What Is Voice Broadcast Messaging & What Is it Used for?

Voice Broadcast Messaging (or VBM), in its simplest form, has been around since the ‘80s. But with the recent renewed interest in voice technology, VBM is coming back into the spotlight. So, what exactly is it – and how is it helping the companies who use it in their communications?

What is Voice Broadcast Messaging?

Voice Broadcasting Messaging, also known as Voice Messaging, is the ability to deliver messages using automated voice calls.

The most common types of VBM involve either pre-recorded audios or text-to-speech messages with the ability to personalize the message.

Each of these types of messages has characteristics that make them ideal for certain applications. Voice broadcast allows for interaction with the recipient of the call through the numeric keypad of their phone based on options described in the message, such as entering a number to choose an option or entering a sequence of numbers belonging to an ID.

How to use Voice Broadcast Messaging?

When we think of automated voice calls, we think of machine answering services used by providers or large agencies. Voice broadcast messaging is about using those same resources but extending their use to proactive communication with customers. VBM can be as flexible and cheap as, say, email, however with the added benefit of accessing the customer more directly.

Some specific ways in which VBM could be used include:

• To improve engagement and build relationships with customers by sending them a store’s special offers with, for example, an influencer’s pre-recorded audio.
• To offer easy appointment management by giving the patient the ability to cancel or confirm the appointment using their phone’s keypad
• To get quick customer feedback by running customer satisfaction surveys.
• To prevent fraud by providing one-time passwords (OTP) through a text-to-speech voice call.

VBM is easily applicable to a wide range of industries and practices, but common areas in which the technology is being revitalised include marketing, customer service, operations and even internal communications.

How Voice Broadcast Messaging fits into your company’s communications

The success of implementing VBM depends on clearly defining who, when and what the organization wants to deliver through it. Finding a consultant that can guide the implementation of VBM could be a valuable step for easy API integration.

Like many other communication channels such as SMS, RCS, Email and OTT applications, VBM is part of a family and therefore complements a communication suite.

As a cloud-based mobile communications provider, at Soprano Design we have the expertise to guide organizations on how to implement and apply this technology to deliver the best outcomes.

We have developed a wide number of capabilities and features within the Soprano Connect platform that allows VBM to be applied in multiple use cases, within an ecosystem that includes other mobile communication channels such as SMS, RCS, OTT, and email applications.

By cross-integrating capabilities and features across a range of mobile communication channels, we help organizations capitalize on VBM’s full potential.

In the past, VBM required deep knowledge to be able to set up successful campaigns. Nowadays, text-to-speech and speech-to-text recognition allow interactive voice transmissions to be generated with almost zero technical knowledge.

Soprano’s automated voice messaging solution delivers personalized voice messages over the phone. This includes some interesting features like:

• Interactive Voice Response (IVR) that allows you to route incoming calls to the correct user and create a personalized experience.
• Text Broadcast Messaging – To reach customers directly on their phone with an SMS that works like a fallback.
• VBM for critical communications: The use of voice transmission is another efficient way to communicate urgent messages, and notifications and information about specific events such as flight delays, password warnings, payment reminders, etc.
• CRM integration for event-based activation: By integrating voice transmission with your CRM, it is possible to configure events that automatically trigger intelligent voice transmissions. Events can be scheduled on specific days, based on the customer interaction history, or settled after a certain action taken by the customer.  It’s interesting to underline that the Soprano Connect integration with the CRM also allows the personalization of voice transmissions, in order to set up a single message that automatically includes each recipient’s name and account details.