Voice commerce is a $421.7 billion opportunity.

Yes, more than 27% of U.S. consumers made online payments with voice assistants instead of manually browsing multiple screens and navigating the checkout process. Devices like Amazon Echo, Google Home, and Samsung SmartThings now act as virtual shopping assistants.

With the number of voice search users anticipated to reach 157.1 million by 2026, voice commerce opens up a faster purchasing channel. For businesses, this means a higher conversion rate, stronger sales, and streamlined customer support.

In this blog post, we’ll explore voice commerce, how it works, and its benefits for your business.

What is voice commerce?

Voice commerce, or v-commerce, is a technology-driven shopping experience that allows customers to search for, purchase, and manage orders using voice commands. It reduces the reliance on screens and keyboards during the buying process.

The technology relies on two components: smart speakers that convert speech into digital commands and AI assistants that interpret these commands and take action. Customers can shop hands-free while cooking, driving, or multitasking.

How does voice commerce work?

The process starts when your customer speaks a command into voice-enabled devices. While it seems simple on the surface (the customer speaks and the device responds), the technology performs several steps to complete each task. These steps include:

• Converting speech to actionable data: Your customer's spoken command gets captured and converted to text through automatic speech recognition (ASR) algorithms. For example, when they say "buy new headphones," the system captures each word.
• Understanding customer intent: The system analyzes this text to understand what your customer wants. It breaks down the command to identify the action (buying) and the product (headphones). This involves natural language processing (NLP) to interpret the meaning behind the words.
• Finding the right products: Once the system understands the intent, it searches your product database or online store for relevant items. It pulls up matching products, prices, and availability.
• Creating the right response: Then, the system creates a response based on its findings. If multiple headphone options exist, it might ask for more specifics about the price range or features your customer wants.
• Completing transaction: The customer can then confirm their choice, and the system completes the transaction — adding headphones to the cart, processing payment, or scheduling the delivery.

When you implement voice commerce for your business, pay attention to the following:

• Speech recognition must handle different accents and background noise.
• Your product database needs clear categorization for accurate matching.
• Response systems should sound natural while providing accurate information.

Plivo’s AI voice agent makes integrating voice commerce simple. The platform combines three models: speech-to-text (STT) to convert customer voice to text, large language models (LLM) to understand customer intent, and text-to-speech (TTS) for natural responses.

Here's how an interaction with Plivo’s AI voice agent flows:

Customer: "I want to buy a new dress."

AI voice agent: "What style or color are you looking for?"

Customer: "A red cocktail dress."

AI voice agent: "We have red cocktail dresses in stock. What size do you need?"

Customer: "Medium."

AI voice agent: "Found a medium red cocktail dress. Ready to check out?"

Customer: "Yes."

AI voice agent: "Order confirmed. Delivery in three business days."

Each question narrows down options until the customer finds exactly what they want. The system handles real-time conversations with minimal latency and can process and respond to mid-speech interruptions.

Plus, you can train it on your product database and business rules to deliver relevant, contextual responses.

You also control the tech stack behind these interactions. Integrate Plivo with your preferred tools for speech recognition (like Deepgram), language processing (OpenAI), and voice generation (ElevenLabs).

Benefits of voice commerce for business

Let’s now look at what voice commerce means for your business.

Increased key sales metrics

Voice assistance commerce will claim nearly 30% of all e-commerce revenue by 2030. It directly impacts the sales metrics and drives growth through:

• Increased conversion rates: Instead of manually searching for items, customers have to speak to get instant tailored recommendations. This makes shopping more intuitive and reduces drop-offs, leading to a higher conversion rate.
• Reduced cart abandonment rates: Many customers abandon carts due to lengthy or complex checkout processes. Commands like “Buy this now” or “Complete my order” will reduce friction and promote seamless shopping experiences.
• Improved customer lifetime value (CLV): Simplified reordering of previous purchases increases sales frequency and long-term customer retention. Customers can simply say, “Reorder my protein powder” or “Buy the same shampoo as last time.”
  
  • Impact:
    
    • Reduces effort, making repurchasing quick and effortless
    • Customers stick with the brand due to convenience
    • More frequent purchases → Higher CLV

For example, Starbucks integrated voice ordering through Amazon's Alexa for customers to place orders via voice commands. This led to a 16% higher monthly revenue per user from customers who used the feature.

