Customer Contact Week is just around the corner! In preparation, I sat down with our Senior Solutions Architect, Miles Phillips, to dive deeper into the key pillars of Voice AI: Data, Design, and Deployment. Miles provides insights on how businesses can optimize their AI strategies to enhance customer interactions and drive real results.
Voice AI is no longer a futuristic concept, it’s quickly becoming a foundational technology in modern contact centers. Yet despite growing investments, too many initiatives fail to meet expectations. Whether it’s a clunky experience, low containment, or poor customer satisfaction, these symptoms often trace back to one of three neglected areas: Data, Design, or Deployment.
At Perficient, we’ve worked with clients across industries to help customers get AI right. What we’ve found is simple: Get these three pillars right, and you dramatically improve your chances of success. Miss one, and the entire effort can come apart.
Pillar 1: Data and the Foundation of Understanding
Your Voice AI solution is only as smart as the data it’s built on. Training without the right inputs leads to weak comprehension, misrouted calls, and customer frustration.
To build a strong foundation:
- Start with real call data. Analyze your top call drivers to find high-value automation opportunities.
- Ensure real-time access to backend systems. Your bot should be able to look up customer data, order status, or account balances on demand via APIs.
- Audit your data. Even the most advanced AI will fail if it gets incomplete, outdated or inconsistent data. Ensure your core platforms such as your CRM are kept up to date.
- Label your transcripts. Structured, well-labeled intent and entity data improves NLU training.
The ability to access accurate and relevant contextual data in real time is critical. Don’t launch without investing here first.
Pillar 2: Design That Creates Effective Conversations
Even with perfect data, poor design can ruin the experience. Voice is a high-friction channel where users are quick to bail if the experience feels robotic, confusing, or unhelpful.
To design with impact:
- Craft a clear persona and tone. Should your voice assistant be formal and efficient, or casual and friendly? Make it consistent.
- Simplify prompts. Use direct language. Avoid stacking multiple questions in one sentence.
- Design for interruptions and failure. Real users talk over prompts, change their minds, or get frustrated. Plan for it.
- Build graceful escalation paths. A smooth handoff to a live agent is often better than forcing automation at all costs.
Delivering a great conversation is more than just basic scripting. It requires intentional effort to build a positive user experience. Don’t underestimate the importance or level of effort required.
Pillar 3: Deployment — Operate Like It’s a Product, Not a Project
A Voice AI solution that launches but doesn’t evolve is destined to fail. True success comes from treating your Voice AI like a living product that’s constantly tuned, tested, and improved.
To deploy for long-term impact:
- Plan for scalability and resilience. Can your system handle peak traffic? What happens when an API fails?
- Instrument your flows. Monitor key metrics like containment rate, dropout points, error frequency, and customer sentiment.
- Review and tune regularly. Use transcripts to spot confusing responses, retrain intents, and improve prompt wording.
- Establish a release process. Use version control, automated testing, and rollback plans to make changes safely.
Performance doesn’t come from launch day — it comes from operational discipline. Make iteration part of your rhythm.
Bringing It All Together
Voice AI success isn’t about picking the right platform — it’s about executing across the right pillars. Data informs Design. Design must be built with Deployment in mind. And Deployment generates data that fuels continuous improvement.
If you’re building Voice AI, ask yourself: Which of these pillars are we underinvesting in — and what would change if we got it right?
Need help? We help organizations plan, build, and operate effective Voice AI solutions. Let’s talk about where you are in your journey and what it would take to strengthen your foundation.
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