Vonage 2025 Report Highlights AI's Impact On Customer Engagement

KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 21 (Bernama) -- Vonage, a global leader in cloud communications, highlights key insights into customer preferences for communication with businesses, emphasising the rising influence of artificial intelligence (AI) in enhancing customer interactions in its Global Customer Engagement Report 2025.

Vonage Global Head of Applications, Reggie Scales noted that AI technology is reshaping how consumers engage with brands, with AI being layered over traditional communication methods like voice, video, and messaging.

“Engaging with customers on their channel of choice with features and capabilities that are more personalised, more automated and more meaningful will continue to set businesses up for success,” he said in a statement.

This year’s data builds on trends from last year’s report, showing a continued increase in comfort with and adoption of AI-powered interactions, suggesting a growing demand for these interactions across a wide offering of communications vehicles to meet customers on their channels of choice.

The report reveals that consumers are increasingly open to AI-powered interactions, with notable increases in the use of chatbots (up to 32 per cent), video chat (28 per cent), voice assistants (26 per cent), and automated phone support (25 per cent) over the next six to 12 months.

Globally, AI’s role varies by region. In Asia Pacific, AI-enabled communications such as non-short message service (SMS) apps (31 per cent), phone calls via messaging apps (30 per cent), live chat via mobile app (25 per cent), and video chats (14 per cent) are gaining traction.

Meanwhile, in the United States, consumers are focused on SMS text messages, mobile phone calls, and email, showing moderate interest in moving toward more AI-enabled channels, such as messaging via non-SMS apps (26 per cent), push notifications (23 per cent), and phone calls via messaging apps (20 per cent).

This year’s findings also reiterate some of the common customer challenges that are paving the way for AI-powered solutions, with respondents reporting the highest level of frustrations with long wait times to speak to agents (65 per cent), contacting customer service multiple times (65 per cent) and multiple transfers (63 per cent).

By enhancing these connections through the power of AI, a virtual assistant, chatbot, or smart interactive voice response (IVR) can eliminate long hold times or respond to inquiries around the clock, while skills-based routing can transfer to the right agent when a human touch is required. The report shows that a positive experience can significantly increase customer loyalty and lead to more purchases.

Conducted in September 2024, the Global Customer Engagement survey included more than 7,000 participants across 17 global markets, exploring the varied channels customers use for communicating and the immense value of delivering excellent customer service.

-- BERNAMA