AI Reformation Blog
Read to learn how generative artificial intelligence is shaping customer service for e-commerce, medical clinics, SaaS and other businesses.
It’s probably hard to disagree that every business strives to have the best customer experience. Most choose to expand their customer service team so that they can respond to customer questions as quickly as possible. But what happens when customers want an answer in the middle of the night? Or when there are so many inquiries that the only solution is to continue expanding the team?
In this article, we will look at how artificial intelligence can help solve such problems.
Already in 2023, large Lithuanian businesses, such as Tele2, noticed a change in customer expectations. According to D. Andriuškaitė , customers want their problems to be resolved as quickly as possible - with one call or message.
Naturally, as a business grows, customer traffic also increases, which means more inquiries. However, most often, customer problems become repetitive. It is easy to imagine an e-commerce store receiving hundreds of questions about the location of a shipment, product specifications, or a clinic receiving calls to book an appointment. As a result, both the customer service specialist who answers repetitive inquiries and the business itself, which pays the specialist to do this, suffer.
If 10 years ago this seemed like fiction, artificial intelligence, which has become popular in the past few years, is now able to provide fast and effective assistance without human intervention . This is a great alternative for businesses seeking to reduce staff workload and costs.
Businesses using artificial intelligence not only gain innovation, but also other advantages important for customer service.
Although most Lithuanian customer service teams are available on weekdays until 5 p.m., this does not mean that customers will not have questions at other times. Artificial intelligence is excellent at serving customers around the clock, and can solve customer problems even at 3 a.m.
Although most businesses have a comprehensive FAQ section on their websites, customers still often ask questions like: “How much does shipping cost?” , “Can I return an item?”, “Do you work on holidays?”, “What is the tracking ID for my shipment?” , etc.
Artificial intelligence can answer these questions in a matter of moments, and the customer service specialist, freed from these inquiries, can focus on tasks that bring more value.
For example, the Parnidia AI assistant installed in the “ Home by NB ” e-store had 707 conversations in the first month, which resulted in 123 hours saved per month.
As we mentioned before, customers want a solution to their problem as quickly as possible. Artificial intelligence is great at handling multiple requests at once, so no one has to wait in line .
After all, no one likes to wait 20 minutes to call the reception at the clinic.
Fast service does not go unnoticed. For example, the AI ​​assistant of the “Home by NB” e-store is rated positively by 9 out of 10 visitors. Happy customers usually become loyal customers who will return to the same store in the future.
This is where Ž. Šeškauskis, a business analyst at “Home by NB”, sees the greatest benefit in artificial intelligence-driven customer service.
Apart from its speed and 24/7 availability, artificial intelligence is characterized by its accuracy.
It is important to emphasize that in order to minimize the AI ​​assistant's hallucination, its knowledge is limited to the client's website and PDF files containing additional information about products, procedures, etc.
In this case, human errors are avoided, and artificial intelligence for business ensures that important information is not forgotten and all answers are accurate and high-quality.
It is obvious that large foreign businesses such as Nike, eBay, and Unilever, which have been using AI assistants in customer service since 2021 , receive countless requests every day.
In this case, artificial intelligence helps manage the volume of requests and increase the customer service team.
In a Gartner survey conducted in 2025 , 85% of executives responsible for customer service plan to try AI assistants. Most see AI bringing the most value to businesses by reducing costs and increasing revenue and quality.
Returning to “Home by NB”, the company of famous artist Natalija Bunkė, which implemented the Parnidia AI assistant, calculated that it saves 21,135 euros per year and faces a 587% payback.
Below you will find how you can use the AI ​​assistant on e-commerce and clinic pages.
We mentioned earlier that artificial intelligence can handle simple, repetitive questions perfectly, such as “Where is my item?”, “Can you change the shipping address?”, “Can you apply a discount to this product?”, “I want to return the item.”.
But the AI ​​assistant can do more than that.
According to a 2023 PwC survey , 50% of customers who come to a physical store expect help from a knowledgeable and helpful salesperson working in the hall. So it's no surprise that similar customer expectations exist when shopping online.
At any time of day, an AI assistant can become the smartest consultant, knowing every detail and specification about every product in the store.
