A voice bot is a virtual ‘bot’, a program that converses in a way that makes sense with the help of a pre-defined logic. An effective and automated one is integrated with Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Natural Language Processing (NLP), created to simulate uni or bilingual human conversations.

Voice bots can be easily classified with respect to how they function and their quality of conversation. Here are 6 features that are essential for an effective voice bot:

1. Intent Analysis

This is perhaps the most essential feature for a good voice bot. To initiate a successful automation voice process, voice bots need to be smart and pass off as actual humans or as close as possible. From reaching the right person to understanding the sentiment in the conversation and acting accordingly, voice bots need to have an analytical processing core to automatically tackle situations and learn from them.

2. Conversation Analysis

Your bot needs to be a ‘good listener’ in order to determine the intent and understand the flow of the conversation. This means it should know when to speak and when to pause (when the person on the other end is talking). While this is essential, the bot should also be able to make the agenda very clear when needed.

For example, voice bots are generally used to inform clients of some important information, reminder or update. An effective bot design would include programming where it doesn’t pause during the time when it’s providing that critical information, irrespective of interruption.

3. (Almost) Zero Lag

As is true with any current technology hardware and software, speed is essential for a pleasant, efficient experience. A good voice bot should be able to interpret, reply, and take action at the same rate as the customer. Lags and slow responses cause frustration within the customer and can create a poor impression which may even lead to loss of the lead.

4. Personalization

It’s extremely frustrating for a customer to have to repeat similar information continuously throughout their path on a company website, call or platform.

An optimally programmed and integrated voice bot should greet the caller promptly, know the history with the caller on various platforms, understand the likely reason for the call or visit based on calling patterns, and, most importantly, be able to personalize suggestions based on knowledge on the customer.

5. Access and Transfer to Live Agents

Voice bots are basically assistants to actual live agents and not their replacements. At any time during a call, the customer needs to have a seamless way of shifting the conversation to an available live agent, and this process should be based on predefined fallback rules. For instance, if the bot is unable to understand an issue within a single iteration of the question, the customer should be redirected immediately to a live agent.

6. Learning and Adapting

Bots have come a long way with regards to interacting with humans. An AI-powered bot can continuously improve accuracy and predictability based on interactions. Currently, well-programmed bots are able to parse long sentences, understand slang and colloquial speech and even comprehend a few multilingual words (without switching language modes).