Tl;dr - Phone support has become more strategic now. While AI support and live chat handle high-volume, routine queries, phone calls still dominate high-intent, high-stakes moments like complex issues, big purchases, and customer retention. The smartest businesses don’t choose between AI and phone support, they combine them. Use AI to filter and scale, and use phone support where trust, clarity, and revenue are on the line.
Don’t hang up!
We know you are having second thoughts about using phone support.
And these thoughts are very much justified.
We're living in the age of AI... where chatbots are getting smarter, workflows are getting automated, and everything runs on instant responses. In that world, phone support can start to feel like a relic. Slow, expensive, and a little out of place.
Even business owners are feeling it. One Redditor put it bluntly:
"I run a growing online store, and honestly, the biggest bottleneck right now is customer support. Between answering product questions, order status requests, and return calls, it feels like I'm spending half my day just managing emails and phone calls instead of actually running the business."
It's a fair frustration. But before you pull the plug on call support, consider this:
79% of customers still prefer talking to a human over an AI agent.
Why?
Because this channel can unlock more trust, easier resolutions, and better communication (especially when mixed with other models).
And the skepticism toward AI runs deep. In the same report, 56% of consumers claim having negative feelings about companies that use AI in their customer experience. It's not hard to see why. We've all been there shouting "YES!" into the phone three times before a bot finally gets it.
Most people still believe AI is used to cut costs, not to improve service. And until that changes, the human voice remains one of the most powerful tools in your support arsenal.
So the real question now is how do you deliver genuinely great service without burning yourself or your team out?
More importantly, should you use an AI chat now and where does AI hurt trust?
We’ll answer all these questions, plus a lot more.
For something that’s supposedly “dying,” the phone is doing a pretty good job staying alive.
Let’s start with the obvious contradiction:
Even in 2026, 88% of customers still use phone calls for support interactions, and around 76% actively prefer it in certain situations.
So no, your relatives didn’t forget how to call. They just got… selective about it. And this is mainly because of five reasons:
Here is how phone supports stands out among other customer service channels:
Now think of how great the call support would work if it were combined with other channels. That’s exactly what one Redditor’s eureka moment was:
“Been thinking about this lately - most of us are all-in on email and chat, but I keep wondering if we're leaving money on the table by not having a phone option - either AI/voice agent or real person.”
That being said, let’s address what an AI voice agent would bring to the table as well as what it would remove from it.
Yes, you probably should be using AI.
Because while AI has gotten impressively good, customer expectations have gotten sharper too. It delivers fast responses and right responses, at the right moment, in the right tone. It can handle 60–80% of routine queries like order status, FAQs, and basic troubleshooting and can reduce support costs by up to 30% in high-volume environments.
It can easily clear low risk, repetitive tasks. However...
Here’s where AI support can hurt your business
The mistake most businesses make is treating phone support like a default channel, either you have it, or you don’t.
But that’s not how customers use it anymore.
People don’t call for everything. They call when it matters. Which means phone support is more about timing.
Used at the right moments, it can shorten decision cycles, prevent churn, and turn hesitation into revenue. Used everywhere else, it just becomes expensive noise.
So the big question is: when does a call actually make sense?
By now you must be confused whether to choose AI or human support for your business. Both seems to have their pros and cons, both can ease out friction and solve problems.
But, should it even be even a choice?
As per our expert opinion? No, it shouldn’t be.
When customers expect support, they expect it on their terms. And those terms can look completely different depending on many factors.
Sometimes they want a quick answer. Other times, they’re juggling a dozen things and would rather just call and get it sorted in one go. That’s why a one-size-fits-all approach doesn’t work anymore.
An omnichannel setup simply means you’re not forcing customers into a single path.
You’re giving them options:
When combined together, they can help resolve, answer, and even help in sales.
Phone support isn't dead. It's just been misused.
They want a real person, a real answer, and a real resolution. That's what builds loyalty.
And that's exactly what SureBright offers. If you sell physical products, one of the biggest support headaches you'll ever face is dealing with customer complaints about their product not working (whether it's your fault or not). No matter what kind of problems customers face, SureBright helps you breathe easier with product warranties.
Our extended warranty platform integrates with your store in under 10 minutes, works across every channel, and the team is available 24/7 - so your customers always have someone to reach, no matter what hour a product decides to break down.
And the best part is you take on zero financial risk. SureBright handles the claims, the repairs, the replacement, while you keep the revenue share and the customer loyalty that comes with actually taking care of people. That's why 500+ merchants including some of the most well known enterprises trust us with protecting their brand.
So yes, pick up the phone and book a demo with SureBright.
.jpg)