Reduced support cost

Voice commerce reduces support costs as it handles routine customer inquiries with ease. Your support team can focus on complex issues while the voice system manages common questions about order tracking, store hours, and product information.

The system operates 24/7, so customers get immediate answers without waiting for support staff. This self-service approach cuts call volumes and support queue times. Plus, voice assistants can manage multiple customer conversations simultaneously, eliminating additional staffing costs.

Improved customer experience

82% of customers report that personalization drives brand choice. With tailored recommendations and natural conversations, voice agents let customers connect with your brand on their terms.

For example, Domino's virtual voice ordering assistant, Dom, handles customized orders, suggests additions, and finds the best deals.

Beyond convenience, voice commerce helps collect direct customer feedback to improve your service. Customers can quickly share their thoughts through simple voice commands, helping you understand and address customer needs faster.

Challenges of voice commerce

Voice commerce brings three core challenges you need to consider.

Technological complexity

Voice commerce relies on expertise in NLP and voice recognition technology to get started. The system must accurately capture and convert voice commands to text, even with different accents and noisy backgrounds. Misinterpretations of customer queries can affect the entire brand's reputation and reduce customer satisfaction.

Invest in advanced NLP and machine learning algorithms to improve performance. Partnering with a voice-first vendor like Plivo gets the task done through high-quality, low-latency audio and context-aware interactions without a hitch.

Security concerns

Voice commerce shoppers often worry about their data being recorded, stored, and potentially shared with third parties since AI handles sensitive customer data.

This system requires extra security layers for data protection and purchase verification. Businesses must address potential vulnerabilities to prevent fraud or unauthorized access through sophisticated encryption techniques.

Integration challenges

Your voice platform must connect with your e-commerce infrastructure, inventory management, payment processing, and customer data systems. The system should also sync with your product database for accurate pricing, availability, and descriptions.

While platforms like PayPal support voice transactions, many payment systems and banks don't offer voice commerce capabilities yet.  This can slow implementation and limit your growth potential until more providers adopt voice technology.

Measures to make voice commerce the next big thing

Voice commerce relies on advanced technology, but making it right doesn’t have to be complicated. Let’s look at measures to ensure its success and drive customer engagement.

Boost discoverability with voice search SEO

Voice search behavior differs from text — your customers speak in full sentences of 6-10 words. They ask, "Show me high-performance running shoes under $100" instead of "running shoes." So, connect your catalog with search engines and optimize product descriptions for these longer, conversational searches.

With 18% of global consumers using voice shopping weekly, discoverability improves when you optimize for natural speech patterns.

Streamline purchases with voice-activated shopping

Set up quick voice checkout flows and minimize steps between product discovery and purchase.

Nike launched Adapt BB shoes through Google Assistant. Fans bought the entire stock in six minutes using voice commands during an NBA game halftime. The launch proved voice shopping can drive quick sales when you make purchasing effortless.

Deliver hassle-free support with voice AI

Train your voice AI on common customer issues. Build responses for tracking, returns, product specs, and shipping questions. Update the system with new products and policies. For example, 1-800-Flowers runs voice self-service for customers to track orders, change delivery details, and check FAQs. This support channel works 24/7, letting customers get help when they need it.

Track voice commerce performance

Set clear metrics for your voice channel and use insights to refine your strategy. Track voice-activated sales, search volume, and support requests. Monitor how voice affects customer behavior. Do they order more often? Place bigger orders? Buy different products?

Analyze patterns and optimize voice interactions to improve customer engagement and maximize ROI. Voice support cuts operational expenses, and self-service options reduce agent workload. This automated ordering speeds up sales processing.

Turn customer insights into smarter strategies

Update your voice features based on user needs. Fix common pain points, add requested features, and remove unused options.

Estée Lauder's voice-enabled makeup assistant (VMA) collects user input during key moments of the experience. Customers share thoughts through voice commands or the feedback menu. Their app updates reflect direct user feedback.

Voice commerce then, now, and beyond

From basic speech recognition to sophisticated shopping systems, voice commerce has evolved so much. Here’s a timeline of the evolution:

• IBM's 1961 "Shoebox" could understand just 16 spoken words.
• In 1971, Carnegie Mellon's "Harpy" system processed 1,000 words through DARPA funding.
• The real breakthrough came in the 1980s when Dragon Systems brought speech recognition to personal computers.
• The 2010s marked the shift to mainstream voice commerce adoption:
  
  • Apple's Siri (2011) introduced voice assistance to millions of iPhone users.
  • Amazon's Alexa voice assistant (2014) transformed voice shopping by connecting speech recognition with e-commerce.
  • Google Assistant (2016) joined the voice commerce market, driving competition and innovation.

