time, CRM integration, multi-channel support, and scalability to find the right solution.

AI voice agents in real estate are all about response time, coverage and quick follow-through. If your system can't answer calls immediately, qualify intent, book tours and update your CRM without manual cleanup, it's not helping you win more deals; it's adding another layer for you to manage.

This guide isn't for browsing tools. It's for operators deciding whether to commit to AI voice agents in 2026 and ship something that actually helps you scale. We compare 10 platforms based on how they perform after signup, how fast you can go live, what breaks under real lead volume, and what it takes to keep them working week after week.

Top 10 AI Voice Agents for Real Estate (2026)

The goal here is simple: Helping you choose an option that you can launch confidently, not replace after the first integration headache.

1. Plivo

When aiming to build and scale AI voice agents for real estate, you care about two things: reaching prospects first and converting more inquiries into confirmed showings. Plivo excels here since it gives you production-ready AI voice agents that place instant callbacks, answer listing questions from your data, and book tours directly on your agents' calendars. They operate reliably across phone, SMS, WhatsApp and chat without stitching together telephony, AI models and messaging vendors.

Plivo is the AI agent builder platform for voice-first, omnichannel experiences—built on a carrier-grade telephony network trusted by Uber, Meta, Zomato, and thousands of businesses worldwide. Business teams can launch agents without writing code using Vibe agent. Engineering teams can orchestrate custom voice agents in code with full control. The foundation is Plivo's global communications infrastructure spanning 190+ countries: 15+ years of proven reliable infrastructure, low latency, and the call quality enterprises demand.

Core Capabilities:

Inbound & Outbound AI Voice Agents: Handle live calls end-to-end, qualify intent, route intelligently and escalate to human agents when needed.
Multi-Channel Agent Coverage: Run the same AI agent across phone, SMS, WhatsApp and chat with shared context across channels.
No-Code AI Agent Builder (Vibe): Build and deploy voice agents using plain-English instructions, no prompt engineering or coding required.
Build your way: Business teams launch with no-code tools; engineering teams build custom voice agents with full-code control. You're never forced into a single way of working.
Vertically Integrated Telephony (CPaaS): Voice runs on Plivo's own global telephony infrastructure, avoiding third-party carrier dependencies.
Low-Latency Voice AI Stack: Integrated TTS, STT and LLM orchestration enables sub-500ms response latency, critical for natural voice conversations.
Enterprise-Grade Reliability: Built on Plivo's proven CPaaS platform with 99.99% uptime, 15+ years of reliable infrastructure, and global carrier connectivity across 190+ countries.
CRM & Workflow Integrations: Pull customer context in real time and write call outcomes back to CRMs and support tools automatically. Connect Follow Up Boss, kvCORE, BoomTown, Salesforce, HubSpot, Google Calendar, Outlook, and your MLS/IDX feed.
You own the stack: You get to choose your speech-to-text (STT), text-to-speech (TTS), and LLM while keeping prompts and data portable and avoiding lock-in.

Best fit if you:

Need real-time voice agents that can operate continuously at scale.
Want to avoid stitching telephony, AI and messaging vendors together.
Plan to deploy across multiple channels, not voice alone.
Have defined workflows for lead qualification, routing or follow-ups.

Not a fit if you:

Only need a lightweight voice demo, basic IVR or short-term experiment.
Want a fully turnkey, real estate-specific tool with no configuration or workflow control.
Don't plan to integrate voice agents into your CRM, data stack or operations.

2. Luron AI

Luron AI is best suited for teams that need 24/7 AI voice agents that never miss calls and qualify leads automatically. It supports multilingual conversations and keeps pacing tight across accents and speaking styles. The system handles inbound and outbound voice conversations in dozens of languages and automates bookings and follow-ups without human staffing.

Core Capabilities:

Instant call answer & qualification: AI answers every call, gathers intent, and qualifies leads without hold times.
Multilingual support: Handles AI conversations in 45+ languages to cover diverse lead sources.
Inbound & outbound support: Manages both types of calls and can also run outbound follow-ups.
SMS, chat & email automation: Extends voice agents to text and messaging channels for a unified engagement approach.
CRM & integration options: Connects to existing phone systems via SIP trunking and can integrate with CRMs and ticket systems.

Best fit if you:

Want 24/7 lead capture and qualification without adding staff.
Need multilingual voice conversations for global or diverse markets.
Expect to automate bookings, follow-ups and reminders on voice and messaging channels.
Have a CRM or existing phone system you must integrate with.

Not a fit if you:

Only need a simple inbound answering or IVR replacement without automation.
Want a solution focused on voice only, with limited channel reach.
Prefer fixed, transparent pricing tiers publicly listed.

3. Callers AI

Callers AI is a platform for automating customer conversations with human-like voice agents that handle both inbound & outbound calls and messaging channels, powered by your brand's data and tone. It's focused on scaling high-volume voice interactions while maintaining contextual continuity across channels in a single branded voice experience.

Core Capabilities:

Omni-channel AI interactions: Voice agents run across phone, SMS, WhatsApp and chat from a central AI brain.
Human-like voice calls: Agents answer and place calls in a natural conversational style.
Lead workflows & use cases: Supports lead qualification, cold call automation, appointment confirmation, retention flows and more.
24/7 availability & language breadth: Designed to handle calls and messaging around the clock, in multiple languages.
Context remembering: Conversations carry context across voice and messaging so follow-ups feel continuous.
Integrations & automation: Connects to CRMs and tools (300+ integrations) so call outcomes can update your systems.

Best fit if you:

Want both inbound and outbound AI calling with consistent, natural-tone responses across channels.
Need an AI system that can qualify leads, confirm appointments and manage follow-ups automatically.
Are scaling high call volumes 24/7.
Prefer a central "brain" that keeps context across channels and workflows.

Not a fit if you:

Only want a basic voice or outbound dialer with limited cross-channel logic.
Need a tool focused exclusively on simple IVR or basic routing without AI conversation layers.
Prefer a product you can set up and forget in minutes without upfront configuration or workflow definition.

4. SquadStack AI

SquadStack AI is best suited for teams that want AI-assisted sales and voice engagement workflows supported by configurable human-in-the-loop automation. It blends automated outreach and qualification with options to escalate to human agents where needed, helpful for revenue teams that are focused on pipeline speed.

Core Capabilities:

Automated Lead Engagement: AI enabled workflows proactively contact prospects and qualify them using data-driven sequencing.
Voice & Messaging Channels: Supports outbound dialing, ringless voicemail, SMS and multi-touch sequences.
Human-in-the-Loop Escalation: Configurable handoffs to live agents when conversations need human judgment.
Sales Workflow Automation: Built-in logic for lead routing, prioritization and follow-ups across channels.
CRM Integration + Data Sync: Sync outcomes and engagement data back to CRMs like Salesforce, HubSpot, etc.

Best fit if you:

Want inbound and outbound automated voice interactions with natural conversation flows and multilingual capability.
Need AI that handles lead qualification, follow-ups and reminders as part of sales or customer engagement sequences.
Are automating sales outreach and conversational workflows alongside voice calls.

Not a fit if you:

Need an AI platform focused on low-latency, bespoke voice agent infrastructure tied tightly to your own telephony stack.
Are building a multi-channel bot with CRM/telephony hooks and developer control from the ground up at scale.

5. Telgent

Telgent leans into MLS and portal context. It is best for businesses that want always-on voice AI calling with automated scheduling, intelligent call handling and quick setup. Its platform emphasizes immediate activation, seamless integration with existing phone systems and natural AI responses that handle calls, schedule meetings and engage customers day and night.

Core Capabilities:

24/7 AI voice calling agents: Always-on call automation that answers and routes customer calls at any hour.
Lead engagement & scheduling: Automatically books appointments, meetings and showings based on natural language conversations.
Inbound call handling: AI answers incoming inquiries, qualifies intent and routes prospects with minimal human intervention.
Automated inquiry responses: Provides instant answers to property questions and responds to rental or sales leads.
Integration with real estate systems: Works with Zillow, Realtor.com, MLS platforms, Follow Up Boss, kvCORE, BoomTown, Salesforce and HubSpot for CRM continuity.

Best fit if you:

Need round-the-clock call handling that captures leads and books appointments without missing inquiries.
Want your voice AI to integrate with core real estate tools and CRM systems so client details are synced automatically.
Are focused on lead conversion and showing scheduling as part of your customer engagement workflows.

Not a fit if you:

Only require basic outbound calling with simple scripts rather than inbound + scheduling automation.
Expect a no-config, plug-and-play voice bot that requires zero setup or customization.
Want a platform that handles only one channel (voice only) without extending into SMS/WhatsApp/chat automation.

6. AIOnCalls

AIOnCalls is positioned as a virtual receptionist that never misses calls or opportunities. Best for teams that want an always-on voice AI assistant that handles inbound and outbound calls around the clock, engages callers in natural language, qualifies leads, books appointments and updates CRM data.