Whether it's the most effective cream for dry skin , the most suitable leg brace after an injury , the most effective hair styler for curly hair , or headlight bulbs for a specific car brand. With each question, artificial intelligence will select the most suitable products from the product catalog and recommend them to the customer, increasing the likelihood of purchase.
In addition to product recommendations, the AI ​​assistant is also able to identify shoppers who added items to their cart but never purchased them.
In an experiment conducted by Lietuvos Rytas journalist A. Daukševič in 2016, she failed to call and register at Vilnius Šeškinė and Karoliniškė polyclinics several times. Although she managed to call Vilnius Center polyclinic fairly quickly, the journalist's experiment only proves that calling Lithuanian polyclinics is either very difficult or practically impossible.
This is where artificial intelligence can come in handy, both in writing and through voice. Patients who want to register could do so with the help of an AI assistant by visiting an e-commerce website, or by calling the front desk, where an artificial intelligence will be waiting on the other end of the line.
As we mentioned before, artificial intelligence is capable of serving multiple clients at the same time, so patients would not have to wait in any queues. A call to the clinic that used to be a headache would turn into a simple call.
We can't forget about service recommendations either. Here, an AI assistant could listen to patients' complaints and suggest which procedure they should book.
24/7 service would ensure that a person in pain would not have to wait until the next morning to call the front desk.
The Parnidia AI assistant implemented on the PilÄ—nai clinic website has exceeded the expectations of the clinic's managers, and their patients can enjoy fast and high-quality service. This allows the clinic to strengthen relationships with its patients, who remain loyal in the future.
Once you decide to implement an AI assistant on your website, the next steps are simple. Here's how you can do it with Parnidia:
While the public still sees Artificial Intelligence as a new thing, the benefits and applications of AI assistants are slowly becoming apparent. Automated customer service allows customers to get quick, yet accurate answers, while employees can focus on more important tasks. This is a win-win situation for everyone.
It's important to remember that current innovations move at lightning speed. What seems like something straight out of a science fiction book today may become standard industry practice tomorrow.
If your business sees the value of Artificial Intelligence in customer service, then you're on your way with Parnidia! You can sign up for a free consultation, during which we will analyze your company and suggest how an AI assistant can help your business.
Don't forget, by using automation, you ensure that every customer request is resolved quickly and accurately - a benefit for both your customers and yourself.
Customer Service
In today's fast-paced business environment, traditional customer service models are increasingly showing their age. Human receptionists and customer service representatives, once the gold standard of customer interaction, are now struggling to keep pace with modern expectations. The limitations have become glaringly apparent: restricted availability during business hours, inconsistent service quality, and the inevitable human fatigue that sets in after hours of repetitive inquiries.
Consider the typical customer service scenario: A customer calls with an urgent question outside of business hours, only to be greeted by a voicemail promising a callback "during regular business hours." According to recent statistics from Zendesk, customers now expect responses within minutes, not hours or days, with 51% of consumers preferring to interact with bots over humans when they want immediate service.
The traditional model simply wasn't designed for the 24/7 digital economy where customers expect instant gratification and seamless experiences across all touchpoints. This gap has created an urgent need for customer support automation solutions that can deliver consistent service around the clock.
As businesses scale, the pressure on customer support teams intensifies exponentially. According to Zendesk's Customer Experience Trends Report 2024, 59% of consumers believe generative AI will change how they interact with companies in the next two years, signaling a significant shift in customer expectations.
This rising demand for efficiency isn't just about speed—it's about consistency, accuracy, and availability. Businesses are finding themselves at a crossroads: either significantly expand their customer service teams (with all the associated costs and management challenges) or implement customer support automation that can scale without sacrificing quality.
The challenge is particularly acute for businesses experiencing rapid growth or those with seasonal fluctuations in customer inquiries. During peak periods, even well-staffed teams can buckle under the pressure, leading to longer wait times and frustrated customers.
Enter AI voice agents—sophisticated, conversational AI systems designed specifically for customer interactions. Unlike the clunky, frustrating IVR systems of the past, modern AI voice agents engage in natural, flowing conversations that can understand context, remember details, and adapt to the customer's needs in real-time.