Today, voice commerce is no longer used just for single-store transactions. Businesses can now integrate with multiple voice platforms — Alexa supports transactions for Walmart, Best Buy, 1-800-FLOWERS, and Starbucks. Customers only need to link their retail accounts to start voice shopping.

REI Co-op, Redbox, and eBags also use the platform to distribute deals and track orders.

Apple Store handles peer-to-peer payments through Siri. Walmart's mobile app tests hands-free shopping, order scheduling, and voice-based customer support.

The market shows strong growth potential. Research projects voice commerce to grow at a CAGR of 24.34% annually from 2024 to 2030. That means v-commerce is slowly becoming a necessity to stay competitive for businesses.

Explore voice commerce with Plivo’s AI voice agent

Launch, scale, and manage voice commerce through Plivo’s AI voice agent, which offers 99.99% uptime and 16kHz audio quality for clear conversations along with:

• Human-like interactions: Keep emotion and accent in conversations. Voice detection creates a natural conversation flow
• Context-aware responses: Provide relevant answers with AI that learns from your business knowledge base
• Flexible tech stack: Connect any STT, LLM, or TTS system
• Low-latency audio: Process conversations in real time with minimal delays
• Backup protection: Reroute networks reroute in under 2 seconds during outages
• Voice activity detection: Track speech onset and end for smooth conversations

Guide your customers through product selections, deliver personalized recommendations, and close sales on auto-pilot. Contact us to get started.

Natural language processing (NLP) works behind the scenes in places you might not even notice — filtering spam emails, customer service chatbots, and even accurate Netflix recommendations. It’s woven across industries and is rapidly evolving, with the market projected to hit 156.76 billion by 2030.

It's natural to wonder whether NLP is too complex or worth integrating into your systems. This guide offers five digestible NLP steps so you can understand how the technology works and whether it’s a good fit for your business.

What is NLP?

Simply put, NLP lets a machine understand, interpret, and respond to human language, written or spoken. It's the reason voice assistants listen to your commands, chatbots answer your queries, and search engines predict what you’re looking for even before you finish typing.

The NLP process is powered by two key components.

Natural language understanding (NLU) helps machines decode what humans mean, even if the content isn't totally clear. For example, customer support chatbots use NLU to recognize when a user is frustrated (based on words like “poor service” or “I need help now”) and escalate the issue appropriately.

Once the machine understands what the user is saying, natural language generation (NLG) generates a response in a way that sounds natural. Instead of just responding with pre-set phrases, the system personalizes the response based on the user’s request, offering logical next steps, similar to how a human agent would.

Here’s a quick rundown of the stages of NLP:

• Splits sentences into smaller chunks (tokenization in NLP) for easier processing.
• Identifies keywords, grammar, and structure to understand context.
• Detects names, dates, locations, and brands (e.g., virtual assistants retrieving order details).
• Determines if a message is a question, request, or complaint for accurate chatbot/voice assistant responses.
• Assesses tone and emotions to gauge customer satisfaction in chats.

To better understand NLP techniques, let’s go through the most common everyday NLP applications.

Most common everyday NLP applications

Along with autocorrecting and filtering spam emails, NLP is most commonly used in the following use cases:

• Chatbots and virtual assistants: NLP enables AI chatbots in customer service to understand and respond to human language, improving customer support and user engagement. These virtual assistants handle tasks like answering FAQs, scheduling appointments, and providing 24/7 customer service, mimicking human interactions to improve efficiency.
• Language translation: Tools like Google Translate use NLP to provide real-time multilingual support. You use this to communicate with global customers and break language barriers in customer service.
• Sentiment analysis: How does a machine know when a caller is frustrated, angry, or simply uninterested in your product? Sentiment analysis scans customer reviews, support tickets, or even social media mentions to determine if the feedback is positive, negative, or neutral. You can use it to gauge customer opinions.
• Speech recognition and voice AI: Speech recognition converts spoken words into text which helps businesses with real-time transcription, AI-driven interactive voice response (IVR) responses, and improved call routing. An advanced ASR (automatic speech recognition) tool like Plivo also masks inappropriate content in transcriptions and improves speech recognition accuracy by providing a list of hint words expected from the caller.