Core Capabilities:

24/7 Inbound & Outbound Voice Handling: AI answers and places calls around the clock across all hours and holidays.
Lead Qualification & Follow-Up Automation: Qualifies callers in real time and automates follow-ups via voice, SMS and email.
Appointment Scheduling & Calendar Invites: Books appointments and sends confirmations during calls.
CRM & Workflow Integrations: Integrates with CRMs like Zoho, HubSpot, GoHighLevel, Google Calendar for real-time lead syncing and activity logging.
Multilingual Conversations: Supports multiple languages and can handle simultaneous call sessions.
Live Agent Escalation: Transfers complex calls to human agents when needed.
Real-Time Analytics & Transcriptions: Provides live call monitoring, transcripts, sentiment analysis and dashboards.

Best fit if you:

Need an AI voice agent that never misses inbound calls and engages leads immediately, 24/7.
Want automated lead qualification, booking and follow-ups in voice, SMS, and email without human staffing.
Are integrating call outcomes and engagement data into CRM or calendar workflows.
Operate in industries where speed-to-lead matters and missed calls are costly.

Not a fit if you:

Only need simple IVR or on-premise call routing without conversational automation.
Prefer a pure telephony or developer API platform without built-in AI conversational layers.
Are looking for a voice agent with deep, specialized industry templates.

7. Brilo AI

Brilo AI is a business-focused AI phone and voice call agent platform that enables teams to automate real-time voice interactions across industries like real estate. It promises fast setup, natural human-like voice responses, 24/7 coverage, integration with business tools and built-in analytics, all without needing a technical team to get started.

Core Capabilities:

24/7 AI voice call agents: Always-on AI phone agents handle inbound calls and customer engagements at any hour.
Human-like voice interactions: Conversational voice responses built to sound natural and engaging.
Appointment booking & scheduling: Voice agents can book appointments with synced calendars and handle reminders.
CRM and business integrations: Integrates with a broad range of business apps (6,000+ app connections claimed) to sync customer context and outcomes.
Real-time analytics & insights: Live call transcripts, sentiment analysis, intent tracking and topic detection support actionable insights post-call.
Lead qualification automation: Agents engage prospects, capture intent and route high-value leads in real time.

Best fit if you:

Need 24/7 automated voice engagement that never misses inbound or high-volume calls for lead capture, scheduling or support.
Need a platform that books appointments, manages follow-ups and drives customer engagement without manual management.
Plan to integrate the voice agent with CRM, calendar tools and analytics pipelines to maintain context across systems.

Not a fit if you:

Simply need a basic phone tree, IVR or traditional call routing system.
Are focused solely on developer-centric API telephony without AI built in.
Require industry-specific compliance guarantees (HIPAA, PCI, etc.) documented publicly.

8. VocalDesk

VocalDesk is an AI-enabled voice and contact automation platform that helps teams automate calling, lead follow-up, support interactions and scheduling. Its focus is on automated voice conversations and multi-channel engagement with CRM integration and configurable workflows that replace manual outreach tasks.

Core Capabilities:

Automated Voice Conversations: Handles inbound and outbound calls using AI to engage, qualify, and route callers.
AI-Driven Lead Qualification: Automated conversation flows that marks lead intent and priority.
Appointment Booking & Reminders: Schedules meetings and sends reminders as part of automated flows.
Multichannel Messaging: Engages customers across voice, text and messaging platforms.
CRM & Workflow Sync: Connects with CRM systems and business tools to log interactions and maintain records.

Best fit if you:

Want to automate call handling and lead follow-up without manual dialing.
Need a solution that combines voice and messaging outreach with CRM context.
Are focused on lead qualification and scheduling as part of broader sales engagement.

Not a fit if you:

Only need basic call routing or IVR without AI handling.
Require explicit developer control over telephony APIs.
Rely on hard metrics like latency, concurrency limits or multi-region telephony SLAs.

9. Calldock

Calldock is an AI voice agent platform intended for instant lead engagement, automatic qualification and scheduling. Its system calls leads within seconds of form submission, conducts natural conversations and integrates with calendars and workflows to automate follow-ups and booking.

Core Capabilities:

Instant lead callbacks: Calls website leads within ~60 seconds of a submission, boosting early engagement.
Calendar booking: Agents can book appointments directly to your calendar during live calls.
Multi-channel follow-up: Agents send SMS and email follow-ups as part of the call workflow.
Seamless handoff & callbacks: You can trigger human handoffs in natural language and schedule intelligent callbacks.
API, webhooks, & integration ecosystem: Support for APIs and pre-call webhooks lets you fetch context before calls and connect with Gmail, Google Calendar, Slack, Zapier and thousands more.
Developer playground & documentation: Provides API documentation and code examples for triggered calls and automated workflows.

Best fit if you:

Want immediate lead engagement that happens in seconds.
Need voice agents that qualify, book and follow up automatically across voice, SMS and email.
Plan to integrate voice engagements with calendar and business workflows.
Need a voice agent that works with easy templates for common industries with minimal setup.
Want a low-code or no-code setup that goes live with simple configuration.

Not a fit if you:

Need proper inbound/outbound calling with API integration.
Require deep telephony infrastructure control or enterprise telephony SLAs.
Are building highly custom dialogue systems that need proprietary LLM tuning beyond the existing templates.

10. Ylopo

Ylopo is a digital marketing and lead gen platform built for the real estate industry. It combines lead capture, nurturing, AI voice calling, AI texting, branded websites and marketing automation into one system that integrates with CRMs and helps real estate teams generate and convert leads.

Core Capabilities:

AI Voice Follow-Up: Automatically calls new and existing leads to qualify interest and connect them to agents.
AI Text Conversations: Runs two-way SMS conversations to nurture leads until they're ready to talk.
AI² Voice + Text System: Combines calling and texting into one coordinated follow-up engine.
Automated Appointment Transfers: Delivers live transfers or booked appointments when leads are qualified.
Lead Generation & Nurture: Includes PPC ads, remarketing and IDX websites to capture and feed leads into AI follow-up.
CRM & Website Integration: Syncs AI conversations and lead activity with CRMs and branded real estate websites.

Best fit if you:

Want lead capture with nurturing as a unified system rather than isolated voice interaction tools.
Are a realtor or team that wants AI to automatically engage leads by text and phone, not just manage manual contacts.
Need branded websites with IDX search and integrated lead capture feeding into automated follow-up.
Plan to keep leads engaged over longer time horizons (e.g., 90-day voice follow-up).
Value combined marketing + AI follow-up rather than a single channel (voice only).

Not a fit if you:

Are looking for pure AI voice agent infrastructure like a telephony-first CPaaS platform.
Need tools focused on enterprise-grade telephony performance, low-latency voice systems or custom telephony workflows.

What Matters Most in AI Voice Agents (Beyond the Basics)

1. Telephony Ownership vs. Vendor Stitching

Many AI voice tools rely on third-party telephony stitched together with AI layers. This often introduces latency, call drops and limited routing control at scale.

What to prioritize:

Built-in telephony with direct carrier connectivity
End-to-end control over call routing and quality
Fewer external dependencies

Plivo runs on its own global CPaaS and carrier-grade telephony stack, removing third-party voice dependencies.

2. Real-Time Performance (Latency & Uptime)

Voice conversations break down quickly when responses lag or calls fail. Sub-second latency and high uptime aren't "nice to have"—they're mandatory.

What to validate:

Sub-500ms voice response latency
99.99% uptime or better
Real-time STT, TTS, and LLM orchestration

Plivo's vertically integrated Voice AI stack is designed for low-latency, real-time conversations on proven infrastructure.

3. Multi-Channel Context, Not Disconnected Bots

Leads move between calls, SMS, WhatsApp and chat. Treating each channel as a separate bot creates broken experiences and duplicate work.

What to look for:

Shared context across voice and messaging
Unified conversation history
Seamless handoffs between channels

Plivo supports multi-channel agents that share context across phone, SMS, WhatsApp and chat from a single system.

4. Integration Depth (CRM, Calendars, Workflows)

Voice agents don't operate in isolation. Without deep integrations, they become another silo your team has to manage.

Prioritize platforms that:

Read from and write to CRMs in real time
Trigger workflows during live calls
Integrate cleanly with calendars and support tools

Plivo integrates directly with CRMs and business systems, allowing agents to act on live data and update records automatically.

5. Built for Scale, Not Just Launch

Many tools work well for pilots but struggle under sustained call volume or multi-region deployment.

Ask:

Can this run continuously without degradation?
Are pricing and performance predictable as usage grows?
Will this still work when channels or regions expand?

Plivo's AI agents are built on infrastructure that already powers enterprise-grade voice and messaging at global scale.

FAQs

What's the fastest way to go live without breaking existing operations?

Start with a single, contained flow like after-hours inbound calls or instant lead callbacks. Connect your phone numbers, CRM and calendar, define escalation rules and launch! You can expand coverage once live data validates the flow.

How do I ensure voice quality doesn't feel robotic or laggy?

Voice quality depends on latency and telephony control. Platforms with integrated telephony and real-time STT/TTS orchestration keep responses sub-second, which is critical for natural conversations that callers don't hang up on.

How does the agent stay accurate and compliant with real estate data?