Companies like PolyAI and Retell AI are deploying voice agents that can handle complex customer inquiries with a level of sophistication that was unimaginable just a few years ago. These AI systems are not just answering simple FAQs; they're booking appointments, troubleshooting technical issues, and processing orders with appropriate empathy.
According to Zendesk’s report, 70% of CX leaders believe chatbots are becoming skilled architects of highly personalized customer journeys, and 72% expect AI agents to be an extension of their brand's identity. Perhaps most tellingly, 75% of CX leaders see AI as a force for amplifying human intelligence, not replacing it—making customer support automation a complementary rather than competitive technology.
AI voice agents represent the cutting edge of customer support automation, combining sophisticated natural language processing, machine learning, and voice recognition technologies to create systems capable of having natural, human-like conversations with customers. Unlike traditional chatbots or IVR systems that follow rigid scripts and decision trees, modern AI voice agents can understand context, remember conversation history, and adapt their responses in real-time based on customer needs.
At their core, AI voice agents are designed to simulate human conversation while delivering consistent, accurate information and assistance. They can understand natural language input, including colloquialisms, interruptions, and even emotional cues, allowing them to respond appropriately to a wide range of customer inquiries.
The technology powering these customer support automation systems has evolved dramatically in recent years. What began as simple rule-based systems has transformed into sophisticated AI platforms capable of learning from each interaction and continuously improving their performance.
The conversation flow of an AI voice agent begins with speech recognition, converting the customer's spoken words into text. This text is then processed through natural language understanding (NLU) components that identify the customer's intent, extract key information, and determine the appropriate response path. The system generates a response using natural language generation techniques, which is then converted back into speech using text-to-speech technology.
What sets advanced AI voice agents apart is their context awareness and memory capabilities. They can maintain the thread of a conversation across multiple turns, remembering previous questions and answers to provide coherent, contextually appropriate responses. For example, if a customer asks about booking a hotel room and then follows up with "How much does it cost?", the system understands that "it" refers to the hotel room mentioned previously.
Modern customer support automation solutions incorporate sophisticated learning and improvement mechanisms, continuously analyzing interactions to identify patterns and refine their responses accordingly.
Traditional customer service models built around human receptionists face several inherent limitations. One of the most significant pain points is the constraint of limited availability and long wait times. Human staff can only work certain hours, creating gaps in service availability during evenings, weekends, and holidays—precisely when many customers have the time to make inquiries.
The challenge of maintaining consistent service quality presents another major hurdle. Human performance naturally varies based on factors like experience, training, mood, and fatigue. According to Zendesk's research, 68% of consumers believe chatbots should have the same level of expertise and quality as highly skilled human agents—a standard that's difficult to maintain across large human teams without customer support automation.
Scaling challenges during peak periods represent perhaps the most frustrating aspect of traditional customer service models. Businesses face a difficult choice: either staff for peak demand (which means paying for excess capacity during slower periods) or staff for average demand (which results in long wait times during busy periods).
Beyond the obvious operational challenges, human-only reception models carry significant hidden costs. Training and turnover expenses represent a substantial ongoing investment, with the average cost to hire and train a new customer service representative ranging from $5,000 to $7,500 according to industry estimates. With turnover rates in customer service roles often exceeding 30% annually, these costs quickly accumulate.
Productivity limitations further compound the expense of human-only models. Even the most efficient human agents can only handle one conversation at a time, and they require breaks, administrative time, and training sessions that reduce their availability for customer interactions.
Perhaps most overlooked are the opportunity costs of misdirected talent. When skilled human agents spend their time answering routine questions and performing repetitive tasks, their unique human capabilities—empathy, complex problem-solving, and creative thinking—are underutilized. Customer support automation frees these valuable resources for higher-value activities.
The human element of traditional customer service models introduces emotional and psychological factors that affect both agents and customers. Agent burnout from repetitive inquiries is a well-documented phenomenon, with customer service consistently ranking among the most stressful occupations.
On the customer side, frustration with wait times creates negative emotional associations with the brand before the actual service interaction even begins. The cumulative impact on brand perception can be substantial. According to customer experience research, it takes approximately 12 positive experiences to make up for one negative experience.
