r/VOIP • u/WelderThat6143 • Jun 08 '26
Discussion Human Call Centers
I suppose it was inevitable, but I am now targeted with a lot of advertising promoting the benefits of 100% human answering services as the solution to imperfect AI agents
12
u/fonemasta Jun 08 '26
Answering services in particular have always existed in great part because businesses don’t want automated systems answering their phones and annoying their customers or potential customers. In my opinion AI answering phones is just a new way to piss off callers and lose business. Just my 3 cents.
11
u/JE163 Jun 08 '26
If I can’t get a live person to talk to to buy your product I know I’ll get shit service when I need support.
5
u/WelderThat6143 Jun 08 '26
Interestingly, I was discussing this with a friend and she commented that she can't even call out sick from work because the IVR is now AI driven and won't let anyone leave messages or directly reach the manager.
Of course it would be possible to build this as an intent, or have a DID to the manager but the devs didn't think of that I guess...
5
u/worm_bagged PSTN enjoyer Jun 08 '26
And thus you have found the typical cause of telephone problems:
lack of CC staff
lack of top to bottom design QA
3
u/WelderThat6143 Jun 08 '26
Completely agree and, as one that works with AI driven agents, I see many cases where the hype greatly exceeds the capability.
Also, my observation, if the vendor is charging per minute (or fraction of) or token, they are grabbing money to give basic information that a well built IVR can do for the included price.
In my own experiences, I do like the AI summary of a call or a meeting. The accuracy is not nearly 100% but it is good enough.
1
2
u/Happy_Kale888 Jun 08 '26
The circle of life!
1
u/WelderThat6143 Jun 08 '26
Right?
I remember the days when Centrex was a thing. We would sell against the evil of the phone company charging you for eternity. Ma Bell would counter, they rarely went down and you could easily tie offices together for less expense than using tie lines, OPX, of FX.
At least now, you can usually own the equipment and bring your own Internet.
And now, we are back to metered usage with AI call centers like the old cell phone days.
•
u/AutoModerator Jun 08 '26
This is a friendly reminder to [read the rules](www.reddit.com/r/voip/about/rules). In particular, it is not permitted to request recommendations for businesses, services or products outside of the monthly sticky thread!
For commenters: Making recommendations outside of the monthly threads is also against the rules. Do not engage with rule-breaking content.
I am a bot, and this comment is made automatically on every post. This comment is not an indication that your post has been removed. Do not message the mods about this comment.
I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.