The agent should pull from a restricted, curated knowledge source (MLS, IDX, listings) and operate within defined guardrails. When questions exceed scope like pricing nuance, legal terms, fair-housing-sensitive topics, it escalates to a human automatically.

What happens when call volume spikes or multiple leads call at once?

Calls don't fail—they should queue. High-intent conversations can be routed to live agents, while others are qualified, scheduled or followed up asynchronously. Every outcome is logged so nothing gets lost.

How does this fit into my CRM and follow-up workflows?

The agent reads live CRM data during calls and writes outcomes back automatically in the form of notes, disposition, next steps and booked appointments. Your team picks up conversations with full context instead of starting from scratch.

Try Plivo Free

Curious how an AI voice platform performs in your workflows, not just in theory? Plivo offers a free trial account with credits so you can experiment with voice, SMS, WhatsApp and chat services before committing. When you sign up, you get trial credits, can add a phone number and start testing features like real-time voice interactions and multi-channel engagement using APIs or visual tools like PHLO. This lets you validate performance, integrations, and call flows with your actual data—all without upfront cost.

Plivo's trial lets you test core capabilities immediately, making it easy to see how quickly you can build, launch, and refine agents that handle calls, qualify leads and update systems in real time.

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

Jan 20, 2026

5 mins

Best AI Voice Agents for Customer Support and Service (2026): What to Deploy Now

Compare 10 AI voice agent platforms for customer support. Get a practical 30-day pilot framework, implementation workflow, and outcome-driven selection guide.

1) Plivo — The fastest path to production-grade AI voice agents for customer support

A recent Gartner survey found that most customer service leaders plan to explore or pilot conversational GenAI in 2025—making a clear, near-term mandate to deliver something that works on the phone channel, not just in chat. That's your cue to build a reliable voice front door with an AI agent builder platform designed for voice-first, omnichannel experiences.

Why Plivo is #1

Plivo is the AI agent builder platform that lets you build your way. Whether you're a business leader who needs to launch fast or an engineering team building custom workflows, Plivo meets you where you are. Start with no-code tools that let non-technical teams deploy agents in hours. Go deeper with low-code orchestration for more control. Or build from scratch with full-code frameworks that integrate into your existing stack. You're never forced into a single way of working.

What it does for you

Plivo's Voice AI stack is modular by design. Want speed? Use the fully integrated platform—STT, LLM, TTS, and telephony—pre-configured and ready to go. Want control? Orchestrate your agents using code with Plivo's Agentic STT models and Telephony, alongside your preferred LLM providers. Want just the connectivity layer? Use audio streaming or SIP trunking and bring everything else yourself. You decide where Plivo ends and your stack begins.

Underlying it all is a reliable, carrier-grade telephony platform that scales for enterprises—global PSTN/SIP connectivity, number provisioning and porting, call routing with failover, recording with consent, and clean human handoff with full context into your CRM or help desk.

Segment-by-segment fit

If you're SMB, launch fast with no-code tools that let you deploy agents in hours, plus a simple dashboard and connectors for Shopify and Calendly. If you're mid-market, use low-code orchestration for more control, with a modular stack that lets you use what you need—swap in your preferred LLM, STT, or TTS. If you're enterprise, build with full-code frameworks that integrate into your existing stack, plus a modular Voice AI stack to pick-and-choose what you need, governance features (RBAC, audit transcripts, data residency), and contact center integration for high availability and reporting.

Start with Voice, go everywhere

Voice is the hardest channel to get right—and it's where Plivo leads. But the same flexible building experience extends to WhatsApp, SMS, RCS, and Chat. Build once, deploy across channels, and meet customers wherever they are.

Suitable for

Fintech customer service: consent-first flows, secure keypad capture, dispute status, and callbacks.
Healthcare scheduling: multilingual intake, appointment changes, escalations with a summarized handoff.
Retail and logistics: order status, returns, delivery windows, and SMS/WhatsApp follow-ups.

No more choosing between a locked-in platform that's easy but limiting, or a DIY approach that's flexible but painful. Plivo gives you both—simplicity when you want it, depth when you need it.

Explore the Voice API, check pricing, review compliance, handle numbers & porting, browse case studies, or jump into the quickstart.

2) Google Dialogflow CX — Complex, branching flows without spaghetti

Key features

Dialogflow CX uses a flow-and-page model to capture state and branching, so you can manage multi-step intents like returns, warranty claims, and multi-factor verification without dozens of brittle intents. It supports voice and text and includes versioning, experiments, and test tools. For telephony, you can use partner gateways or SIP; for global reach, put Plivo at the edge and connect to CX.

Why it matters

Complicated support journeys need explicit state. CX gives you that structure. If your "Where's my order?" workflow forks based on identity checks, fulfillment method, and policy windows, you can keep logic readable and testable. CX also plays well with multilingual experiences and mixed initiative, so callers can change course mid-conversation.

Implementation steps

Start with a single high-volume journey and draw it as a CX flow. Add a fallback page with a short menu for noisy lines. Ground the bot in your knowledge base and order system, then add handoff rules. Put Plivo in front for numbers, routing, and recording consent, and pass summaries back to your ticketing system.

Suitable for

Teams with multiple brands or product lines, where branching grows quickly and consistency matters across regions.

3) Amazon Lex + Amazon Connect — AWS-first voice automation that ops can own

Key features

Lex handles the speech and NLU for voice and text. Connect adds the contact-center fabric: routing, IVR, call recording, and agent desktop. It's a natural fit if your data and apps live in AWS and security prefers IAM-managed access. For global numbers or bring-your-own carrier control, front with Plivo and route into Connect.

Why it matters

Staying inside AWS accelerates procurement, security reviews, and monitoring. You can call Lambdas for tool use, search knowledge with Kendra, and use Connect metrics and contact flows your ops team already knows. That shortens time to value and concentrates governance in one place.

Implementation steps

Define one call flow in Connect (ID&V → status lookup → handoff). Build Lex intents from your top FAQs. Add Plivo for number management, routing, and failover. Send summaries back to your CRM or help desk. Keep a barge-in plan for noisy environments and a keypad fallback for payment flows.

Suitable for

IT-led programs where AWS standardization, auditability, and a single pane of glass for monitoring are priorities.

4) IBM Watson Assistant — Governance-first deployments in regulated industries

Key features

Watson Assistant supports omnichannel conversations with documented security and governance options, including deployment paths designed for regulated workloads. If your risk office leads the decision, IBM provides clear guidance on audit logging, data handling, and architectural choices. Add Plivo to handle PSTN/SIP, call consent prompts, and compliant recording policies.

Why it matters

Financial services and healthcare teams often need auditability from day one. When you need clear data-handling boundaries and deployment models that align with internal controls, IBM's documentation and support track help you pass reviews without months of back-and-forth.

Implementation steps

Map your data-classification rules to Watson's deployment options. Keep contact recordings and transcriptions in your approved storage. Use Plivo's routing and consent prompts to standardize intake across regions. Summarize calls into your case system for full traceability.

Suitable for

Organizations with heavy compliance needs, strict data residency, or formal audit trails for every customer interaction.

5) Cognigy.AI — IVR modernization with fine-grained voice control

Key features

Cognigy combines a visual designer with a voice gateway that supports streaming ASR, interruptibility, and transfer control. It integrates with multiple speech providers and enterprise systems like SAP and Salesforce. This lets you tune barge-in sensitivity, error handling, and handoff cues rather than living with a one-size-fits-all IVR.

Why it matters

If callers still hear a menu tree, you're wasting time and goodwill. Cognigy helps you replace rigid menus with natural conversations and graceful escalation. You keep the levers you need—timing, sensitivity, fallback prompts—so the agent feels human, not scripted.

Implementation steps

Start with the two intents that create the most queue time. Set barge-in thresholds conservatively and widen them after you test in live traffic. Put Plivo at the edge to manage numbers, recording policies, and failover. Send summaries with disposition tags to your CRM.

Suitable for

Enterprises with legacy IVRs, high call volumes, and a clear need to reduce effort without ripping out the contact-center core.

6) Salesforce Agentforce — CRM-native service automation where your team works

Key features

Agentforce brings AI agents into the Salesforce console and data model. Your service team stays in the view they know, while the agent handles common intents, drafts summaries, and routes cases. Add Plivo for calling so every phone interaction lands in Salesforce with the right context.

Why it matters

When everything you need to resolve an issue already lives in Salesforce, keeping the agent there shortens integration time and improves analytics. Supervisors can coach on the same dashboard and review case summaries, while admins maintain clear governance over data and automations.

Implementation steps

Pick one queue with repetitive calls. Tie identity checks to account data and warranties. Keep a "press 0 for a human" fallback and make sure the agent passes a clean summary with next steps. Use Plivo for the phone edge so call recordings and consent are consistent across regions.

Suitable for

Service teams that treat Salesforce as the system of record and want automation to feel native—not bolted on.