One of the most compelling advantages of AI voice agents is their ability to provide true 24/7 availability with instant response times. According to the Retell AI case study with Everise, implementing customer support automation reduced call wait times from 5-6 minutes to zero—a 100% improvement.
Holiday and after-hours coverage represents another significant advantage. As noted in the PolyAI case study with Atos, this capability allowed the company to close their call centers on public holidays "much to the delight of our team," while maintaining service continuity for customers.
Perhaps most impressively, AI voice agents can handle multiple inquiries simultaneously, effectively eliminating the concept of "peak periods" that strain traditional call centers. Whether handling ten calls or ten thousand, the system can scale instantly to meet demand without degradation in response time or service quality.
The ability to maintain service quality regardless of call volume represents one of the most significant advantages of AI voice agents over human receptionists. AI voice agents deliver precisely the same level of service to every caller, ensuring consistent brand representation and customer experience.
The PolyAI case study with Atos revealed that their AI voice assistant handles the workload equivalent to between 50-95 full-time agents depending on call volume, representing approximately 12-23% of their UK Customer Interaction Center's headcount. This elastic capacity allows businesses to accommodate sudden spikes in call volume without the need for emergency staffing measures.
Standardized information delivery ensures that every customer receives accurate, up-to- date information regardless of when they call or which virtual agent they interact with.
This consistency eliminates the common customer frustration of receiving different answers to the same question depending on which representative they speak with—a key benefit of customer support automation.
The reduction in operational expenses achieved through AI voice agent implementation can be substantial. According to the Atos case study, their PolyAI voice assistant operates at 50% of the cost of a full-time employee while handling the workload of dozens of human agents.
The Everise case study demonstrated that implementing Retell AI's voice agents saved 600 man-hours per month—time that could be reinvested in improving other aspects of the customer experience or developing new products and services.
The long-term financial benefits of customer support automation extend beyond direct cost savings to include improved customer retention and increased lifetime value. By providing consistent, high-quality service experiences, businesses can reduce customer churn and strengthen brand loyalty.
While quantitative metrics clearly demonstrate the operational advantages of AI voice agents, the qualitative differences in customer experience are equally important.
Modern customer support automation systems are designed to create positive emotional connections through natural conversation flow, appropriate tone modulation, and personalized interactions based on customer history and preferences.
Brand representation consistency is another area where AI voice agents excel. Human receptionists inevitably vary in how they represent the brand, despite training and scripts. AI voice agents, by contrast, can be precisely calibrated to embody the brand's voice, values, and personality in every interaction.
Integration with digital ecosystems provides perhaps the most forward-looking advantage. AI voice agents can seamlessly connect with websites, mobile apps, CRM systems, and other digital platforms to create truly omnichannel customer experiences.
Hopper, a leading online travel agency serving travelers in over 100 countries worldwide, faced a significant challenge in handling complex travel inquiries with consistent and immediate phone support. To address this challenge, Hopper implemented a generative AI voice assistant from PolyAI that uses Retrieval Augmented Generation (RAG) to reference Hopper's existing knowledge base and craft personalized responses.
The results have been impressive: PolyAI's voice assistant fully resolves 15% of Hopper's call volume independently, providing immediate support to travelers 24/7 without any
wait time. According to Jo Lai, VP of Customer Experience at Hopper, "The PolyAI voice assistant is exceptionally good at disambiguating what customers mean, even when they don't have the right words to be able to convey what it is they're asking about."
This customer support automation success story demonstrates how AI voice agents can effectively handle complex inquiries in specialized industries like travel.
Atos, a global leader in digital transformation with 110,000 employees worldwide, faced the challenge of effectively handling seasonal and unpredictable demand peaks while delivering engaging customer experiences at scale. As the customer service provider for a government-backed financial service, Atos was contractually obligated to provide 24- hour phone service, 365 days a year.
PolyAI implemented a voice assistant solution that could scale dynamically with call volumes, making demand peaks more manageable while reducing overstaffing during quiet times. The implementation delivered remarkable results: a 30% reduction in agent call volumes, with the AI voice assistant handling the workload equivalent to between 50-95 full-time agents depending on call volume—approximately 12-23% of their UK Customer Interaction Center's headcount. Most importantly, this was achieved at 50% of the cost of a full-time employee.
