Voice remains as relevant as ever.
It might come as a surprise with all the major technological changes we’ve seen in recent years. The world is now obsessed, and driven by, AI, automation, and an abundance of apps. It is, as Isabelle Paradis (Programme Lead, Connectivity & Wholesale – MEF) says, ‘a channel that everyone wants to declare dead.’
But it couldn’t be further from the truth. Voice has always managed to reinvent itself, and when important things come about, we turn to voice. It’s smarter and faster than ever before, and we can’t live without it.
Isabelle welcomed three leading voice experts to a panel session at MEF Enterprise Communications to explore the relevance of voice. Michael Fereday (Product Marketing Manager, Commify), Sophie Bruce (Founder and CEO, MOLO) and Mike Mills (Managing Directo – Service Provider, Gamma) came on stage to discuss:
- Why voice remains a trusted channel.
- How voice is evolving.
- Demographics and user preferences.
- The future of voice.
This session shines a light on the evolving role of voice in a digital-first world. It’s a powerful tool and won’t be going away anytime soon.
‘The most basic kind of human connection’
When it comes to the more emotionally charged, complex interactions, voice is still the default option. Despite the sheer scale of digital tools and applications available to us, we still turn to voice. When things matter most, people turn to voice for its immediacy and authenticity.
Sophie, with her background in psychology, described voice as ‘the most basic kind of human connection and interface available to us.’ The pace technology is moving is something nobody could have predicted, yet we always tend to default back to something familiar. When we want to feel safe and connected, voice is ‘at the centre of that.’
For Michael, voice is being used to ‘rehumanise communications.’ Commify largely specialise in text-based business messaging, yet the latest innovations in voice are angled towards ‘[re-establishing] a more human connection.’ Again, it’s that feeling of comfort which always takes us back to voice-based communications.
When we look at voice through a historic lens, Mike notes how ‘it was all inbound and outbound minutes.’ Change has come through the different types of communication available to us, including Teams calls and the like. It’s much broader than before, but from a customer experience viewpoint, inbound and outbound is still front of mind.
Three different stances, but all fundamentally the same. Whether it’s a carrier, provider, or even a psychologist, voice remains a channel devotes to restoring a sense of connection. Interactions must be elevated beyond just a transactional exchange.
‘We’re getting more comfortable with technology’
As Mike mentioned before, traditional voice revolved around inbound and outbound minutes. The definition has expanded far beyond this initial starting point, especially with B2B international calls down 10% year on year. OTT calls, Teams, voice assistants, and even WhatsApp voice notes are now key drivers on what defines voice today.
Organisations are no longer beholden to traditional telephone systems. Michael mentions how voice can now be integrated anywhere within the customer journey, backed by CPaaS and the APIs that underpin it. This ‘decoupling’ has allowed services like IVR to become less ‘rigid and frustrating’, as they’re now made more human-like through generative AI and NLP.
Voice remains the default option for complex problem-solving. Sophie points out how, when we have a ‘computer say no’ moment, we return to what we already know. While we are getting ‘more comfortable with technology’ and automation, those frustrating moments will always take us back to voice.
An increase in average business call duration shows how integral voice is when complex problems need solving. Of course, a lot of it comes down to demographics and user preferences
‘Customers are looking for frictionless experiences’
When customers come looking for answers, they want them quickly. 77% of businesses already recognise increased customer expectations around digital engagement, making CX a pivotal, non-negotiable factor. What it ultimately comes down to are the target demographics.
The example Sophie uses are working parents. Her work with MOLO centres around agentic solutions that ‘make their lives easier’ and enable them to engage with ‘frictionless easy spaces.’ Again, the ease of WhatsApp voice notes and the convenience of devices like Alexa are instrumental when building a frictionless experience.
Mike expands on this by highlighting the challenge of covering a broad demographic but staying relevant to a particular person. Gen Z, for example, are a true digital-native demographic, while older generations engage with technology and voice itself from a whole different frame of mind. The pivot will be how agentic AI evolves in the voice world, and while we are in the early days of the pivot, conversational engagement will become the norm.
Voice’s speed and convenience make it critical within this overall frictionless experience. Michael points to how generative AI and NLP can be working away in the background, talking to CRM systems, while a human agent concentrates on the call and deploys real-time information. That level of automation isn’t too far off, but voice will only become more accurate and more convenient as time goes on.
The underlying challenge remains how to create a seamless experience for everyone. These experiences must be inclusive and relevant, which influences what the future has in store for voice.
‘We’re not too far away from it solving problems’
Despite all the change at hand, we still have a dispensation to use voice when possible. Humans are, as Michael rightly reminds us, socially driven, and it can feel that voice bots are just ‘a pale imitation of human experience.’ Nevertheless, technology and voice will continue to evolve at pace.
AI will certainly be a driving force behind that change, but not from a cost-cutting perspective. For Sophie, ‘it all comes back to what the consumer wants’, which does rest on this idea of convenience. Real-time translation and automating repetitive tasks, for example, will be some of AI’s primary functions in the voice space.
The convenience of voice will alleviate the pain of having to deal with daily repetitive tasks. Whether it’s constantly typing emails or ordering home supplies, voice can be an active player in streamlining those processes. Humans enjoy repetition, but Mike challenges us to look at it differently and realise that those repetitive tasks can be easily automated.
‘We’re not quite there yet’, but when we only have so much brainpower to expend daily, voice can be pivotal.
As Sophie mentioned, it all depends on customer needs. If AI-powered voice can anticipate needs, we can reach a position of ‘having a more seamless and less cognitive overload’ for daily tasks. Overall, ‘that’s going to be a much better result for us.’
‘Voice will stay relevant’
Isabelle’s final challenge to the panel was asking how voice will stay relevant. The consensus was around rehumanising communications and adapting to user needs, but ‘none of us knows what’s going to happen really.’
The only thing we can be sure of is, as Isabelle says, voice ‘will remain relevant.’ The real question is how we should reimagine it, and what kind of technology can be integrated with it.
This panel from MEF Enterprise Communications underlines how crucial voice’s role will be going forward. AI will keep evolving, as will customer needs and expectations. All we really know is that voice will remain relevant, and for our panel of experts, that’s the best result.