7) Zoom Virtual Agent for Phone — A 24/7 receptionist and concierge

Key features

Zoom's Virtual Agent for Phone handles greetings, routing, and the most common requests. You train it from existing docs and site content, then turn it on for after-hours or full-time reception. It's built for quick wins like appointment scheduling, store hours, and simple status checks with transfers when needed.

Why it matters

If reception lines clog your switchboard, a front-door voice agent can deflect simple questions without new headcount. As you add skills, you can expand from triage to completing tasks. For broader reach, connect Plivo to add global numbers and transactional notifications via SMS or WhatsApp.

Implementation steps

Start with greeting, business hours, and routing. Add appointment booking next. Keep live-agent transfers one click away. If you outgrow the PBX perimeter, bring Plivo in to manage numbers and cross-channel follow-ups.

Suitable for

Single-number switchboards, high-volume reception desks, and teams that need a quick, always-on front door.

8) Sierra — Enterprise "autonomous" agents with category momentum

Key features

Sierra focuses on enterprise-grade AI agents for customer service with an emphasis on agentic workflows. The leadership and market traction give executives confidence to back bigger bets. If you're evaluating multi-channel automation with rigorous SLAs, Sierra is a credible short-list option. Plug it into Plivo for reliable telephony, recording consent, and global routing.

Why it matters

Momentum reduces perceived risk. When you need cross-functional buy-in, a vendor that's already in enterprise production helps. You still need the phone edge right: numbers, routing, and failover that won't buckle under peaks.

Implementation steps

Define two end-to-end journeys (e.g., ID&V + order update; returns approval). Keep human handoff one step away and capture every call summary in your case system. Instrument containment and transfers, then iterate weekly.

Suitable for

Large teams planning multi-channel agents and looking for vendor accountability with clear deliverables and timelines.

9) Tidio (Lyro) — SMB eCommerce chat that pairs well with voice

Key features

Tidio blends live chat, an AI agent, and eCommerce integrations. It's a practical way to resolve repetitive questions, free up your team, and capture intent while buyers are on your site. Add Plivo for a simple order-status line and SMS/WhatsApp updates so customers get answers by phone as well as chat.

Why it matters

eCommerce teams need fast coverage more than complex architectures. You can start with FAQs, then add checkout and account questions. When phone calls spike—promos, holidays—route a basic voice flow through Plivo and keep your agent consistent across channels.

Implementation steps

Load your top FAQs and shipping policies, add a returns flow, and set clear handoff rules. For voice, route a single Plivo number to a lightweight agent that authenticates by order ID and ZIP code, then offers a callback option during peaks.

Suitable for

Lean teams that want to reduce repetitive chat volume now and add phone coverage without standing up a full contact center.

10) Robylon — Multi-channel AI agents focused on support teams

Key features

Robylon specializes in AI-driven customer support across voice, chat, email, and messaging. It integrates with help desks like Zendesk and Freshdesk, supports multiple languages, and offers analytics dashboards designed for service leaders. It's a pragmatic fit if your help desk is the hub of your operation.

Why it matters

You want human-like conversations that escalate cleanly. Robylon's positioning around support workflows means your ticketing, SLAs, and dispositions stay intact. For reliable calling, use Plivo for numbers, routing, and recording consent so your phone channel matches the quality of your chat channel.

Implementation steps

Start with account updates and appointment scheduling. Ground the agent in your help-desk knowledge base and macros. Track resolution time and transfer reasons; refine weekly.

Suitable for

Mid-market support teams who want a focused system that plugs into existing help-desk processes and expands to voice without heavy lifting.

How to run a safe, high-signal pilot in 30 days

Define success first

Pick three metrics: containment, transfer rate, and average resolution time. Write a one-line target for each and a go/no-go threshold. Everyone should know what "good" looks like before you take your first call.

Start with narrow, high-volume intents

"Where's my order?", appointment changes, returns, account updates. These are predictable, frequent, and measurable. Script your handoff sentence so agents never start from zero.

Build the right guardrails

Add a consent prompt, a keypad fallback for sensitive inputs, and a short backup menu for noisy environments. Keep the escalations simple: one route for billing, one for everything else.

Ground every answer

Connect the agent to your CRM/help desk and knowledge base. If the answer doesn't exist in your source of truth, escalate. Summarize every call into the ticket with disposition and next steps.

Iterate weekly

Review 20 call transcripts together. Fix the top three friction points. Update prompts and knowledge. Ship changes. Repeat.

FAQ

What's the fastest way to launch a voice agent without changing my stack?

Keep your telephony and routing on Plivo, connect your preferred conversation engine, and ground it in your CRM/help desk and knowledge base. Start with one number, one intent, and a simple fallback.

How should I measure success in the first 30 days?

Track containment, transfer rate, and resolution time. Listen for barge-in moments and interruptions—they reveal prompt and timing issues that you can fix quickly.

How do I implement consent, recording, and PCI/PHI safely?

Play a clear consent prompt before any recording. Use keypad input for payments or sensitive data. Store recordings and transcripts in approved systems and keep audit logs.

When is Dialogflow CX better than Lex, IBM, or Cognigy?

Choose CX for complex branching flows and multilingual journeys; Lex when your team standardizes on AWS; IBM when governance and deployment control are paramount; Cognigy when you're modernizing IVR with fine-grained voice settings.

How do I handle accents, noise, and barge-in in production?

Use a robust ASR, tune your barge-in sensitivity, and keep a keypad fallback. Test in noisy environments and shorten prompts. Summaries help human agents pick up without asking callers to repeat themselves.

Conclusion: Build the voice edge once, then scale what works

A measured result to anchor ROI. McKinsey reported that, at one company with thousands of agents, applying generative AI raised issue resolution and lowered handling time—small percentage gains that compound into real savings at scale. That's the kind of lift your leadership expects—and the reason to start with a focused pilot that moves one metric.

Bring your "brain" of choice, but keep the phone edge on Plivo so every call connects, every consent is captured, and every handoff carries context. Define three KPIs, pick one journey, and go live with a human fallback. Review transcripts weekly, then scale to the next two intents.

Ready to hear what real-time voice feels like? Build your agent or talk to an expert today.

Jun 19, 2025

5 mins

RCS Marketing 101: Your Complete Guide

Discover how RCS marketing delivers rich, branded messages that drive engagement for your business.

SMS marketing works, but let’s be honest: it feels a bit outdated compared to modern apps.

But what if you could send rich, interactive messages with branded content, images, buttons, and carousels straight to your customers’ native messaging apps?

Rich communication services (RCS) makes that possible.

If you’re ready to explore how RCS marketing can transform your engagement strategy, this guide will walk you through everything you need to know. Let’s get started.

What is RCS marketing?

RCS marketing uses rich communication services to send interactive, branded messages through a customer’s default messaging app. It’s a modern upgrade to SMS that lets businesses share images, buttons, carousels, and more — all without needing third-party apps.

A user on Reddit summed up this perfectly:

Screenshot of a Reddit comment explaining what RCS is — *RCS explained by a Reddit user*

RCS lets you send messages that are visually branded with logos and colors while remaining interactive. This turns static updates into an app-like experience inside a message.

This shift is part of a broader industry move, led by Google and backed by major mobile carriers, to upgrade messaging infrastructure and make RCS the default standard on Android devices.

As support continues to grow, businesses are adopting RCS as part of their customer engagement strategy. Platforms like Plivo make that adoption easier with a reliable, enterprise-grade gateway to deliver rich, reliable RCS campaigns at scale.

RCS vs. SMS marketing: A quick comparison

Marketers today are looking for ways to deliver more interactive and visual communication, and RCS is clearly leading the way.

While SMS still works well for simple alerts, it lacks the creativity and engagement that RCS marketing offers.

Let’s take a quick look at RCS vs. SMS marketing.

Key feature	SMS marketing	RCS marketing
Message length	Limited to 160 characters; with longer messages split	Up to 8,000 characters in a single message
Multimedia	Supports only plain text and links; needs MMS for multimedia	Natively supports high-resolution photos, videos, audio, and GIFs
Security and verification	No built-in sender verification	Includes verified sender profiles with business name, logo, and custom colors
Read receipts	No standardized way to know if a message was delivered or read	Provides delivery and read receipts for real-time engagement tracking
Typing indicators	Doesn't show when the other party is typing	Displays typing indicators, creating a more conversational feel
Interactive buttons	Not supported; calls to action (CTAs) are limited to plain text links	Allows interactive buttons with predefined replies and actions
User experience	Static, text-heavy, and transactional	Dynamic, visually rich, and conversational — feels more like a mobile app
Analytics and reporting	Basic delivery tracking (if supported by carrier)	Advanced analytics: opens, clicks, conversions, and user behavior tracking

4 key benefits of RCS marketing

RCS marketing makes messaging feel more natural for both you and your customers. And since you can see what’s working and what’s not, it’s easier to pivot your strategy and get better results.

Here are its four key benefits.

1. Improved user interaction

One of the biggest advantages of RCS marketing is how seamless it makes the experience for your customers. Instead of typing out replies or clicking a link to open a website, users can just tap a button right inside the message.

Want them to book a demo, check order status, or browse products? It’s all possible with just a tap.