Beyond the operational metrics, the implementation had significant positive impacts on agent well-being. Before the voice assistant, Atos colleagues supported customers 24/7/365, requiring overnight, weekend, and holiday shifts. The customer support automation solution allowed Atos to refocus their people on supporting customers during condensed hours, improving work-life balance and aiding in recruitment and retention.
Everise, a leading customer experience company with over 20,000 employees worldwide, specializes in delivering seamless customer experiences for clients across industries like healthcare, logistics, and travel. With 90% of their business touching voice channels, Everise recognized the transformative potential of voice AI and decided to test it within their own internal global service desk.
Working with Mindcraft Labs, Everise implemented Retell AI's voice agents to create an intelligent "middle layer" between employees and service desk resources. The results were transformative: Retell AI's voice agents contained 65% of tickets without human intervention, saved 600 man-hours per month, and achieved a 100% reduction in call wait time—from 5-6 minutes to zero.
Determining whether your organization is ready to implement customer support automation requires honest assessment of several key factors. First, consider your current customer service pain points—are you struggling with high call volumes, long wait times, inconsistent service quality, or after-hours coverage? These challenges often indicate strong potential for AI voice agent implementation.
Next, evaluate your technical infrastructure and data readiness. Do you have well- documented customer service processes, a comprehensive knowledge base, and systems that can integrate with AI platforms? Finally, assess your organizational culture and change readiness. Successful implementation requires leadership support, clear communication, and a willingness to reimagine customer service operations.
If you determine that AI voice agents could benefit your organization, several initial steps can help ensure a successful implementation. Begin by identifying specific, high-volume use cases where customer support automation could deliver immediate value— appointment scheduling, order status inquiries, or account management are common starting points.
Next, audit your existing customer service data, including call recordings, chat logs, and knowledge base articles, which will provide valuable training material for your AI system. Then, research potential vendors, focusing on those with experience in your industry and proven integration capabilities with your existing systems.
Ready to explore how AI voice agents could transform your customer service operations? You can reach out to us for a personalized consultation and demonstration of our bookingautomationand automated email responsecapabilities.
While the immediate benefits of AI voice agents are compelling, the long-term strategic implications deserve careful consideration. Organizations that approach customer support automation as part of a broader customer experience transformation—rather than simply a cost-cutting measure—typically achieve more sustainable and significant benefits.
This strategic perspective ensures that automation enhances rather than diminishes the customer relationship, creating experiences that strengthen loyalty and differentiate your brand.
The evidence is clear: AI voice agents offer significant advantages over traditional human receptionist models in many aspects of customer service. From 24/7 availability and instant response times to consistent service quality and seamless scalability, these customer support automation systems address the fundamental limitations of human- only approaches while delivering measurable business benefits. The case studies from PolyAI and Retell AI demonstrate that these advantages translate into real-world results—reduced operational costs, improved resolution times, and enhanced customer satisfaction.
Despite these compelling advantages, the most successful customer service strategies don't view AI as a complete replacement for human interaction. Rather, they leverage AI voice agents to handle routine inquiries at scale while redirecting human talent toward complex issues and high-value interactions that benefit from uniquely human capabilities. As Zendesk's research indicates, 75% of CX leaders see AI as a force for amplifying human intelligence, not replacing it—suggesting that the future lies in collaboration rather than substitution.
As customer expectations continue to evolve and AI capabilities advance, organizations that embrace AI voice agents today will be better positioned to adapt to tomorrow's customer service landscape. By starting now, businesses can gain valuable experience and insights that will inform their ongoing customer experience evolution, ensuring they remain competitive in an increasingly automated and personalized service environment.
The question is no longer whether customer support automation can outperform human receptionists in customer service—the data clearly shows it can in many scenarios. The real question is how quickly and effectively your organization will embrace this transformation to create more efficient operations, more satisfying customer experiences, and more engaging roles for your customer service team.
AI Voice Agent
Customer Service
.png)
Voiceflow is a leading platform for designing and deploying advanced conversational AI agents.
We are verified Voiceflow experts.