For more than a decade, the CX space has been obsessed with ‘digital transformation’.
Apps, portals, chatbots, and automated journeys have all promised the same thing: fewer calls and lower costs.
On paper, that should mean customers rarely need to pick up the phone. In reality, when something really matters, they still do – with voice still responsible for 70% of the demand coming into the contact centre, according to Contact Babel.
Yet, despite its continued importance, very few vendors champion their phone services… and when they do, it’s often with more of a whisper than a shout.
Kevin McGachy, Head of Solutions at Sabio, sums up this strange situation nicely, suggesting that due to the heavy investment into ‘digital transformation’, “admitting customers still prefer voice feels like failure.”
“But here’s what we’re missing: we speak at 150 words per minute but type at only 40. When you’re frustrated, anxious, or dealing with complexity, voice is simply more efficient.”
Rather than treating calls as a symptom of digital failure, he argues that brands should see them for what they are: the channel customers trust most when the stakes are high.
Why Customers Still Default to Voice
There’s a familiar belief in boardrooms that digital preference is universal – especially for younger, tech-obsessed customers. But is this really the case?
“I think there’s a generational bias in leadership,” McGachy notes. “Tech-savvy executives assume everyone wants to self-serve digitally.”
What Sabio sees in the data is more nuanced.
“In practice, even digitally native customers default to voice when issues become complex, emotional, or high-risk,” he says.
The logic is simple. Voice carries tone and reassurance. It lets people describe messy problems in their own words, without trying to squeeze them into rigid flows.
If your payment has gone astray, your flight has been canceled, or your health appointment is at risk, typing into a chatbot rarely feels like enough.
“The mistake is not digital investment itself, it’s measuring success by channel shift rather than customer effort and outcome,” McGachy adds.
‘Channel of Choice’ That Quietly Hides the Phone
Many organizations talk about ‘channel of choice.’ Yet customers often encounter something very different: buried phone numbers, chat widgets that refuse to hand over, and IVRs that seem designed to keep you away from an agent.
This certainly tallies with McGachy’s experience:
“Many so-called omnichannel strategies are optimized for cost avoidance, not customer outcomes,” he says.
“We see organizations obscuring or removing voice access entirely, pushing customers through digital channels regardless of their needs or the complexity of their issue.
“Indeed, at Sabio, we supported clients on the journey of call deflection and promoting digital experiences. But as technology capability evolved, so did we and we now recognise that isn’t the way to deliver brilliant customer experiences.”
On a spreadsheet, it may appear to be the smart, obvious decision: shift volume into cheaper channels, trim contact center headcount, and celebrate lower cost-to-serve.
However, like a billion different scenarios before it, in practice, the result is rarely that straightforward.
McGachy details that in reality, these digital-first strategies often backfire on their own cost-reduction goals:
“When you make voice hard to access, you’re not eliminating those contacts – you’re deferring and compounding them.”
By the time customers finally get through, they’re more frustrated, and the problem is often more tangled.
“Organizations that restrict voice access consistently see longer average handle times when customers do eventually get through, lower first-contact resolution rates, and significantly higher churn,” McGachy notes.
“This saves money on channel costs in the short term, but loses far more through increased handle times, repeat contacts, and customer defection.”
Voice as a Strategic Differentiator
Voice picked up its ‘expensive’ label in an era of legacy telephony and siloed systems, but modern AI has changed both the experience and the economics.
“The mindset shift needs to start with understanding that modern voice isn’t the same as traditional telephony,” McGachy says.
“With AI-powered voice interactions, we’re not just automating the call – we’re automating the customer’s resolution. It’s about getting them to the right outcome quickly, naturally, and completely. And when human expertise is needed, the transition is seamless – the right agent, with full context, exactly when it matters.”
He argues that when a customer chooses to call, it’s often a high-value moment.
“Voice should be viewed as a premium touchpoint where customers can explain their situation in their own words, at their own pace, and get immediate help,” he explains.
“When a customer chooses to call, they’re often dealing with something that matters to them – a problem they need solved, a decision they need help with, or a situation that’s causing them stress.
“That’s when they need help most, and that’s when we can make the biggest difference to their experience.”
Handled well, those conversations don’t just resolve tickets; they turn short-term frustration into long-term loyalty.
What Modern Voice Automation Can Actually Do
If your mental image of voice automation is still ‘press 1 for sales,’ you’re several generations behind reality.
In 2026, organizations are deploying conversational AI that can handle entire interactions end-to-end. This agentic AI allows customers to speak naturally, interrupt, and change topics – and the AI keeps up.
When it comes to Sabio, McGachy says the company is seeing “resolution rates above 90% for specific use cases.”
A big part of this is the ability of generative AI to work more effectively with unstructured data.
Whereas in the past companies would have databases crammed full of recorded conversations with no efficient way to use the information, these days the likes of Sabio can understand not just what customers are saying, but why they’re calling, what they really need, and how we can solve their problem completely.
“Modern voice AI can authenticate customers, access their full history, process complex requests, and understand the context and nuance of their situation to provide personalized solutions,” McGachy explains.
He compares it to the evolution of the smartphone camera, where, despite the incredible advances in the technology, most of us still only use the flash and zoom features, which are only a fraction of what it can do.
“The technology can do extraordinary things – have natural conversations, understand complex requests, solve multi-step problems – but most organizations are still using it like a smarter IVR.”
“Our role at Sabio is helping clients understand and unlock these capabilities that already exist, turning that potential into real customer outcomes.”
From Hiding Voice to Embracing It Intelligently
We’ve all endured the frustration of bouncing from webpage to webpage trying to find a company’s phone number. It was an open secret that some organizations did this intentionally to dissuade customers from using their phone channels.
Indeed, McGachy is candid in admitting that Sabio tried to prioritize its digital channels.
“Look, I’ll be honest – we’ve been there ourselves. Years ago, like many in the industry, we advised clients to deflect voice contacts, bury phone numbers, and make digital the only easy option.
“It was the accepted wisdom, the trend everyone was following. But we’ve learned from that experience. We follow what the data tells us, and the data has proven us wrong.”
“Hiding phone numbers is like boarding up your shop windows – it sends a message that you don’t want customers.”
“The brands doing this are inadvertently training customers to go to competitors who are easier to reach.”
The alternative isn’t abandoning digital; it’s combining it properly with intelligent voice.
“Smart organizations are now doing the opposite – they’re making voice prominent but intelligent,” he explains. “They’re using AI to handle routine queries instantly while seamlessly escalating complex issues to skilled agents.
“This actually reduces costs because you’re not forcing simple queries through expensive digital journeys.”
It’s clear that digital isn’t going away any time soon. But in a world where AI has transformed what voice can do – and what it costs – brands that cling to a rigid digital-first playbook risk losing customers to competitors that are easier to talk to.
You can find out more about how Sabio delivers ROI with AI by checking out this article.
You can also discover Sabio’s full suite of services and solutions by visiting the website today.