Fewer steps mean less effort, and that leads to more people following through. In fact, individuals spend up to 37 seconds engaging with RCS messages, which is a lot longer than most other types of mobile messaging.

Image showing the engagement results of RCS messaging — *People engage more with RCS than any other platform*

That extra time and interaction can make all the difference when you’re trying to convert interest into action.

2. Consistent brand experience

RCS marketing doesn’t just tell people who you are — it shows them.

Verified business profiles help people know they’re getting messages from the real brand. Every message shows your brand’s logo, name, colors, and a checkmark. These small details make it clear that the message is coming from a genuine source.

Image showing that MAYI - HOMES sends a verified RCS message with branding — *Verified RCS message from MAYI - HOMES*

This consistency matters because 88% of people are more likely to buy from a brand they trust.

3. In-depth analytics

With RCS marketing, you can track open rates, button clicks, and how people interact with each part of your message.

You get clear visibility into what’s working and where users are dropping off.

This makes it much easier to measure the return on investment (ROI) and fine-tune your campaigns. The more you understand how people engage, the better you can shape your messaging for results.

4. Higher conversion potential

RCS marketing makes it easier for customers to take action — whether that’s browsing products, booking a service, or making a purchase — all within the message itself.

With fewer clicks and no need to switch apps, the path to conversion feels effortless. And when it’s that easy, more people follow through.

For example, EaseMyTrip used RCS to run a post-COVID travel survey. They added quick-tap answer options and followed up with a thank-you coupon. The campaign saw a 4x higher click-through rate than email, 10x more survey completions, and a 2.7% increase in conversion rate.

5 major use cases of RCS marketing

Here are five major use cases showing how brands are using RCS marketing effectively.

1. Product promotions

RCS makes product promotions feel more like browsing a store than reading a message. Brands can send image carousels that customers can swipe through to explore new arrivals, check product details, and see what’s available without leaving their messaging app.

Verified RCS message highlights a 25% off promotion on all items — Verified RCS message from Daily-donuts

Example: A fashion retailer promoting its spring collection could send an RCS message featuring a carousel of outfits with styled images, prices, and buttons like “View Lookbook” or “Shop Now.”

Tapping a button could open a mini product page inside the chat, letting customers browse and buy without switching apps.

2. Abandoned cart reminders

The average cart abandonment rate is over 70%, which means most shoppers never make it to the finish line. RCS marketing can help bring them back by making the reminder more engaging and easier to act on.

You can send a message that shows exactly what they left behind, along with a clear button to complete the purchase. It’s visual, straightforward, and the entire experience stays within their messaging app.

Example: A home electronics store could follow up with customers who left a pair of wireless earbuds in their cart. The RCS message might include a product photo, the price, and a “Buy Now” button that takes them straight to checkout.

3. Appointment confirmations and reminders

A PhD thesis from Manchester Metropolitan University found that forgetfulness is the most common reason people skip their appointments.

RCS makes it easier for both businesses and customers to stay on the same page. You can send a message that shows the appointment details along with a simple calendar view. Add buttons to confirm, reschedule, or cancel — all within the chat.

Image depicting an interactive RCS booking confirmation message — Booking confirmation via RCS with quick action buttons

Example: A dental clinic could use RCS to remind patients of upcoming cleanings. The message might show the date, time, and location of the appointment, plus a “Confirm” button and options to “Reschedule” or “Cancel.”

Patients can respond instantly, helping the clinic manage its schedule more efficiently.

4. Customer surveys and feedback

Getting feedback is important, but most customers lack the time or patience to complete lengthy forms. RCS marketing makes it easier by allowing brands to ask short, targeted questions and receive quick responses.

Plus, the rich features of RCS let you include images, ratings, or multiple-choice options, making feedback feel more like a conversation.

Example: A restaurant could send an RCS message after a meal asking customers to rate their experience with simple buttons like “Excellent,” “Good,” or “Needs Improvement.”

The message might also include a photo of the dish they ordered and a quick question like, “What did you like most?” This quick interaction makes it easy for customers to respond and gives the restaurant valuable insights.

5. Customer support follow-ups

After a support request is resolved, following up shows customers you care and helps close the loop on their experience. But if the follow-up message gets buried in an email inbox or goes unnoticed, that opportunity to connect is lost.

With RCS marketing, you can send a quick message to check if everything’s working fine. You can include helpful buttons like “Change Password,” “Manage Account,” or “Talk to Support.”

Support bot provides instant replies and follow-ups for customer queries — AI-powered support for account management

RCS marketing myths and realities

Despite RCS marketing’s growing adoption and proven results, some common misconceptions still hold businesses back from trying it. Let’s look at a few of the biggest myths and what’s actually true.

Myth 1: RCS marketing is too expensive

At first glance, RCS business messaging can seem like a pricey upgrade. Rich visuals, tap-to-action buttons, and branded layouts look premium, so it’s easy to assume they come with a hefty cost.

But cost alone doesn’t tell the full story.

What you get in return matters more. RCS drives significantly stronger engagement with higher click-through rates, increased interactions, and better overall outcomes.

Take Club Comex, the loyalty program of North American paint brand Comex. They sent two rich and interactive RCS campaigns to their members and saw a 10x higher click-through rate, which helped increase revenue by 115%.

That’s the value side of the equation. Better targeting and richer content mean more people click, engage, and convert.

Myth 2: RCS marketing doesn’t reach enough users to be worth it

This concern made sense in the early days of RCS, when adoption was still catching up. But the landscape looks very different now.

In June 2024, the 12-month growth of RCS users reached 36.3%, showing faster uptake than other messaging channels. More Android devices support RCS by default, and it’s being rolled out across more networks globally. Even Apple has announced support, which means RCS is on track to reach a massive number of smartphone users worldwide.

With that kind of growth and widespread support, the hesitation around RCS is starting to fade. Brands can confidently invest in RCS marketing knowing it will connect with more customers than ever before.

Myth 3: RCS gets treated like spam and ends up ignored just like emails

Unlike email, RCS messages appear directly in the user’s primary messaging app alongside personal conversations. They include rich media and interactive elements, making them more engaging and less likely to be ignored.

This creates a more natural, conversational experience that drives higher open and response rates than traditional marketing channels.

Why choose Plivo for your RCS marketing needs

With RCS, you can turn simple messages into rich, branded conversations that feel more like chatting than broadcasting.

Plivo gives you the tools to make that shift without the hassle. From verified messaging to smart automation, everything works together to help you connect better and respond faster.

When combined with AI Agents and a unified customer data platform, RCS becomes more than just messaging. You can deliver personalized experiences at scale, automate everyday interactions, and keep conversations flowing without lifting a finger.

Here’s what you get with Plivo’s RCS API:

Real-time personalization: AI Agents tailor conversations using customer profiles and behavior triggers to improve engagement and conversions.
Multi-channel fallback: If RCS isn’t supported, messages automatically switch to SMS to ensure delivery and maintain consistent communication.
Conversational automation: AI Agents handle FAQs, process orders, schedule deliveries, and route complex queries within RCS.
All-in-one messaging platform: Manage RCS, SMS, WhatsApp, Voice, and more from a single dashboard.
Reliable performance: 99.99% uptime and global infrastructure keep your campaigns running smoothly.

With Plivo’s no-code tools, you can quickly launch AI-powered RCS messaging across channels and deliver a consistent customer experience from day one.

See how you can launch your first RCS marketing campaign with Plivo by requesting a demo today!

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Jul 12, 2022

5 mins

How to send an ETA notification using Plivo Python and Flask

Send ETA alerts and notifications using Python and Flask

Python SDK

SMS API

How To

Overview

Today, many people order products online and have them delivered. Many retail businesses provide consumers with updates on the estimated time of arrival (ETA) for their orders. You can use the Plivo Python SDK and the Flask framework to create an order, recognize when the order status changes, and send users an SMS notification with the latest ETA. We’ve created some demo code you can use as a template or to see how to incorporate these tasks into your own applications.

Prerequisites

To get started, you need a Plivo account — sign up with your work email address if you don’t have one already. To send messages to the United States and Canada, you must have a Plivo phone number that supports SMS; you can rent numbers from the Numbers page of the Plivo console or by using the Numbers API. If this is your first time using Plivo APIs, follow our instructions to set up a Python development environment.

How does it work?

Our code examples cover three steps of the order and delivery process.

A user places an order from a web application on their desktop or a mobile app. The order application reports an initial ETA to the consumer.
The retailer processes the order and updates its system when the ordered item is handed off to a delivery service.
When the order is delivered, the service updates the delivery status again.

In the first two steps of the process, the program must calculate an updated ETA to communicate with the consumer.

For purposes of this demo we’ve put all three functions into one program, but in the real world they might be in three different applications.

Set up the demo application locally

Clone the demo application repository from GitHub.

git clone https://github.com/plivo/ETA-notifications-flask.git

Change your working directory to 2fa-python-demo.

cd ETA-notification-flask

Install the dependencies using the requirements.txt file.

pip install -r requirements.txt

Edit .env. Replace the auth placeholders with your authentication credentials from the Plivo console. Replace the phone number placeholder with an actual phone number in E.164 format (for example, +12025551234).

