AI voice assistants

AI voice assistants are no longer a thing of the future—they’re ready to listen, answer questions, and even crack jokes at a moment’s notice. Whether you need to schedule a reminder or summarize a piece of text, these AI-powered assistants can aid you.

While these assistants act similarly to AI chatbots, AI voice assistants specifically interpret and respond to spoken—rather than written—commands. Plus, these AI-powered assistants offer more convenience to customers, enhancing the customer experience (CX) without sacrificing service quality.

Continue reading to learn more about AI voice assistants, their benefits, and the best options for you.

More in this guide:

• What is an AI voice assistant?
• What can AI voice assistants do?
• The 6 best AI voice assistants
• Benefits of an AI voice assistant
• How to choose an AI voice assistant
• Frequently asked questions
• Integrate an AI voice assistant with a leading CX solution

An AI voice assistant is a virtual software program that uses artificial intelligence (AI), natural language processing (NLP), and voice recognition to perform tasks and respond to voice commands.

AI voice assistants are capable of:

• Natural language understanding (NLU) to know what humans mean rather than just what they say
• Task completion like appointment scheduling, data entry, reminder and alarm creation, and more
• Information retrieval, including the news, weather, customer data, flight reservations, hotel recommendations, and more
• Backend integration with service solutions like AI help desk software and AI knowledge bases
• Translation with a growing awareness of context and meaning
• 24/7 support so customers receive help when and where they need it
• CX accessibility assistance, including generative AI for image assistance, voice recognition for non-standard speech, text or text-to-speech summarization, and more

We've compiled a list of the top six AI voice assistants on the market that offer a range of features, from task management to conversational capabilities. Check out our list below.

• PolyAI: Best for voice-first service
• Spitch: Best for omnichannel assistance
• VOCALLS: Best for automation
• Siri: Best for privacy and security
• Alexa: Best for accessibility
• Google Assistant: Best for call assistance

1. PolyAI

Best for voice-first service

Founded in 2017, PolyAI is a technology company that provides AI voice assistants to call and contact centers. Using generative AI and large language models (LLMs), PolyAI’s AI-powered voice assistants can deliver voice-first customer service. These multilingual voice assistants can also provide service in 45 languages, including English, French, German, and Spanish.

PolyAI's assistance technology includes dialogue management, which is a framework for customers to naturally complete interactions with voice assistants. PolyAI’s assistants also use a proprietary NLU model to parse customer intent and a spoken language understanding (SLU) model to adjust speech recognition outputs. PolyAI’s AI voice assistants can also be deployed on any channel, including phone and chat channels, and integrate with a variety of software and tech stacks.

Features:

• 24/7 support
• Integrations
• Analytics
• Reporting
• Hands-free service
• Dialogue management
• Spoken language understanding

Pricing: Contact PolyAI for pricing.

Recommended reading: Learn how PolyAI integrates with Zendesk.

2. Spitch

Best for omnichannel assistance

Working in contact center digitization, Spitch is a Switzerland-based AI technology company that uses NLU engines and generative AI to provide voice-based services to customers. This company uses an approach that allows the implementation and deployment of AI voice assistants within two weeks. Spitch also uses an on-premise cloud delivery platform to provide data security and protection in accordance with standard regulations.

Spitch’s AI voice assistants can perform various voice-based tasks, including intent recognition, natural language processing, and inquiry routing when necessary. These voice assistants also allow teams to handle customer requests across and between channels without losing context while managing customer accounts, updating records, and conducting conversation protocolling. Plus, Spitch uses speech analytics (SA) and voice biometrics (VB) to automate customer authentication and identify and catalog customer data.

Features:

• 24/7 support
• Integrations
• Analytics
• Reporting
• Hands-free service
• Omnichannel
• Account management

Pricing: Contact Spitch for pricing.

Recommended reading: Learn how Spitch integrates with Zendesk.

3. VOCALLS

Best for automation

VOCALLS is a voice-first AI platform founded in 2017 that automates customer interactions. VOCALLS uses a proprietary NLP engine and integrated LLMs to create AI voice assistants known as Voicebots. With VOCALLS’s voice assistant, businesses can automate order statuses, troubleshooting, payment and refund processing, FAQs, upselling, reminders, and more.

These AI tools also offer IT support, account updates, ticket classification, and agent escalation, allowing businesses to offer omnichannel self-service experiences. VOCALLS’s technology also integrates with CRM software to authenticate and surface customer data. Plus, VOCALLS offers cloud-based data protection that is SOC 2, PCI, and GDPR compliant and dashboards that allow teams to view assistant performance and adjust accordingly.

Features:

• 24/7 support
• Integrations
• Analytics
• Reporting
• Hands-free service
• Speech processing
• Statistics dashboard

Pricing: Contact VOCALLS for pricing.

Recommended reading: Learn how VOCALLS integrates with Zendesk.

4. Siri

Best for privacy and security

Apple originally launched its voice-first virtual assistant, Siri, in 2011. This AI-powered voice assistant is built into all Apple devices, including iPhones, iPads, and Macs. Siri is built on the Apple Neural Engine, which uses on-device intelligence to personalize service while maintaining data privacy through core-integrated security and on-device processing.

