Phone support remains a significant channel in ecommerce. Even with the availability of chat widgets and email forms, a reported 80% of consumers still use the phone when they need an answer.
For years, however, the experience was often less than ideal, with many customers navigating phone trees with rigid responses.
Fortunately, technology is improving. The industry is moving past traditional phone systems and into an era of conversational AI that can understand natural language. Zendesk, a prominent name in customer service, offers its own voice AI agents. These are tools designed to manage customer calls autonomously.
So, is the Zendesk voice AI agent the right choice for your ecommerce brand? This guide provides a detailed look at what it offers, its costs, and a few key considerations to be aware of before making a decision.
What are Zendesk voice AI agents?
A Zendesk voice AI agent is an AI-powered bot within the Zendesk platform that handles customer phone calls.
It is built to do more than route callers to the right department. Using generative AI, it can understand natural, conversational language, allowing customers to speak to it as they would a person.
This represents an evolution from traditional Interactive Voice Response (IVR) systems that typically listen for specific keywords in a rigid script.
The goal is to facilitate a smooth, human-like conversation that resolves a customer's problem without an immediate handoff to a human agent.
Zendesk states its AI agents can handle and resolve over 50% of incoming calls on their own.
The objective is to let the AI take care of simple, repetitive questions. This allows human agents to have more time and energy for complex issues that require a person's touch.
Key Zendesk voice AI features for ecommerce phone support
Zendesk's primary strength is its all-in-one platform. The voice AI is not an add-on; it is built-in, working with the other support and analytics tools. This deep integration enables several useful features.
Autonomous call resolution
Zendesk’s AI is made to handle the entire call from start to finish. It can greet the customer, confirm their identity, understand multi-part questions, and even handle simple transactions by itself.
It’s designed to be a conversational partner.
Of course, AI can't solve everything. When a call becomes too complicated or a customer is clearly frustrated, the AI performs a smart handoff. It transfers the call to the appropriate human agent and includes the full conversation history.
This means customers do not have to repeat themselves, which can improve the experience for them and your agents.
AI-powered transcripts and summaries
A significant portion of a support agent's time can be spent on post-call work. They have to log notes, summarize the conversation, and create a ticket before they can help the next person.
Zendesk’s voice AI automates much of this. The moment a call is over, it creates a full transcript and a concise summary. This information appears directly in the agent’s workspace.
This can save significant time, reduce errors, and allow agents to get to more customers, faster.
Native integration with Zendesk QA and analytics
Since the voice AI is a native part of the platform, every call is automatically logged, transcribed, and available for review. All that data goes straight into the Zendesk dashboard, giving you a clear overview of your phone support performance.
This is where the Zendesk QA feature is especially useful. It allows managers to evaluate 100% of conversations, both with AI and humans, without listening to hours of recordings.
You can easily check on performance, identify agents who might need more training, spot customers who might be at risk of churn, and ensure every interaction meets your standards.
Setting up and pricing the Zendesk voice AI agent
Getting started with Zendesk’s voice AI involves a few steps. The features are bundled into their larger Zendesk Suite plans, so you must be on the right plan to gain access. Let’s walk through the setup process and cost structure.
The implementation process
Typically, the setup involves going into the Zendesk Admin Center, enabling the AI features, and then connecting your AI agent to a knowledge source.
This is where the AI will get its answers when customers call.
An important detail to note is that to provide generative, conversational answers, Zendesk's AI is built to primarily use the Zendesk Help Center as its knowledge base.
The AI works best when it's pulling information from articles you've written and published within Zendesk's system.
For some ecommerce stores, this presents a consideration. The information customers often need most, such as real-time order status, stock levels, and shipping updates, is dynamic and not typically found in a static help article.
It’s inside your Shopify store. This reliance on an internal knowledge base is an important factor for fast-paced online stores to consider.
A breakdown of Zendesk pricing
Zendesk's pricing is based on a per-agent, per-month fee. You pay for each human agent on the platform. The more advanced AI features are usually in the pricier plans or require separate add-ons.
Here’s a look at the Zendesk Suite plans that include their voice and AI features:
On top of the monthly fee, Zendesk also has a pay-as-you-go charge for automated resolutions. If you don't have a bulk plan, this can be around $2 per resolution.
That might not seem like a lot, but for an ecommerce business with high call volumes during peak seasons, these costs can accumulate and lead to variable monthly bills.
Key considerations for using the Zendesk voice AI agent in ecommerce
While Zendesk is a powerful platform, there are a few key considerations for ecommerce store owners. When running a fast-moving ecommerce business, you need tools that fit your specific needs.
Reliance on a knowledge ecosystem
As mentioned earlier, Zendesk’s AI provides its best answers when it's pulling from its own system, mainly the Zendesk Help Center.
For an ecommerce brand, this can be a significant challenge. The most common customer questions are not about general policies; they are about specific, live data.
"Where is my order?" "Is this shirt in stock?" "Can I return the sweater I just bought?" The answers to these questions are inside your Shopify store, not in a help article from last month. To answer them correctly, an AI needs direct, live access to your store’s backend.
