Talk or type? Voicebot vs chatbot for growing businesses

Your team has gotten better at juggling than a recurring act at the Renaissance Faire. But they’re not juggling knives and flaming torches. They’re bouncing between constant website messages and nonstop voice calls. It’s a stressful cycle of answering the same common questions while trying to keep customers from hanging up or clicking away. 

This is where AI-powered tools like voicebots and chatbots step in to automate those conversations. While one handles phone calls, the other manages text-based chat on your site or app. Whether you need one or a combination of both, the difference in how they work matters. 

This guide breaks down each tool’s strengths, when to use them, and why your choice of provider is just as important as the bot itself.

What’s the difference between a voicebot and a chatbot?

A chatbot lives on your website, app, or social media page. It’s a type of tool that simulates human-like conversations via text, not voice. If you’ve ever used language models like ChatGPT or messaging apps like Facebook Messenger, then you know how a chatbot works. Sure, you can type or dictate messages to a chatbot using speech-to-text technology. You can even turn the chatbot’s text replies into speech so you can hear them. 

But using your voice during the interaction doesn’t make it a voicebot.

A voicebot is an AI voice agent that communicates with users verbally, usually when a customer calls your business directly. There’s no typing or dictating. Instead, customers have natural conversations with the voicebot over a device, like a mobile phone. 

Here’s how voicebots process conversations:

1. Automatic speech recognition, or ASR. The voicebot automatically converts spoken words into text in real time — no need to type or ask your phone to dictate.
2. Natural language processing, or NLP, and natural language understanding, or NLU. Conversational AI tools like NLP and NLU figure out what the caller means and what they want to do.
3. Response generation. The voicebot chooses the right reply based on the caller’s intent.
4. Text-to-speech, or TTS. The voicebot automatically turns that reply into a voice response the caller hears.
   

Here’s a quick side-by-side comparison table to help you quickly break down the key differences. 

💡Want to learn more about voicebots? This short video explains what AI answering services, also known as voicebots, are and why more growing businesses are starting to rely on them:

Decision framework checklist: Should your business use a voicebot or a chatbot?

When choosing between a voicebot and a chatbot, it’s crucial to know where customer conversations begin. It also helps to know how quickly people expect a response and what they’re trying to get done. 

Use this checklist if you’re leaning toward voicebots but aren’t sure.

You likely need a voicebot when:

Your team is missing phone calls that leave money on the table. 

You’re scaling and need more coverage, but don’t want the complexity or constant oversight that comes with outsourcing to a contact center or call center.

You need an AI receptionist that can transfer calls that are urgent or time-sensitive. Think of same-day bookings or service issues. 

You need after-hours or overflow coverage so calls are still answered when your team is unavailable or busy.

You want to automatically qualify leads from specific sources, such as ad campaigns.

Here are some of the most common use cases for chatbots.

You likely need a chatbot when:

You’re scaling support to visitors on your website or inside your app.

You have a high-volume of frequently asked questions that can be easily answered automatically. 

Customers need to upload files or screenshots to explain an issue.

Your customers prefer not to talk on the phone. 

Which industries should use a voicebot vs a chatbot?

As you can guess, where customers start the conversation with your business often comes down to their preferences or habits. For example, some people prefer to talk over the phone, while others don’t. So, that’s what should guide your decision, at least at first. As your business grows, you’ll likely find you need a voicebot and a chatbot to handle different kinds of customer inquiries.

Industries where a voicebot works best

A voicebot makes more sense for service-based industries like:

• Home service businesses like HVAC, plumbing, roofing, and electrical. Many customer calls are urgent — no heat, a burst pipe, a leaking roof, a power outage. They’re more likely to get frustrated by long response times. A voicebot ensures every call is answered and key details are captured. It can even transfer an emergency call to an external phone number after hours.
• Law firms. Most prospective clients prefer to call rather than fill out a form. A voicebot can act as your legal answering service by taking every call and capturing client details. That way, your team has the information they need before following up.
• Property management. Tenants and owners usually call about lease questions, move-in details, or maintenance requests. A voicebot can automatically handle many of these calls without property managers having to intervene. For more urgent requests, they can route calls to an alternate contact.
• Education. Prospective students and parents often call about programs, admissions, or campus details. A voicebot can answer their FAQs and even send them relevant website links during live calls via SMS.
• Ecommerce and retail brands selling high-ticket products. Customers often want to speak to a rep over the phone before buying expensive items. That’s where conversational AI in ecommerce comes in. A voicebot can answer their initial product questions and capture information, such as their name and phone number. That way, your team can follow up with context and close the sale.

Industries where a chatbot works best

Industries where customers are more likely to begin interactions via chatbot include:

• Restaurants and hospitality businesses. Guests often have questions about restaurant hours or booking a table while visiting your website. A chatbot can answer those questions instantly and let them reserve a spot right on your website — no phone call required.
• Ecommerce and retail brands selling inexpensive products. People usually don’t call before buying something inexpensive. But they’ll ask quick questions about your products or services while browsing your website. A chatbot makes it easier for customers to do this before checking out.
• Software as a service, or SaaS. When someone runs into an issue while using your app, an in-app chatbot can help them troubleshoot. A chatbot can also answer questions about pricing plans and connect users to a live rep when needed. 

How your business can use Quo’s AI voicebot, Sona

Instead of letting calls go to voicemail or paying for a traditional answering service, you can use Sona — Quo’s always-on AI voice agent. Sona lives inside Quo and can be placed at different parts of your call routing to answer calls 24/7. That means you’ll never miss a customer or lose an opportunity. Sona can also answer common questions and capture messages for your team to follow up on when they have time. 

Do your customers often call about urgent issues? Sona serves as a voice assistant that can transfer calls to a team member or an external phone number. It will also send texts to callers while they’re still on the phone to share booking links, intake forms, payment links, or directions.

You can also customize Sona’s language and personality settings to match your brand’s tone. For instance, you can decide whether Sona should sound more warm and friendly or more structured and professional. You can also choose whether Sona speaks English, Spanish, or French. That way, it’s accessible to your unique customer base and their preferred language.

Provide faster service and improve customer satisfaction with Quo 

Both voicebots and chatbots can take a lot off your team’s plate while improving the overall customer experience. You can use both tools to answer common FAQs, set up appointments, capture lead details, or streamline after-hours coverage. Both AI solutions offer personalized, around-the-clock service without intervention from your human agents.

But if your biggest priority is never missing a single call, we recommend our AI voice agent Sona. Built into Quo’s phone system, Sona is a tool that can:

• Receive calls 24/7, even after hours and during periods of high call volume.
• Answer common questions and take messages. 
• Capture details like company name, role, and business email so your team has context for follow-up.
• Share appointment scheduling links via text during live calls so your reps don’t have to.

Quo also provides features that let you:

• Make and receive unlimited calls in the US and Canada.
• Set up call routing so your team can share responsibility for incoming calls.
• Automate your workflows by plugging into CRM integrations like HubSpot and Salesforce.
• Eliminate repetitive tasks with texting automations like snippets that let you create pre-written answers to common questions your team fields via text message.

Ready to implement a voicebot with Quo? Take us for a spin with our seven-day free trial.

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