Post-Covid travel has been on the rise! Now more than ever, there’s a demand to globe trot around the world. According to the UN World Tourism Organization, 900 million tourists traveled internationally last year. Also, per the US Travel Association, travel spending was up last month by 5% above 2019 and 9% above 2022 for a total of $93 billion (February 2023). With this surge of international tourism comes the need for businesses to provide top-notch customer service that caters to different languages and cultures.
Why IVR Localization Matters
An Interactive Voice Response (IVR) system is essential to a business’s customer service strategy. It enables a call center to streamline customer calls and provide 24/7 automated support. To ensure that IVR systems can effectively accommodate international travelers, businesses need to consider localization and translation accuracy.
Localization is the process of adapting products, services, and content to different languages and cultural specifications. It’s essential for a call center to provide a personalized experience for its customers. The biggest benefit of a localized IVR system is that it can significantly improve customer satisfaction and reduce frustration. When customers are greeted in their local language, they’re more likely to trust the system and feel confident in their ability to achieve a successful outcome. This can lead to improved customer engagement, reduced call abandonment rates, and increased loyalty. Per a Salesforce study, 90% of customers say the experience a company provides is as important as its Product or Services.
The IVR Solution Ceiling
IVR systems have evolved from human recordings to pre-programmed ‘fixed tree’ responses using voice bots. To an extent, these voicebots can understand and interpret human speech. While they’re a major upgrade to voice recordings, their effectiveness is inconsistent. Translation accuracy is critical in IVR systems, as even small errors can lead to confusion and friction for customers. How many times have you been on a call with a call center speaking English that can’t pick up on your response? It’s annoying! In the information age, our lifestyle requires technology that can expedite and create efficient experiences. Continued development and improvement are needed to ensure that they can effectively meet the needs of diverse global audiences.
ChatGPT’s Language Translation
Amidst these challenges comes an opportunity thanks to the proliferation of Generative AI. As many of us have experienced, translation can be hit or miss. AI language models, such as ChatGPT, offer advanced translation capabilities that can significantly improve the accuracy and fluency of translated content. ChatGPT is trained on large amounts of data and can come up with more accurate translations of languages and dialects. Spanish alone has at least 29 dialects! In addition, they can detect nuances in language and tone, which are particularly important in customer service contexts where emotions are involved. Integrating ChatGPT’s AI chatbot with your IVR system gives your business an edge when communicating with foreign customers.
Below is an AI generated conversation between a multilingual traveler and ChatGPT. The conversation is intended to showcase the chatbot as a customer service rep responding in Mandarin.
ChatGPT translation into Mandarin.
AI Voice Generator: The Final Piece To The Puzzle
Now that we’ve shared how AI language models can enhance translation for your IVR system, we can dive into the final piece of localization. Translation without the right accent and cultural intonations is too robotic and can lead to confusion. We have the solution. Integrating ChatGPT’s translation and Resemble AI’s voice cloning technology with your IVR system vastly improves your localization capabilities. Not only can generative AI provide accurate translation through ChatGPT, but Resemble AI can create cultural authenticity with our Localization tool. With up to 60+ languages, Resemble AI’s realistic speech-to-speech/text-to-speech can complement ChatGPT’s translation to become your IVR localization stack. We bring the AI-generated conversation to life in the audio snippets below. Click play to hear for yourself!
Mandarin IVR - Line 1
Mandarin IVR - Line 2
Lets see and hear our pseudo generative AI powered IVR respond to the same multilingual customer in French below.
ChatGPT translation into French
French IVR - Hotel
Undoubtedly, International travelers have many needs when abroad. Below are two more instances where Spanish and Hindi speakers require custom localization to resolve their banking and airline questions. Again we combine generative translation and voice AI to meet the customer’s needs.
ChatGPT translation into Spanish
Spanish IVR - Banking
ChatGPT translation into Hindi
Hindi IVR - Airlines
The Future of IVR Is AI Voice
Finally as businesses continue to expand into global markets, the demand for multilingual customer service is likely to increase. The future is likely to see hybrid models combining AI-powered technology with human support. AI Voice and translation can handle routine queries, while human agents handle more complex or emotional issues. This approach can provide customers with the best of both worlds – the speed and efficiency of AI-powered technology, combined with the empathy and understanding of human support. We encourage you to explore our Localization tool’s capabilities by booking a demo.
Dip Your Toes Into Free Generative Voice AI
Before you go, clone your voice for free using our generative voice AI technology. Once you clone your voice, use text-to-speech or speech-to-speech to hear generative AI at work! If you’re really curious hearing yourself speak Korean or a realistic British accent check out our localization feature of over 60+ languages.