A review of the code

Let’s walk through what the code does.

First, a user enters their name and phone number in an order form. (In a real application, information about the item being ordered, the delivery location, and other information would also be included.) This code adds the order to a database. This application doesn’t send any SMS message.

@app.route('/add/orders', methods=['POST'])
def add_orders():
    customer_name = request.form.get('name')
    phone_number = request.form.get('phone_number')
    order = Order(customer_name=customer_name,
                  customer_phone_number=phone_number)
    db.session.add(order)
    db.session.commit()
    return redirect(url_for('order_index'))

Later, someone at the company updates the order status, either by making a change through a user interface, as we show here, or via an automatic update from other software, such as a shipping application. Code on the back end calculates an updated ETA, and this code then sends an SMS message to the customer with the new time.

@app.route('/order/<order_id>/pickup', methods=['POST'])
def order_pickup(order_id):
    order = Order.query.get(order_id)
    order.status = 'Shipped'
    order.notification_status = 'queued'
    db.session.commit()

    callback_url = request.base_url.replace('/pickup', '') + '/notification/status/update'
    send_sms_notification(order.customer_phone_number,
                          'Your package is on its way —
                           ETA ' + now.strftime("%d/%m/%Y %H:%M:%S"),
                          callback_url)

    return redirect(url_for('order_show', order_id=order_id))

Similar code handles notification of package delivery.

@app.route('/order/<order_id>/deliver', methods=['POST'])
def order_deliver(order_id):
    order = Order.query.get(order_id)
    order.status = 'Delivered'
    order.notification_status = 'queued'
    db.session.commit()

    callback_url = request.base_url.replace('/deliver', '') + '/notification/status/update'
    send_sms_notification(order.customer_phone_number,
                          'Your package was delivered '+ now.strftime("%d/%m/%Y %H:%M:%S"), callback_url)

    return redirect(url_for('order_index'))

Along with the order status, the status of the sent message is also updated, which is referred to via the callback url in this code.

Test

Save your code and run it.

flask run

Set up ngrok to expose your local server to the internet.

You should be able to see the application in action at https://.ngrok.io/.

Note: If you’re using a Plivo Trial account, you can send messages and make calls only to phone numbers that have been verified with Plivo. You can verify (sandbox) a number by going to the console’s Phone Numbers > Sandbox Numbers page.

Haven’t tried Plivo yet? Getting started is easy and only takes minutes. Sign up today.

Jul 8, 2022

5 mins

15 Survey Questions to Measure Customer Satisfaction

Customer satisfaction surveys help businesses to evaluate their performance in serving their customers. Find the best CSAT survey questions here!

Customer Experience

Customer Satisfaction

15 Survey Questions to Measure Customer Satisfaction

With the incredible number of products for consumers to choose from, creating customer satisfaction and customer loyalty has never been more important for B2C businesses.

One of the best ways to measure how your customers are feeling is through the use of a customer satisfaction survey, or CSAT survey for short.

What is a Customer Satisfaction Survey?

As the name implies, a customer satisfaction survey (or CSAT survey for short) is an invaluable way for businesses to measure how satisfied their users are with the products or services that have been provided, while gaining insights into any points of friction that said users may experience.

These surveys are an essential piece of the puzzle when it comes to remaining relevant and competitive in a world where the customer is king.

Importance of Customer Satisfaction Surveys

Did you know that the acquisition cost of new customers is nearly 5 times more expensive than the cost of retaining an existing customer? Or that 1 in 3 customers will leave a business they love after a single bad experience? Gathering and understanding customer feedback is an essential ingredient when it comes to growing your business and building a loyal customer base.

Customer satisfaction surveys allow businesses to do exactly that—by understanding the hurdles that your customers have faced when it comes to your product or service, you are able to reduce friction and create repeat customers.

Different Types of Customer Satisfaction Surveys

Customer satisfaction surveys can be broken up into four main categories: Customer Satisfaction Score (CSAT), Net Promoter Score (NPS), Product-Market Fit (PMF), and Customer Effort Score (CES). Let’s take a moment to review each of these different types of surveys, and when your organization might want to utilize them.

Customer Satisfaction Score (CSAT)

CSAT surveys provide a scaled measurement of a customer’s satisfaction and/or experience with your team or product.

You should utilize CSAT surveys at different touchpoints in your customer’s journey with your business, such as after a purchase or a support request’s completion, to understand their overall satisfaction with their experience.

Net Promoter Score (NPS)

NPS surveys ask customers to provide answers to questions on a scale of 0-10 to determine a refined customer loyalty score on a scale of -100 to 100.

This is achieved by evaluating numerical responses tied to customer satisfaction and categorizing them into three groups:

Detractors (0-6)
Passive (7-8)
Promoter (9-10)

From here, simply add the submitted scores to the following formula to find your NPS score:

(% of Promoter scores) – (% of Detractor scores) = Overall NPS score

This type of survey is best utilized by mature products and teams looking to collect specific feedback that can be incorporated into product or service changes intended to enhance the overall customer experience.

Product-Market Fit (PMF)

A PMF survey is a customer satisfaction survey that provides an indication of whether or not your product has achieved product-market fit or not by asking users how they would feel if they could no longer use your product on a scale of “not disappointed” to “very disappointed”.

This type of survey is commonly used by newer products that are not yet far enough along to utilize an NPS survey.

Customer Effort Score (CES)

This type of survey measures the perceived effort required from the user to accomplish an action with regards to your product or service.

You will commonly find this type of survey used to gain an understanding of how your company might reduce customer friction by removing obstacles they have experienced when utilizing your product or service.

Best Customer Satisfaction Survey Questions

Now that we’ve covered some of the different types of customer satisfaction surveys you might use, let’s talk about some of the best CSAT survey questions you might include when seeking feedback from your users, broken down by category.

Customer satisfaction questions specific to agents

The questions covered in this category can be used to measure how satisfied your customers are with the assistance they have received from your customer support team.

Were we able to resolve your questions or concerns with our product?
Were we able to resolve your questions or concerns in a timely manner?
How much effort were you required to put into finding a resolution for your problem?
How did we compare to your expectations?
How responsive have we been to your questions or concerns?

The responses you receive to these CSAT survey questions will allow your support team to improve upon future customer interactions.

Customer satisfaction questions specific to service channels

The CSAT survey questions included here can be used to measure how well you accommodate users requesting support via a specific service channel.

What is your preferred channel to receive customer support through?
Was this your first time receiving support via [service channel]?
How intuitive was your service experience through [service channel]?
What other channels have you enjoyed receiving support through?
What could we have done differently to enhance your customer experience on this channel?

By evaluating the responses you receive for the above customer satisfaction survey questions, you can determine which service channels your customers most prefer and allocate additional time, training, agents, and resources towards them.

Customer satisfaction questions specific to the product or service

The below survey questions can be used to evaluate your customer’s satisfaction with your product or service.

How satisfied are you with our product / service?
How likely are you to recommend our product / service to a friend or colleague?
How well does our product meet your needs?
If you could recommend one improvement to our product / service, what would it be?
How would you rate the value versus price of our product?

By evaluating the responses your customers leave about your product or service, you can evaluate which features your users care most about to gain valuable insight into your target audience’s preferences.

Best Practices: Keeping in mind the objective and length of the survey

When creating a customer satisfaction survey to share with your users, it’s important to keep in mind both the specific objective of the survey and the length of the survey.

Most people don’t enjoy filling out surveys. People do, however, respond well when they know that their contribution can make a difference. By having a clearly defined objective in mind when creating your CSAT survey, you can decide which questions are most important to ask, exclude unnecessary filler, and encourage user participation all while respecting your customer’s time.

How PlivoCX helps teams to enhance customer service

PlivoCX is cloud contact center software for B2C teams built with customer and agent satisfaction in mind. With Contacto, agent teams are supported by helpful automations, a unified desktop, and an omnichannel experience to exceed consumer needs and create happy customers and agents alike.

If you’re looking to keep up with the demands of the new era of support operations, we’re here to help.

Book a demo with our sales team, and we’ll help you find the right solution for your team’s needs.

Jun 28, 2022

5 mins

Practical Benefits of SIP Trunking

SIP trunk benefits you didn’t know about. Get detailed information on advantages of SIP trunking at Plivo.

SIP Trunking

Despite the fact that everyone nowadays carries a personal cellphone, business phones aren’t going away — but they are changing. Like many services, business telephony is moving to the cloud, thanks to technology like SIP trunking, which offers businesses advantages such as quick provisioning, low costs, and no equipment to procure or maintain.

It’s a big change from the way business telephony used to run. In the good old days before the internet was everywhere — say, 1990 — telephone calls ran over copper wires from customer premises to analog switches in carrier central offices. If you ran a business and wanted to give your employees individual phones, you installed equipment called a private branch exchange (PBX). The phone company would run a line from their network to a punchdown block in a wiring closet at your location, and your technical team would run internal wiring to employees’ cubicles and drop fancy phones on top of their desks. Together the phones and the PBX supported advanced features like call hold and call forwarding. At least they were advanced compared to what people could do with their home phones.

