Voice AI shines on repeatable, well-bounded tasks where speed, accuracy, and consistency matter more than negotiation or discretion. Start with transactional journeys and structured data capture; escalate gracefully on exceptions. The payoff is higher containment, shorter queues, and humans focused on complex work.
How to spot “AI-best-fit” tasks
- High volume and low-to-medium complexity
- Clear rules, policies, or tools to ground answers
- Minimal discretion or goodwill decisions
- Inputs that can be validated (IDs, dates, amounts)
- Low emotional stakes; easy to hand off if needed
Top tasks the AI can handle today:
Account access and identity
- Password reset and account unlock (OTP via SMS/email, knowledge-based checks)
- Multi-factor enrollment guidance
- Profile updates: email, phone, mailing address (with confirmation)
Status and information
- Order and shipment status with tracking links
- Appointment status, reminders, and directions
- Service availability/outage checks with tailored advisories
- Ticket/case status and expected resolution time
Scheduling and changes
- Book, reschedule, or cancel appointments
- Waitlist management and automated callbacks
- Technician/installer visit scheduling and prep instructions
Billing and payments
- Balance inquiry, due date, and last payment info
- One-time payments and payment plan setup (PCI-safe DTMF masking)
- Bill explanation at a line-item level using grounded data
- Autopay enrollment, payment method updates, and receipt delivery
Orders and returns
- Reorder, subscription skip/pause/resume within policy
- Address or delivery instruction updates
- Return initiation, label/email issuance, and refund timelines
- Warranty lookups and in-warranty replacement paths
Guided troubleshooting (Tier 0/1)
- Step-by-step flows: restart/reseat, cache clear, firmware check
- Device/account diagnostics via APIs; capture error codes and photos via SMS link
- If unresolved, schedule a specialist with all steps prefilled
Knowledge and FAQs
- Policy, pricing, eligibility, hours, coverage, product specs
- How-to guidance with links sent by SMS/email for long instructions
- Store locations, inventory checks, and nearest-available times
Identity and eligibility checks
- KYC/IDV via OTP, DOB/ZIP match, or approved ID services
- Benefits/plan eligibility and deductible remaining
- Quote generation for standard products and upgrades
Intake and triage
- New ticket creation with structured fields and priority tagging
- Complaint or cancellation intent capture, reason codes, and warm transfer to retention
- Lead qualification: capture needs, budget, and timeline; route to sales
Proactive service
- Outbound reminders: appointments, renewals, expiring cards
- Proactive incident messaging with self-service options
- Post-interaction surveys and opt-in preference updates
What to expect for containment and impact (typical ranges)
- FAQs and policy lookups: 80–95% containment
- Order status and tracking: 70–90%
- Appointment scheduling/changes: 60–85%
- Password reset/account unlock: 85–95%
- Address/contact updates: 70–90%
- Payments and billing info: 60–80% (higher with clean PCI flows)
- Tier 0 troubleshooting: 40–70% resolution; the rest transfer with full context
- Intake/triage: saves 2–5 minutes AHT on escalated calls
When AI should escalate to human agent?
- Low confidence on key fields after one retry
- Policy exceptions, refunds beyond threshold, or discretionary credits
- Emotional cues (frustration, distress) or explicit human request
- Tool/API failures or conflicting data across systems
My suggestion is to let AI handle the predictable, policy-driven, and data-backed work so your experts can focus on nuance: negotiations, complex troubleshooting, and relationship building. Start with transactional tasks, measure containment and CSAT, and expand steadily. The result is faster service for customers and more meaningful work for your team.
