How do older or less tech-savvy customers respond to AI calls?
It varies. Some older or less tech-savvy customers are polite and answer; others get confused, talk over the agent or ask for a person. The things that help are speaking their language, a slower and clearer opening, short questions, and an easy route to a human. No dependable Indian figure says how any group reacts, so test with your own customers.
There is no single reaction
Age and comfort with technology do not predict much on their own. A retired customer who has spent years on phone banking may handle an AI call easily. A younger customer who dislikes unknown numbers may hang up in five seconds. What matters more is whether the call is clear, relevant and in the right language.
What tends to cause confusion
- —A fast, formal opening that sounds like a recording
- —English-only calls to customers who think in a regional language
- —Long multi-part questions
- —Not knowing who is calling or why
- —Being unable to get a person
What helps
- —Call in the customer's language, including the English they mix in. Outpero speaks Hindi, Telugu, Tamil, Marathi, Kannada, Malayalam and Indian English and switches to English when the caller does
- —Open with who you are, the business and the reason in one short sentence
- —Ask one thing at a time and confirm what you heard
- —Allow interruptions, since people who are unsure often talk over the agent
- —Offer a person plainly, and where it is enabled, transfer the call to your team
Where AI is a weak fit
For customers who are elderly, distressed or dealing with something serious, such as a medical result or a bereavement-related account matter, a human call is more respectful. Use the AI for reminders and routine confirmations in those groups and keep the sensitive calls with people.
A customer who answers in a language the agent does not support, such as Bengali, Gujarati or Punjabi, should be routed to a person.
Find out for yourself
Segment a pilot by age band or customer type if you hold that data, read the transcripts and track hang-ups in the first ten seconds. Your own records will tell you more than any generalisation.
Also consider timing and the number. Customers of any age are more likely to answer a call from a consistent business number they recognise than from a changing set of unknown numbers, and a consistent opening each time helps them know what to expect.
Want to hear an AI voice agent handle this on a real call?