Now that we know about the most basic everyday NLP applications, let’s understand the five NLP steps in detail. 

5 steps in natural language processing

Let’s go through the five steps in NLP with examples.

Step #1: Lexical analysis

Text preprocessing in NLP precedes lexical analysis as it undergoes cleaning, tokenizing, and structuring raw data to make it readable for NLP models.

A study emphasizes that understanding grammatical structures and keywords is vital for chatbots to provide coherent and relevant responses in real-world situations. Lexical analysis helps NLP do so, making it one of the most important natural language processing steps.

It converts a sequence of characters into a sequence of tokens. This tokenization in NLP deciphers and segments languages into units (lexemes), such as sentences, phrases, and words.

Some words can stand alone, like “cat” or “jump”. These are free morphemes because they don’t need any extra help to be complete words. However, then there are bound morphemes, which have to latch onto something else to make sense. For instance,  “replaying”:

• “re-” (a prefix meaning “again”)
• “play” (the root word that holds the meaning)
• “-ing” (a suffix showing it's happening right now)

Neither of these words can exist alone, they always need a root word to stick to.

Machine learning in AI plays an important role in lexical analysis by helping NLP systems continuously improve their ability to identify and segment words accurately. When NLP analyzes text, it goes through a process to understand these layers, which helps understand word meanings, grammatical structures, and even how words change depending on context.

Lexical analysis teaches AI to deconstruct language the way the human brain does, but faster.

Step #2: Syntactic analysis

Syntax is the foundation of language, it’s how words and phrases come together to form meaningful sentences. Syntactic analysis (or parsing) lets NLP systems understand sentence structure and relationships between words rather than analyzing them in isolation.

This ensures that AI-powered chatbots, smart IVR systems, and voice assistants interpret user queries correctly.

When NLP performs syntactic analysis, it:

• Identifies sentence structure: Breaks a sentence into subject, predicate, objects, clauses, etc.
• Determines relationships between words: Determines which words depend on or modify others.
• Checks for grammatical correctness: Ensures the sentence follows valid language rules.

Syntactic analysis is important for chatbots and virtual assistants to improve customer experience with smart IVR. When a customer says, “I need help to reset my password”, the system uses syntactic analysis to recognize:

• “I” as the subject
• “need help” as the action
• “resetting my password” as the specific request

This structured understanding helps the AI respond appropriately, directing users to the right solution without confusion or misinterpretation.

Step #3: Semantic analysis

Semantic analysis in NLP deciphers meaning based on context, intent, and sentiment. The same word or phrase can imply different things depending on how it's used, and semantic analysis ensures AI comprehends these nuances accurately.

For instance, if a caller says, "I need to cancel my order because I wasn’t happy with the last one," a basic AI might fixate on the keyword "cancel" and proceed with the request.

But a Plivo-powered voice agent with semantic analysis understands the full context. It detects dissatisfaction from "wasn’t happy with the last one" and responds empathetically:

• “I’m really sorry about your previous experience. Let’s make this right.”
• Apart from processing the query, it might offer a resolution: “How about a 20% discount on your current order as an apology?”

Semantic analysis helps voice agents understand natural conversations instead of just keywords. This context-aware approach makes customer interactions more human, but you can also use these voice transcriptions for customer analytics to make informed decisions.

Step #4: Disclosure integration

Discourse integration helps NLP models grasp the broader meaning of conversations by considering previous sentences for context. This ensures more accurate interpretations and reduces confusion in AI-driven interactions.

For example, in a customer support chat:

Caller: "I lost my credit card yesterday."

Bot: “I’m sorry to hear that. Would you like to report it as lost or request a replacement?"

Caller: “Cancel it.”

Without discourse integration, the AI might struggle to understand whether the user wants to cancel the report or the card itself. By analyzing the conversation history, it correctly determines that "cancel it" refers to the lost card and proceeds accordingly.

This is important for businesses to automate customer interactions, and ensure smarter, context-aware responses in finance, healthcare, and beyond.

Step #5: Pragmatic analysis

Pragmatic analysis interprets meaning based on context, tone, and real-world knowledge rather than just literal word definitions so that the conversations feel natural and relevant. For instance, when a user asks, "What's the price of your premium subscription plan?"

The bot responds with, "Sure, our premium starts at $50 per month.”

