Call Deflection: definition and how to read it
Call deflection is steering routine enquiries away from human agents toward self-service such as an AI voice agent, app or FAQ. The aim is to keep human time for calls that need judgement.
Also known as: ticket deflection, call avoidance
How it works
Deflection happens at the front door: an AI voice agent answers, identifies the reason for the call and resolves it directly, or the caller is sent to a message, app link or web page. The deflected call never reaches a human queue. Common candidates are order status, opening hours, appointment changes and payment dates.
Deflection versus containment
The two are related but not the same. Containment counts calls the automation ended itself. Deflection is about volume diverted away from humans, and it can include contacts that moved to another channel. A deflected caller who then calls again anyway has not really been deflected.
Common mistake
Deflecting calls that should reach a person. Complaints, cancellations and distressed callers need a quick route to a human. Set rules that bypass automation for those intents and for callers who ask for an agent twice.
Where this shows up at Vaami
Vaami's inbound agent handles routine calls and transfers to a human when needed.
See it on a real call.
Hear how a Vaami voice agent handles this on a live conversation in your language and your use case.