Users can ask and receive answers to back-to-back questions or commands, send messages, and receive product information with hands-free assistance. Apple Intelligence features use customer data and personal context to manage and take action in and across apps while delivering product-specific information about a device’s features and settings. Plus, Siri uses language processing technology to record audio, write transcripts, create summaries, and leverage historical data to understand the context of new conversations.

Features:

• Shortcuts
• Developer kit
• Apple Intelligence

Pricing: Included with Apple devices.

5. Alexa

Best for accessibility

Alexa, Amazon’s cloud-based AI voice assistant, first launched in 2014. This AI-powered assistant offers various features, like setting reminders or alarms to intercom announcements, and supports voice-activated and controlled accessibility features like real-time call captioning. Alexa’s customer profiles offer news, calendar updates, and parental controls, while recognition IDs authenticate users and flag privacy or security concerns.

When it comes to customer service, customers can use Alexa to connect to contact centers, get answers to common questions, and make outbound calls. This AI voice assistant also uses customer contact information to understand user intent for making reservations, confirmations, and more. The technology’s additional features allow it to set timers, alarms, reminders, and notes, manage calendars and tasks, and allow hands-free voice calling, intercom drop-ins, and group calling across connected devices.

Features:

• Integrations
• Profiles
• Routines

Pricing: Free Amazon devices and apps.

6. Google Assistant

Best for call assistance

Announced at Google’s Developer Conference in 2016, Google Assistant is an AI-powered voice assistant that allows users to perform hands-free tasks such as setting and managing tasks, initiating communication with other people or devices, getting local information or answers to questions, and controlling apps. This voice assistant also offers users built-in privacy controls, including stand-by mode, which users can activate to prevent Google Assistant from collecting and storing their personal data.

Google Assistant assists in more than 30 languages across 80 countries. Users can also program the AI voice assistant to match a business’s tone and voice, allowing companies to respond consistently to user inquiries. Tools like Family Link allow customers to manage, use, and interact with schedules, content filters, and app access. Plus, call assist can screen calls or offer conversation predictions, and users can create voice-activated shortcuts to access applications and other types of information.

Features:

• Integrations
• Shortcuts
• Task management
• Call assist

Pricing: Free with Google devices and apps.

With an AI-powered voice assistant that integrates with your CX solution, you can offer exceptional customer service at peak efficiency without increasing organizational costs. Below, we’ve broken down the most significant benefits of these AI voice assistants.

Improved productivity

AI voice assistants are powerful and tireless, handling routine inquiries and tasks like scheduling appointments, processing orders, or answering FAQs. With this constant support, human agents can focus on complex customer interactions that require empathy, critical thinking, and problem-solving skills. By delegating repetitive tasks and other responsibilities to AI voice assistants, agents can also focus on providing personalized customer service and building relationships, ultimately improving agent productivity and overall satisfaction.

Extended support hours

Integrating AI-powered voice assistants with your customer service solution enables your business to offer 24/7 support to your customers. While your human agents resolve nuanced interactions during regular work hours, digital assistants can provide timely answers and resolutions to less complex inquiries at all hours—regardless of the time zone or day of the week. With this level of customer support, businesses build trust by empowering customers to get the help they need.

Enhanced customer experiences

Voice assistants powered by AI are dynamic: They can respond to natural language and provide answers in a conversational style. These assistants also improve customer experiences by offering consistent, on-brand support across various channels, meeting customers where they are and in various languages.

Reduced organizational costs

By automating the routing and handling of routine tasks and inquiries, AI-powered voice assistants use intelligent automation to help customer service teams do more with less, leading to lower operating costs. Additionally, by providing 24/7 support and offering customers various self-service options, these assistants can help businesses provide customer support during off-peak hours without increasing headcount.

Choosing the best AI voice assistant for your business requires research. You need to vet your options, demo prospective tools, and choose the option that will complement your existing systems.

Here are some key features and capabilities to consider during the vetting process:

• Service solution integrations: Ensure the AI voice assistant integrates smoothly with your CX ecosystem, including your call center software and ticketing system so they can transfer customers to human agents while your team tracks and manages interactions.
• Functionality: Look for the specific functions you need your voice assistant to offer, including multilingual customer support and ticket automation.
• Privacy and security: Evaluate the AI assistant's security protocols and ensure they align with your company's data privacy policies.
• Customization: Customizing responses and greetings is valuable for a more personalized customer experience (CX), so verify that the voice assistant will allow you to customize it.
• Learning and adaptation: Choose an AI voice assistant that uses every interaction to continuously learn, adapt, and improve its responses over time.
• Cost: Don’t blow your budget on an AI-powered voice assistant. Instead, compare pricing models and features to find a solution that fits your budget.
• Customer support: For smooth implementation (and continued use), research how reliable and responsive the customer support delivered by the AI assistant provider is.
• Reviews and ratings: Read online reviews and ratings from other businesses to gain insights into user experiences.

By carefully evaluating these factors—and demoing the products you’re most interested in—you can select an AI voice assistant that seamlessly integrates with your service solution and enhances your CX.