Now, if the user simply responds, "That's a little steep," the bot automatically suggests, "Would you like to explore our standard plan starting at $30?"

While the user doesn't explicitly mention they want to explore a lower-priced option, pragmatic analysis recognizes the implied concern and suggests an alternative.

Businesses benefit from this by providing better customer engagement, fewer misunderstandings, and more effective automation.

While the steps in NLP help make customer experience better, it’s not all pros. 

Challenges and future advancements in NLP

One of the biggest NLP challenges is the bias in AI models.

Since AI learns from human data, it can reflect societal biases, leading to unfair or misleading outputs. MIT researchers developed a technique that reduces bias in AI models while preserving or even improving their accuracy for fairer and more reliable AI decision-making.

Another challenge is understanding regional dialects and slang. Many NLP models struggle with informal speech, code-switching, and cultural nuances, making accurate interpretation difficult in multilingual or diverse environments.

Ethical concerns, such as misinformation, privacy risks, and deepfakes (AI-generated content that falsely mimics real people) add to the complexity.

Looking ahead, context-aware AI conversations will improve chatbot and virtual assistant interactions, making them more natural and relevant. Real-time speech translation is also advancing, aiming for easy, culturally aware translations without robotic phrasing. As NLP evolves, voice integration in conversational AI will focus on making AI communication more inclusive, ethical, and human-like.

How Plivo's AI-powered voice agents advance intelligent  conversations

Keeping up with customer queries can be overwhelming, especially as your business grows. Long wait times, repetitive questions, and overworked support teams aren’t exactly a route to greater customer experiences.

This is where AI-powered voice automation comes in.

With a system that instantly understands customer requests, responds in natural language, and even recognizes 27 languages to serve a diverse audience in place, keeping your customers happy becomes easy. That’s what Plivo’s AI voice agents do.

They streamline customer interactions with features like real-time transcription, smart IVR for self-service that’s ideal for healthcare, banking, and routine queries, and a secure, scalable voice agent with built-in message redaction and compliance. 

Plus, Plivo lets you integrate any speech-to-text provider, large language model (LLM), or text-to-speech (TTS) engine, giving you complete control over your AI experience.

Thousands of businesses use Plivo to reduce support load, improve response times, and keep customers happy, without disrupting workflows. Contact us to see how our solutions can make your communication systems more efficient.

In 2024 alone, Intercom’s artificial intelligence (AI) voice bot, Fin, tackled 13 million customer questions for over 4,000 businesses. And it’s not just chatbots. Gartner predicts that by 2026, 30% of enterprises will automate over half of their customer interactions, up from just 10% in 2023.

Clearly, AI voice intelligence in customer service is leading the charge.

However, despite its benefits, many business owners still wonder: will automation make customer interactions feel robotic? More importantly, how do you use voice AI in a way that actually improves customer experience?

This guide will break it all down — what voice intelligence is, how businesses use it, and the real impact it has on customer interactions across industries.

What is voice intelligence?

Voice intelligence is an AI-powered system that can understand, interpret, and respond to spoken language the way humans do.

Unlike conventional interactive voice response (IVR) systems, which rely on rigid menu-based navigation, natural language processing (NLP) in voice AI listens to callers' words, processes their intent, and delivers relevant responses.

For example, Apple's Siri goes beyond setting alarms or reminders and asks follow-up questions to maintain context in a conversation. Similarly, Google’s Gemini can summarize web pages, suggest replies, and help you with booking appointments. 

But how does it actually work?

How voice intelligence works

Voice intelligence combines AI tools like NLP, machine learning, and real-time AI-powered speech analysis to analyze calls, voicemails, and digital conversations, helping businesses respond faster and more accurately.

This means they can catch key issues, offer better support, and even automate certain interactions, without losing the human touch.

Let’s break this down with a use case.

User A calls their bank’s support line after noticing an unfamiliar charge on their credit card.

Speech recognition converts voice into text

At the core of voice intelligence lies speech recognition. It converts spoken words into text and allows AI-powered voice agents to "listen" to a caller.

Going back to our example where the user calls their bank, here’s what happens behind the scenes:

When they say, "I see a charge I don't recognize on my card.", the speech recognition gets to work. It transcribes the words into text, identifies individual words, corrects minor pronunciation errors, recognizes the accent, and captures the intent without losing context.