This is where solutions built specifically for ecommerce, such as Ringly.io, offer a different approach.
Its AI agent, Seth, was designed with ecommerce in mind. It integrates natively with Shopify, so it can pull live order data in real time. When a customer calls about their package, it can look up the actual tracking number and provide a precise answer.
Setup for advanced automation
While setting up a basic AI agent in Zendesk is straightforward, achieving end-to-end automation for common ecommerce tasks can be more involved.
If you want your AI to do more than just answer questions, such as processing a return or exchange in Shopify, you may need to configure advanced workflows or use API integrations.
This can be a technical challenge, especially for smaller teams or store owners who are not developers. You might have to hire outside help to get the AI to perform the tasks you wanted to automate in the first place.
Alternatively, solutions like Ringly.io are designed for quick setup. It offers a 3-minute, no-code setup that connects to a Shopify store, with its AI agent, Seth, pre-trained to handle common ecommerce requests like order lookups and return processing.
Per-agent pricing model
Zendesk's pricing model is designed around human agents. You pay per seat, which makes sense if your goal is to make your current team more efficient. But for many ecommerce stores, a primary reason for using AI is to reduce the need for human agents and automate as many calls as possible.
For businesses focused on reducing agent headcount through automation, a per-agent pricing model may seem counterintuitive to their goals.
Your bill increases as your team size increases, not necessarily as your automation improves.
Ringly.io's pricing is structured differently. It’s a usage-based model where plans are based on call minutes. This aligns your costs with your automation goals. You pay for the work the AI is doing. Ringly.io also offers a guarantee that can reduce risk: you pay $0 until Seth resolves at least 60% of your first 100 eligible calls. It’s an investment tied directly to results.
The verdict: Choosing a voice AI agent for ecommerce
Zendesk’s voice AI is a solid tool and a powerful part of its all-in-one customer service platform.
For larger companies that are already deep into the Zendesk ecosystem and want to add AI to their human-led support, it can be a great choice.
However, for some Shopify stores, the factors mentioned previously are important to consider.
The reliance on an internal knowledge base, the potential for technical complexity with deep ecommerce automation, and a pricing model that scales with team size can make it a challenging fit.
For ecommerce brands looking for a solution designed for phone support automation, a purpose-built tool like Ringly.io presents another option.
It’s built to connect seamlessly with your store, handle the questions your customers are actually asking, and scale in a way that makes sense for a growing business.
Ready for an AI voice agent built for your Shopify store?
Are you missing customer calls after hours? Does your team spend too much time answering the same questions about order status and returns over and over?
Meet Seth, the AI phone support rep from Ringly.io. You can set him up in just three minutes to handle those exact tasks for you, 24/7.
He picks up every call, looks up orders directly from your Shopify store, and processes returns automatically. He only escalates to your team when a human touch is really needed.
You can try it completely risk-free. With our guarantee, you only pay once Seth is successfully resolving the majority of your calls. It’s time to give your customers the instant answers they want and give your team the freedom to focus on growing your business.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the main difference between a Ringly and a Zendesk voice AI agent for ecommerce phone support?
The biggest difference is specialization. The Zendesk voice AI agent is part of a large, all-in-one customer service platform, while Ringly's AI agent, Seth, is built specifically for ecommerce stores, particularly on Shopify. This means Ringly integrates directly with your store's live data (like order status and inventory) out of the box, which may require additional setup in Zendesk.
Which is easier to set up: a Ringly or Zendesk voice AI agent for ecommerce phone support?
For a Shopify store, Ringly is generally faster to set up. It offers a no-code, 3-minute installation that connects directly to your store. Setting up a Zendesk voice AI agent for deep ecommerce tasks, like processing returns, often requires more technical configuration and reliance on its internal Help Center for information.
How does the pricing compare for a Ringly vs. Zendesk voice AI agent for ecommerce phone support?
Their pricing models are quite different. Zendesk typically charges per human agent, per month, with AI features often included in higher-tier plans or as add-ons. Ringly uses a usage-based model based on call minutes, which aligns your costs with automation success rather than your team's size.
Can a Zendesk voice AI agent for ecommerce phone support access live Shopify data like Ringly can?
Not natively. Zendesk's AI is optimized to pull information from its own knowledge base, like Help Center articles. To get live data from Shopify for things like order tracking, you would likely need to configure custom API integrations, which adds complexity. Ringly is built to do this automatically.
What should I consider when choosing between a Ringly and a Zendesk voice AI agent for ecommerce phone support?
You should consider your current tech stack, your team's technical skills, and your main goal. If you're already heavily invested in the Zendesk ecosystem and want to enhance your human agents' workflow, Zendesk is a strong option. If your primary goal is to quickly and affordably automate a high volume of common ecommerce phone queries with minimal setup, a specialized tool like Ringly is likely a better fit.
Is the Ringly Zendesk voice AI agent ecommerce phone support solution a single product?
No, it's not a single product. Ringly and Zendesk are two separate companies offering different voice AI solutions. This blog compares the Zendesk voice AI agent with Ringly's AI agent to help ecommerce businesses decide which platform is better for their phone support needs.