The World Wide Web was invented in 1993, and within a few years it was clear that the internet was going to be a global network that could connect everyone and everything — including phones. Voice and video traffic could cross the network by using networking protocols like Internet Protocol (IP). The advent of voice over IP (VoIP) led to the development of the IP PBX, a hardware box (either a purpose-built device or a general-purpose server running software such as Asterisk, the first open source IP PBX) that translated between circuit-switching telephone calls and packet-switching networks.

What is SIP trunking?

Let’s start with the first part of this phrase: SIP.

For network devices to communicate, they have to agree on common data and transmission formats, or protocols. The Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) was developed to provide a common way for devices and applications to initiate, maintain, and terminate real-time multimedia sessions involving voice and video. Simply put, SIP enables communication over the internet. It sets up, modifies, and terminates communication sessions.

The second part of the phrase, trunking, refers to the consolidation of multiple communication channels into a single, logical connection. Historically, a trunk line is the cable that brings phone service to a building. Today, trunks are virtual, running over the same network as a company’s data.

SIP trunking is a modern, cost-effective, and flexible way to handle business communications. It's a key component of many VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) systems.

6 benefits of SIP trunking

SIP trunking delivers a range of business benefits. Here are just a few to keep in mind as you explore this solution for your company.

Flexibility

With SIP trunking, businesses can add numbers easily whenever they need them, and each number can make and receive unlimited local and long-distance calls. Compared to traditional Primary Rate Interface (PRI) solutions, which use 23 voice channels, SIP trunking can use just one channel. As a result, you will only pay for what you use, and can increase or decrease your bandwidth easily with SIP.

Scalability

You can add as many numbers as you need and drop them when the need goes away. Businesses that need to scale to meet seasonal demand or that plan to scale their infrastructure as they grow can benefit from not having to invest in new hardware or software.

Mobility

Employees can make or receive calls from wherever they work, whether in-office, remotely, or a hybrid of the two. An SIP endpoint can move to almost any device, so employees can be reached in the office or working from a coffee shop.

Manageability

No more waiting on hold to reach a representative. SIP trunking and VoIP phones typically offer self-service options and on-site support, with instructions to help adjust call routing, change extensions, or add new lines. Ultimately, managing SIP trunks is much easier and less time-consuming.

Cost savings

SIP trunking is cost-effective, especially with Plivo. Businesses pay a small monthly fee and less than a penny a minute (in the US; pricing varies by country) for outgoing voice calls. That’s less than the cost of a call on a number leased from a phone company.

SIP trunking offers another cost advantage—no hardware is necessary. Any network device with a microphone and speakers can act as a softphone. That saves companies the cost of procuring and maintaining telephones, though if you prefer to have a separate device for phone calls, you can buy SIP handsets.

Virtual local presence

You can use SIP phone numbers with any area code and exchange that your provider offers. You can appear to be a local caller to your customers, boosting trust and increasing familiarity with your brand. Even if you’re far away, it’s possible to connect through a virtual local presence.

SIP advantages go beyond the ones on this list. You can create SIP endpoints that let you invoke custom functionality when you make or receive calls. Any Plivo application can implement the logic needed to control a registered SIP phone. Read our documentation to get a feel for how that works.

Drawbacks to SIP trunking

Ready to jump into SIP trunking with both feet? Just be aware of a couple of potential drawbacks.

With SIP trunking, if your network goes down, so does your phone system. You can use an old-school PRI (Primary Rate Interface) as a backup option, but weigh the costs and benefits. If your network is 99.9% stable during business hours, you might not want to pay for phone lines you never use.

Another disadvantage is that SIP traffic is network traffic, and if your network is already congested, you may worsen your problems. However, bandwidth is cheap nowadays, so you can solve that problem by simply increasing your bandwidth at an affordable rate.

Use cases: SIP trunking in different industries

SIP trunking is used by financial institutions, healthcare providers, retailers and other businesses to facilitate communication and stick to a budget. Here’s a few use cases to demonstrate how real-world businesses utilize SIP trunking.

Retail

Retailers use SIP trunking to support omnichannel customer experiences. By enabling seamless communication across different channels, retailers can improve customer service and boost customer satisfaction through improved call handling, efficient order processing, and streamlined support interactions. Likewise, features like call routing, voicemail-to-email, and CRM integration contribute to increased productivity and sales.

Healthcare

SIP trunking allows healthcare providers to offer better patient care. Medical staff can communicate seamlessly to share medical records, schedule appointments, and host remote consultations. Healthcare organizations can consolidate voice and data services to reduce expenses, directing more resources toward patient outcomes. Plus, features like unified communications empower medical professionals to collaborate effectively, improving overall productivity.

Financial institutions

Banks, lenders, and other financial institutions can use SIP trunking to deliver secure, reliable communication. Financial firms can achieve substantial cost savings by eliminating the need for multiple phone lines and associated hardware. Furthermore, unified communication tools enhance team collaboration, accelerate decision-making, and improve overall efficiency.

Get Plivo’s solution for SIP trunking

Zentrunk, Plivo’s SIP trunking service, is a popular option for businesses of all sizes. Zentrunk ’s cloud-based, so acquiring or managing any hardware on-prem is unnecessary. Zentrunk offers guaranteed call quality, high uptime, and unlimited concurrent calls. You can purchase and instantly provision SIP numbers for inbound calls in dozens of countries on every continent (except Antarctica), and make calls from your SIP numbers to virtually everywhere on Earth.

Ready to try Zentrunk? Dive into our Quickstart guide, sign up for a Plivo account, and start connecting with the world.

Jun 22, 2022

5 mins

Zapier Integration — Send MMS Messages Using Plivo and Zapier

Zapier Integration Learn how to send MMS messages using Plivo and Zapier via a Google Forms example.

Integrations

MMS API

Zapier, an online automation tool that connects applications, lets you integrate Plivo with other applications to send SMS text messages after a specified event. Until recently Plivo could only send SMS messages through Zapier, but we’ve added MMS functionality, so you can now trigger messages that send audio, image, or video along with some text.

Let’s see how to use Plivo with Zapier integration to send MMS messages. For our example we’ll send an MMS message upon successful registration for an event in a Google Form.

Step 1: Create a Google Form

Create a Google Form that lets people register for an event. The form can have several fields — name, email address, phone number, and company name. Also specify the name of a Google Sheet to hold the information that’s captured when someone submits the form.

Step 2: Specify a trigger

Open Zapier and click Create Zap. Specify Google Forms as the trigger application. Choose “New Response in Spreadsheet” as the trigger event, then click Continue.

If you haven’t done so already, connect your Google account with Zapier, then specify the spreadsheet and worksheet that holds your form information. Click Continue, then test the trigger.

Step 3: Specify an action

Once you’ve successfully specified the trigger, Zapier takes you back to the Zap setup screen, where you can specify the action to take when the trigger fires. Click on or specify Plivo, then choose Send MMS as the event and click Continue. If you haven’t done so already, connect your Plivo account with Zapier by copying your Auth ID and Auth Token from the console and pasting them into the authentication popup. Click Continue.

Next, set up the action by specifying values for source and destination numbers, the text to be sent in the message, and URLs for the media you want to send. The source or from number must be a US or Canada number, because the Plivo SMS API supports sending MMS messages only from those countries. Choose an MMS-enabled number from the numbers you have registered on the console. Fetch the destination number from the Phone Number field of your Google Form, or rather that column in the Google Sheet that holds the data. Finally, click Continue.

Ta-da!🎉 You’ve created a Zap to send an MMS message whenever someone registers through your form. Test it out to make sure it works the way you want it to.

You can use a similar process to send MMS messages for other events, such as birthday reminders, employee anniversaries, successful sales deals, and product debuts. You can also set triggers from any application Zapier integration supports, such as Google Calendar, an email marketing application, or a social media platform.

Haven’t tried Plivo yet? Getting started is easy and only takes minutes. Sign up today.

Jun 17, 2022

5 mins

How To Increase Revenue By Improving Agent Satisfaction

Agent satisfaction is often overlooked by modern businesses when it comes to increasing their revenue. Learn how agent satisfaction can impact a business.

Customer Experience

Customer Satisfaction

Businesses are so often focused on satisfying the customer that they chip away agent satisfaction in the process. It’s no secret that customer satisfaction and employee satisfaction are very much connected, but what does this actually mean?

Glassdoor’s 2020 Economic Research report revealed that companies with highly satisfied employees are more likely to have high customer satisfaction scores, a stat that holds especially true in industries with higher levels of customer contact.

Taking the necessary steps to improve your contact center agents’ satisfaction levels within your company will increase their loyalty to the team, leading to more dedicated and successful agents and customers.

What is agent satisfaction?

Agent satisfaction is the measure of how satisfied or dissatisfied employees in an organization are. Businesses that actively measure employee job satisfaction are able to track employee motivation, productivity, and loyalty to their organization.

So why is agent satisfaction so important to understand, and what does this mean for modern B2C teams?