Plivo's automatic speech recognition (ASR) takes it a step further. It filters inappropriate content in transcriptions, supports speech recognition in 27 languages, and offers pre-built models for different industries.

So if the user uses rash language like “I’m pissed off with this bank”, the ASR identifies “pissed off” as inappropriate and removes it from the transcript. At the same time, it correctly interprets 'charge' in the context of financial transactions, avoiding confusion with alternative meanings such as charging a device.

NLP understands intent and context

NLP in voice intelligence recognizes accents, slang, and even sentiments. It actually grasps the meaning behind those words the way humans do.

When the user says, "I see a charge I don't recognize on my card," the system, using NLP, identifies key terms like “charge” and “don't recognize” to understand that the user is reporting a potentially fraudulent transaction.

If such an interaction has occurred in the past, machine learning in voice intelligence learns from it and improves its ability to detect predictable phrases like "unauthorized charge," "fraud," etc. It also detects a spike in customers calling about fraudulent charges in the future.

AI-driven decision-making determines the right response

After the call gets transcribed and analyzed, AI taps into past interactions to offer a faster, personalized resolution. For instance, if the user has travel alerts active on their account, AI determines the charge is legitimate and reassures them.

If the user expresses urgency with phrases like, "It's serious", or "I need to talk to a specialist now", AI picks up on the tone and escalates it to a human fraud specialist. 

But even the smartest voice AI can only make good decisions with high-quality voice data.

Plivo’s call analytics plays a vital role by identifying audio issues like poor network conditions, background noise, or low call clarity. It correlates audio quality metrics with device metadata and network conditions so that businesses can ensure AI decisions are based on accurate, uninterrupted speech data.

This leads to better fraud detection, sentiment analysis, and overall customer experience.

Text-to-speech (TTS) helps bots sound human-like

While voice recognition AI converts the call into text, text-to-speech (TTS) does the reverse. It converts the AI-generated responses into natural, human-like speech.

TTS gauges intent adapts to different accents, and structures responses naturally. Instead of a robotic reply, it might say, “I understand that an unfamiliar charge is concerning. Let me check that for you.”

For urgent cases, it might say, “Let me transfer this call to our fraud specialist right away.”

Unlike stiff, pre-recorded messages, TTS adapts to each conversation in real-time, making AI-powered voice responses feel more human and helpful.

This brings us to our next question: what are the benefits of voice intelligence?

Benefits of voice intelligence for businesses

Now that we know how voice intelligence works, let’s understand its benefits for businesses.

Scalability: Never leave a customer on hold

Voice intelligence enables businesses to manage customer interactions efficiently, regardless of call volume. AI-powered tools ensure immediate attention for every customer, eliminating long wait times and improving satisfaction.

For example, a retail business may experience a surge in inquiries about shipping, returns, or product availability during the holiday season. Voice intelligence deploys agents to answer common questions like "What is your return policy?" or "When will my order arrive?" for multiple customers at the same time.

For calls requiring human assistance, the AI gathers details such as order numbers or the nature of the issue beforehand, helping representatives resolve concerns more quickly.

What’s more, AI can offer callbacks instead of making customers wait on hold, keeping frustration levels low and satisfaction high.

Reduced costs: Say goodbye to excess customer support hiring

Since AI-powered voice agents handle repetitive inquiries, it reduces the workload for human agents. Businesses don't need to hire extra staff to manage call spikes. Plus, during high call volumes, it absorbs extra demand, keeping customer service intact without additional payroll expenses.

AI-powered voice agents also learn instantly and require no training, further reducing the overhead of onboarding new employees.

Increased customer satisfaction: Make context-aware conversations in multiple languages

Become, a financial technology company, integrated Plivo's Browser SDK to enable high-quality voice calls within their web application. This integration allowed account managers to communicate effectively with customers worldwide, totaling over 6 million minutes of calls, thereby improving customer relationships and operational efficiency.

Voice intelligence, however, isn't just for call centers.

It can enhance learning, customer support, and global communication, even for a language-learning platform. The technology can use voice agents to provide real-time translations and personalized tutoring, translate and simplify complex concepts in their preferred language.

Improved compliance: Save a fortune on penalties

Industries like finance, healthcare, and telecom require call recording and documentation to comply with laws like the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI-DSS), and General Data Protection Regulation (EU) (GDPR).

