AI Voice Technology Glossary
Understanding AI voice technology starts with knowing the terminology. This comprehensive glossary covers everything from basic concepts like speech recognition to advanced topics like conversational AI and intent recognition. Whether you are evaluating AI phone solutions for your business or simply curious about how voice agents work, this resource will help you speak the language of modern business communication.
Why Learn AI Voice Terminology?
The AI voice industry is evolving rapidly, with new technologies and capabilities emerging every month. Business owners, IT professionals, and decision-makers need to understand these concepts to make informed choices about phone automation, customer service, and lead management systems.
From understanding the difference between traditional IVR systems and modern AI voice agents, to knowing what makes natural language processing effective for business calls, this glossary provides the foundation you need. Each term includes a practical definition and links to deeper resources where available.
AI Voice Agent
An artificial intelligence system that conducts real-time phone conversations, understanding caller intent and responding naturally without human intervention.
Learn moreAI Receptionist
An AI-powered virtual assistant that answers incoming business calls, routes inquiries, captures lead information, and schedules appointments 24/7.
ASR (Automatic Speech Recognition)
Technology that converts spoken language into text in real-time, enabling AI systems to understand what callers are saying during phone conversations.
Conversational AI
AI technology that enables natural, human-like dialogue between machines and people through voice or text, using context and memory to maintain coherent conversations.
Call Routing
The process of directing incoming calls to the appropriate destination based on caller intent, time of day, agent availability, or other business rules.
IVR vs AI
A comparison between traditional Interactive Voice Response systems (press 1 for sales) and modern AI voice agents that understand natural speech and respond conversationally.
Intent Recognition
The AI capability to understand the purpose or goal behind a caller's words, distinguishing between requests like scheduling an appointment versus asking about pricing.
Legal Intake
The process of gathering initial information from potential clients contacting a law firm, including case details, contact information, and urgency assessment.
Lead Qualification
The process of evaluating potential customers based on criteria like budget, timeline, and fit to determine their likelihood of converting to paying clients.
NLP (Natural Language Processing)
A branch of AI that enables computers to understand, interpret, and generate human language in both text and speech forms.
NLU (Natural Language Understanding)
A subset of NLP focused specifically on machine comprehension of human language meaning, context, and intent rather than just pattern matching.
TTS (Text-to-Speech)
Technology that converts written text into natural-sounding spoken audio, allowing AI systems to respond verbally to callers with human-like voices.
Transcription
The conversion of spoken audio into written text, creating searchable records of phone conversations for review, compliance, and training purposes.
Voice Synthesis
The artificial production of human-like speech using AI models, creating realistic voices that can convey tone, emotion, and natural speech patterns.
Virtual Receptionist
A remote or AI-based service that handles incoming calls for businesses, providing professional call answering without requiring on-site staff.
Related Resources
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This glossary is constantly growing. If there is a term you would like us to add, or if you have questions about AI voice technology for your business, we would love to hear from you.
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