Importance of agent satisfaction in modern business

It’s often said that the customer is king, and rightfully so—prioritizing the needs of your customers is a surefire strategy to increase revenue. Which is exactly why agent satisfaction is important.

Agents that are not satisfied with their employer contribute to high agent absenteeism and turnover, and are unlikely to provide the same quality support to customers that a satisfied agent would.

Businesses that emphasize agent satisfaction by prioritizing the needs of their employees can drive positive improvements in customer satisfaction, while reducing agent turnover and agent absenteeism.

Taking into consideration the correlation between customer satisfaction and contact center agent job satisfaction, you can begin to see why agent satisfaction is important and how it can grow revenue for your business.

How to measure agent satisfaction

There are several ways to measure your team’s happiness in their work, but the easiest method is to use the Employee Satisfaction Index (ESI). This index is determined by assigning a numerical value (1-10) to three simple survey questions:

How satisfied are you with your current workplace?
How well does your current workplace meet your expectations?
How close is your current workplace to the ideal?

Once you have the answers to these questions, you can calculate your ESI with the following formula:

ESI= [((question mean value ÷ 3) – 1) ÷9]*100

The higher the number, the more satisfied your agents are in the workplace.

Surveying employees allows you to understand how your agents really feel about their job, and gives you the opportunity to meet them where they are.

Agent satisfaction isn’t a static metric, and is sure to change over time—it’s important that your organization keeps a consistent pulse on employee engagement and takes active measures to improve upon this engagement, as this will inevitably grow revenue.

Impact of agent satisfaction on revenue and profitability

Let’s take a look at a few statistics showing the impact of agent satisfaction on revenue, and how highly-satisfied agents can contribute to your business’ profitability:

A happy agent is a dedicated agent—business units made up of highly engaged employees are more present and provide a better experience to the customer. 94% of consumers who have a good support experience are “very likely” to repurchase from a company.
As we mentioned earlier, happy agents make for happy customers, and increasing customer retention rates by 5% canincrease profitability by up to 95%.
Prioritizing your contact center employee’s job satisfaction will reduce agent absenteeism and agent turnover. In 2020, the cost of replacing an agent (screening, recruiting, interviewing, and training) exceeded $12,000.
In 2019, Harvard Business Review calculated that a one-star improvement in Glassdoor employer ratings yielded anywhere between a 7-18% increase in long-term market valuation.

How to improve agent satisfaction

With the understanding of why agent satisfaction is important and how happier agents result in increased revenue, we next need to look at how your business can measure and improve upon your agent’s satisfaction.

Here we’ve outlined a few of the methods you can use to measure and improve your contact center team’s happiness:

A place to hang your hat (Agent retention)
Making an agent feel welcome isn’t something that should only be reserved for their first day on the job. Creating a continuous program to build a team that feels like a family will build agent loyalty and increase agent retention.
How can we help you? (Agent surveys)
Surveys aren’t only meant for customers! Surveying your agents on an annual or semi-annual basis can build an open and recurring feedback loop with management and identify friction points before they become a problem.
Walk before you run (Comprehensive training)
Another key driver in keeping contact center agents satisfied is the number of training and coaching hours that they receive. Equip your agents with all of the necessary tools to excel, and you’ll see a marked improvement in morale.
Reap the rewards of great service (Reward your agents for excellent performance)
Communicating with customers isn’t always easy—be sure to reward your agents that go above and beyond in customer communications with prizes, an extra vacation day, promotions, or some other incentive for a job well done.
Make yourself at home (Let your agents work from home)
Many working professionals have grown accustomed to working from home since COVID-19 reshaped the way businesses operated back in 2020, and contact center agents are no exception. A Pipkins research report showed that agents who work from home have a retention rate that is 55% higher than those working from an office.

Improve agent satisfaction and increase revenue with PlivoCX

PlivoCX is cloud contact center software for B2C teams built with agent satisfaction in mind. With Contacto, agent teams are supported by helpful automations, a unified desktop, and an omnichannel experience to exceed consumer needs and create happy customers and agents alike.

If you’re looking to keep up with the demands of the new era of support operations, we’re here to help.

Book a demo with our sales team, and we’ll help you find the right solution for your team’s needs.

Jun 14, 2022

5 mins

How to Handle SMS and Voice Communications Using Go

Send and receive SMS text messages and make and receive voice calls with Go, the Plivo Go SDK, and Plivo APIs.

Go SDK

Voice API

SMS API

How To

Jun 13, 2022

5 mins

How to Handle SMS and Voice Communications Using Java

Send and receive SMS text messages and make and receive voice calls with Java, the Plivo Java SDK, and Plivo APIs.

Java SDK

Voice API

SMS API

How To

Jun 10, 2022

5 mins

CNAM Mapping Made Simple

CNAM Support: Learn how to specify a caller ID name for your business using the Plivo console.

Phone Numbers

Consumers like to know who’s calling them before they decide whether to answer a ringing phone. Calls from unfamiliar sources could be time-wasters — the verbal equivalent of spam email. Carriers help customers identify callers by providing caller ID, a published standard for identifying call origins.

Originating carriers include caller ID information when calls are initiated. It’s up to receiving carriers to associate a caller ID with a caller ID name, or CNAM. In the US, carriers can do this by querying a line information database (LIDB) — a public repository that associates phone numbers with names.

Plivo makes CNAM mapping easy

Plivo lets you specify a CNAM record for any and all of your phone numbers and publishes it for you to the LIDB, so all carriers can report your company name along with caller ID number information.

To map a CNAM for your organization to one or all of your Plivo phone numbers, go to the Phone Numbers page of the Plivo console. Tick the phone numbers you’re interested in providing a name for, then click on the Choose Action dropdown and choose Add CNAM. Enter a name (up to 15 characters) and click Submit CNAM. The numbers’ CNAM status on the console will change to “In Progress” while we submit the information to an LIDB. Within a short time the numbers’ status will change to show whether your submission was a success, partial success, or a failure.

Plivo makes the CNAM mapping process as quick and easy as possible; the less time you spend mapping, the more time you can spend bringing value to your customers.

Credibility through CNAM

Call recipients are more likely to answer a name they recognize. The CNAM you provide should fairly represent your organization and give credibility to the call. You can use your business or brand name, but CNAM can be no more than 15 characters long, including spaces, and special characters are not supported.

CNAM builds trust with the carriers as well. When you register your name you make sure it’s accurate, and carriers will be less likely to filter your calls as spam.

CNAM isn’t the only tool available for making sure people know who’s calling them. Within the last year the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has directed US carriers to implement STIR/SHAKEN, a framework that represents how confident a service provider is in that the number’s owner is truly the one placing the call. That means call recipients should receive caller IDs along with the word “verified” directly below it when calls from the numbers they purport to be. Unverified calls might have their caller IDs spoofed, meaning the caller is pretending to be someone they aren’t, usually for no good purpose.

Between CNAM registration and STIR/SHAKEN attestation, your call recipients can be confident that calls from your organization are really from you, and should be more willing to engage with your business.

Don’t wait

Head over to the console and start mapping your CNAM to your numbers now.

Jun 9, 2022

5 mins

How to Handle SMS and Voice Communications Using PHP

Send and receive SMS text messages and make and receive voice calls with PHP, the Plivo PHP SDK, and Plivo APIs.

PHP SDK

SMS API

Voice API

How To

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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

AI Voice Agents for Real Estate (2026): 10 Tools Compared, Real Limitations and What Actually Scales

Top 10 AI Voice Agents for Real Estate (2026)

1. Plivo

2. Luron AI

3. Callers AI

4. SquadStack AI

5. Telgent

6. AIOnCalls

7. Brilo AI

8. VocalDesk

9. Calldock

10. Ylopo

What Matters Most in AI Voice Agents (Beyond the Basics)

1. Telephony Ownership vs. Vendor Stitching

2. Real-Time Performance (Latency & Uptime)

3. Multi-Channel Context, Not Disconnected Bots

4. Integration Depth (CRM, Calendars, Workflows)

5. Built for Scale, Not Just Launch

FAQs

What's the fastest way to go live without breaking existing operations?

How do I ensure voice quality doesn't feel robotic or laggy?

How does the agent stay accurate and compliant with real estate data?

What happens when call volume spikes or multiple leads call at once?

How does this fit into my CRM and follow-up workflows?

Try Plivo Free

Best AI Voice Agents for Customer Support and Service (2026): What to Deploy Now

1) Plivo — The fastest path to production-grade AI voice agents for customer support

Why Plivo is #1

What it does for you

Segment-by-segment fit

Start with Voice, go everywhere

Suitable for

2) Google Dialogflow CX — Complex, branching flows without spaghetti

Key features

Why it matters

Implementation steps

Suitable for

3) Amazon Lex + Amazon Connect — AWS-first voice automation that ops can own

Key features

Why it matters

Implementation steps

Suitable for

4) IBM Watson Assistant — Governance-first deployments in regulated industries

Key features

Why it matters

Implementation steps

Suitable for

5) Cognigy.AI — IVR modernization with fine-grained voice control