A provider like Plivo ensures businesses can automatically record and store calls securely. Its APIs implement custom monitoring and analytics solutions tailored to your compliance needs. So, it helps improve customer experience while ensuring your business complies with the necessary regulations.

Real-world use cases of voice intelligence

Let’s look at how businesses are putting voice intelligence to work, improving customer experiences, and solving everyday challenges.

1. Faster customer support and personalized shopping assistance  

AI-powered voice agents can handle order tracking, refunds, and cancellations without human intervention.

When a customer asks, "Where's my order?", the AI agent fetches real-time tracking updates instantly, reducing wait times and improving customer satisfaction.

With voice AI analytics, businesses can also gain customer insights and offer personalized shopping assistance. Voice agents guide customers through product selections, suggest tailored recommendations, and even complete purchases.

2. Streamline routine financial services

As per a 2024 survey by Bain & Company, financial services firms are experiencing notable productivity gains through AI adoption. For instance, voice intelligence software in financial services can offer instant account information, transaction processing, and personalized financial advice anytime, anywhere to the customers.

It can also become a financial advisor for the customer and recognize trends and patterns to suggest smart investment strategies.

3. Improve patient outcomes

Voice intelligence in healthcare helps providers deliver secure, and HIPAA-compliant interactions to ensure a smoother journey for everyone.

You can easily provide preliminary health assessments, medication reminders, and appointment scheduling with a personalized AI touch.

4. Make customers feel included

For educators and institutions, AI-powered voice solutions reduce the need for multilingual tutors, making education more scalable and cost-effective.

Even better? They can act as personalized tutors, adapting to each student’s learning style, and providing clarifications, explanations, and feedback in real time.

Take the first step toward integrating voice intelligence with Plivo-powered AI voice agents 

Integrating voice intelligence into your communication systems can feel daunting, especially with technical bottlenecks, and the risk of sounding too ‘robotic’. 

However, Plivo-powered AI voice agents make it easy. It lets you integrate any speech-to-text provider, LLM model, and text-to-speech provider of your choice, giving you the flexibility to build natural, high-quality AI voice interactions.

Plus, Plivo delivers on two key pillars of exceptional customer interactions, crystal-clear voice quality and reliability. With 99.99% uptime and high-quality 16kHz audio, it ensures reliable communication across 220+ countries and territories.

Whether you use voice agents to preserve emotions, emphasis, and accents, or to handle mid-speech interruptions, Plivo-powered AI voice agents reduce latency and provide real-time responsiveness.

Since the future of voice intelligence lies in context-aware, emotion-driven interactions, it’s time to switch to a provider that offers all that and more. Contact us to learn how thousands of businesses optimize their workflows without disrupting customer experience with Plivo.

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

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

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

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

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

SMS API 101

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

What is an SMS API?

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

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

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

How does SMS API work?

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

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

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

Basic SMS concepts

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

Sender ID

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

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

Latency

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

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

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

Messaging throughput

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

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

Delivery status

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

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

Message encoding and character limits

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

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

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

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

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

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

Benefits of SMS API

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

Capture immediate attention

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

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

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

Automated messaging solutions

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

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

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

Two-way conversation

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

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

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

No maintenance worries

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

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

Cost-effective strategy

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

That’s why an SMS API is so useful.

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

Global reach with multilingual support

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

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

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

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

Use cases of SMS API

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

Digital marketing and sales

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

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

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

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

Notifications and alerts

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

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

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

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

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

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

Customer care

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

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

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

Two-factor authentication (2FA)

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

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

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

Reminders

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

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

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

Best practices for implementing SMS API

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

Set clear objectives

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

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

Prioritize business messaging guidelines

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

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

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

Use API personalization

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

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

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

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

Avoid spamming subscribers with promotions

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

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

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

Monitor and analyze

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

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

Experience the benefits of an SMS API with Plivo

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

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

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

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

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

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

But what is voice recognition?

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

What is voice recognition?

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

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

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

How does voice recognition work?

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

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

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

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

Core components and key technologies

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

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

Automatic speech recognition (ASR)

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

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

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

Natural language processing (NLP)

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

Text-to-speech (TTS)

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

Acoustic modeling

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

Language modeling

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

Applications of voice recognition

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

Personal assistants and smart devices

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

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

Enterprises

Voice technology is changing the way businesses operate. 

