When it comes to voicemail recognition, two main options are available: Faster Voicemail Detection and Smarter Voicemail Detection. Each has its strengths and limitations, so understanding their differences can help you choose the right approach for your specific needs.
1. Faster Voicemail Detection
This option is optimized for speed and cost-effectiveness. By default, it uses efficient processors designed to minimize call duration and save you money. However, this speed comes with a trade-off:
Risk of False Positives (Calls identified as Voicemail even if a person picked up the phone): The faster method might mistakenly identify a live person as voicemail, which could impact your results in certain scenarios. With this option active almost all voicemail calls will be detected in less than 1-2 seconds, but for some calls the AI will consider the call a voicemail even though it seems obvious that a person answered when you listen to the call recording.
We are consistently working on decreasing how often this happens, but it is at the moment a consequence of pushing the AI Agent to make a quicker decision on most calls. Thus, with this option active, you will have to accept that for some calls the AI will simply act in a “weird” way.
If keeping costs low and processing calls quickly is your priority, the faster option is the best choice and most of our customers running live campaigns choose this option.
With the option “faster” the average time per Voicemail call tends to be between 3-4 seconds, but note that you will still have some calls that are as long as 40-70 seconds. Since the percentage of such calls is small it will still have small impact on the average time per Voicemail call when looking at statistics for all your call.
2. Smarter Voicemail Detection
The smarter detection option focuses on accuracy, providing better recognition results. It analyzes calls more thoroughly, reducing the risk of false positives (Calls identified as Voicemail even if a person picked up the phone). However, this comes at the cost of increased processing time.
More Accurate Detection: The option “smarter” system ensures a larger percentage of calls are correctly identified as Voicemail or Not Voicemail.
Longer Processing Time: Be prepared for slightly longer call durations, which will make the average cost of voicemail calls higher than with the option “faster”.
Choose this option if precise detection is more important for you than keeping costs minimal.
With the option “smarter” the average time per Voicemail call tends to be between 5-10 seconds, but note that you will still have some calls that are as long as 40-70 seconds. Since the percentage of such calls is small it will still have small impact on the average time per Voicemail call when looking at statistics for all your call.
What About IVR Systems?
Interactive Voice Response (IVR) systems are particularly challenging to detect. Even humans can struggle to differentiate between IVR and voicemail in some cases, so it’s understandable that machines might make mistakes as well.
Machine Limitations: While voicemail recognition technology has improved, IVR detection remains a complex task. It’s important to set realistic expectations and understand that no system can achieve 100% accuracy with IVR.
Because of this we strongly recommend putting more energy and resources into getting a higher quality list with mostly direct dial number or mobile phone numbers to minimize the number of calls reaching IVRs or Voice assistants.
Making the Right Choice
To decide which voicemail recognition method to use, consider the following:
Prioritize speed and cost? Choose Faster Voicemail Detection.
Need high accuracy? Opt for Smarter Voicemail Detection.
Dealing with IVR? Understand the limitations and plan accordingly.
By aligning your choice with your specific goals, you can understand what to expect and optimize your system’s performance and achieve the best balance between cost, speed, and accuracy.