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

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

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

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

Specialized industries

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

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

E-commerce

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

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

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

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

Healthcare

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

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

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

                                                                                                                                     Source

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

Education

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

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

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

Banking

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

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

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

Benefits of voice recognition

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

Accessibility

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

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

Productivity and efficiency

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

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

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

Security

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

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

Better customer experience

Voice recognition simplifies how customers interact with businesses.

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

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

Challenges and ethical considerations

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

Accuracy concerns

“Sorry, can you say that again?”

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

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

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

Data privacy

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

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

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

User bias

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

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

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

Future trends in voice recognition

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

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

Improved accuracy and understanding

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

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

Better context awareness

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

Improved privacy and security

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

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

Universal accessibility

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

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

Experience the power of voice recognition with Plivo

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

What is IVR in healthcare?

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

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

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

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

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

Benefits of using IVR in Healthcare

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

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

For patients

24/7 accessibility to information and services

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

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

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

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

Faster appointment booking and issue resolution

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

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

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

Improved privacy during sensitive communications

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

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

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

For providers

Increased security and compliance

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

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

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

Reduced errors in patient interactions

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

With automated patient communication, IVR eliminates such issues.

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

Reduced staff workload and operational costs

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

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

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

Improved patient satisfaction scores

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

How do IVR systems help?

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

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

Real-life Use Cases of IVR in Healthcare

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

Preliminary health assessments

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

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

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

Multilingual support

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

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

Appointment booking

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

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

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

Patient medication reminders and lab results

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

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

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

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

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

Prescription refill requests

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

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

Billing and payment-related inquiries

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The inside scoop on call quality

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

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

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

Process of VoIP data transmission over calls

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

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

The source(s) of your VoIP problems

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

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

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

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

Types of VoIP call quality issues

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

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

How to improve VoIP call quality when hiccups strike

Here are 11 steps to enhance VoIP performance.

1. Monitor call quality

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

2. Upgrade your router

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

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

3. Increase bandwidth

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

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

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

4. Configure QoS

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

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

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

5. Set up a jitter buffer

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

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

6. Segment traffic with a VLAN

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

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

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

7. Purchase a high-quality headset

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

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

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

8. Choose the right codec

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

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

9. Avoid WiFi

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

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

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

10. Prioritize mobile phone traffic

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

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

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

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

11. Improve call handling with a well-designed IVR

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

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

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

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

VoIP calls made seamless with Plivo

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

What is an AI voice?

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

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

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

How do AI voices work: A detailed breakdown

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

Automatic speech recognition (ASR)

                                                                                                                                         Source

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

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

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

Natural language processing (NLP)

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

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

Dialog management

                                                                                                                                      Source

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

1. Dialog modeling

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

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

2. Dialog control

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

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

Natural Language Generation (NLG)

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

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

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

Text-to-speech Synthesis (TTS)

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

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

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

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

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

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

                                                                                                                                         Source

AI voice applications

                                                                                                                                          Source

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

Customer service

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

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

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

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

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

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

                                                                                                                                   Source

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

Content creation

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

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

Accessibility

                                                                                                                                        Source

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

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

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

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

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

Entertainment

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

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

Benefits of AI voice for businesses

                                                                                                                                     Source

Here’s what AI voice means for your business:

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

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

For your customers, this means:

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

The future of AI voice technology and ethical considerations

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

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

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

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

Transform your communication strategy with Plivo Voice AI

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Telnyx vs. Twilio: A quick comparison

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

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

Telnyx vs. Twilio: Detailed feature comparison

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

Let’s take a closer look at these.

Telnyx SMS API features and use cases

Features

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

Use cases

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

Twilio SMS API features and use cases

Features 

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

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

Use cases

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

Telnyx Voice API features and use cases

Features

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

Use cases

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

Twilio Voice API features and use cases

Features

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

Use cases

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

Telnyx Verify API features and use cases

Features

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

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

Use cases

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

Twilio Verify API features and use cases

Features

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

Use cases

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

Twilio’s Flex and Engage

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

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

Twilio Flex

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

Twilio Engage

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

Telnyx pricing vs. Twilio pricing

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

Telnyx pricing

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

Twilio pricing

Telnyx vs. Twilio customer support

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

Telnyx customer support

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

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

Twilio customer support

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

Telnyx vs. Twilio: Pros and cons

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

Telnyx pros and cons

Pros

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

Cons

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

Twilio pros and cons

Pros

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

Cons

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

Why Plivo is the ideal alternative to Telnyx and Twilio

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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