Humanizing Customer Support with Caolan Melvin from VoxMail |🎙️#54
Is customer support fundamentally broken in our day and age? What should you focus on deciding on your customer support solution? Is there something new we can try to improve this process? For episode 54 of DevOps Accents Leo and Pablo talk Caolan Melvin from VoxMail, a company that transcribes and analyses audio messages from your customers and provides new ways for support. In this episode:
- How to present your startup at an event;
- VoxMail soultions for customer support problems;
- How people interact with different types of customer support options;
- How the size of the company affects its customer support solutions;
- Will humanizing the chatbots help in the future?
- VoxMail mission.
You can listen to episode 53 of DevOps Accents on Spotify, or right now:
In today’s fast-paced, technology-driven world, customer support is at a crossroads. Is it failing to meet customer expectations? Caolan Melvin, co-founder of VoxMail, believes there’s an opportunity to redefine how businesses connect with customers. Drawing on his experience in startups and his frustration with inefficient support systems, Melvin has created VoxMail, a platform designed to humanize the interaction between companies and their customers. Here’s a look at some key takeaways from his journey and insights on the state of customer support today.
Is Customer Support Broken?
The consensus among many customers is clear: support systems often leave much to be desired. Whether it’s chatbots that don’t understand complex issues or long hold times when calling a helpline, the frustration is real. As Caolan recounted, personal experiences with such systems led to the inception of VoxMail.
Leo, one of the podcast hosts, highlighted how the lack of direct communication options increases customer frustration, saying, “When companies bury their contact information or provide unhelpful AI responses, it feels like they’re shutting the door on their customers.”
VoxMail aims to address this by allowing customers to leave voice messages that are transcribed, translated, summarized, and routed to the appropriate team within a company. According to Melvin, this system not only saves time but also restores a sense of human connection to customer interactions.
Presenting Your Startup at Events
For startups like VoxMail, attending events such as SaaS conferences and Web Summits is crucial for exposure. Caolan shared how these gatherings helped him network with potential investors and collaborators.
“It’s a completely different dynamic from online interactions,” he explained. “Meeting people face-to-face allows for authentic connections that are harder to achieve through cold emails or messages.”
Pablo, another host, emphasized that these events are invaluable for startups navigating the saturated online space. They provide a platform to showcase a product while also offering a sense of community—something especially important for founders who often work in isolation.
How People Prefer to Interact with Customer Support
One of VoxMail’s key insights is that most people still prefer talking to a real person. Melvin noted that even when AI-powered chatbots can provide answers, users often bypass them to reach a human agent. “People want to feel heard,” he said. “Hearing another person on the line can make all the difference.”
However, as Leo pointed out, generational differences play a role. While older customers may prefer phone calls, younger generations often experience “call anxiety” and lean toward asynchronous communication methods like leaving voice messages or emails. VoxMail bridges this gap by making voice-first communication easy and efficient for businesses and customers alike.
The Role of Company Size in Customer Support
The hosts and Caolan discussed how the size of a company shapes its approach to customer support. Large corporations like Microsoft or Meta often have impersonal systems with little human involvement, yet their dominance allows them to survive with subpar service.
Smaller and medium-sized businesses, however, don’t have the luxury of cutting corners. They must balance limited resources with providing personalized support. VoxMail’s solution is tailored for these businesses, offering an affordable and scalable way to manage customer interactions without sacrificing quality.
The Future: Will Humanized Chatbots Change the Game?
AI continues to evolve rapidly, and the possibility of human-like chatbots is closer than ever. Pablo speculated that society may eventually accept bots as a standard for customer support. However, Caolan believes there will always be value in human interaction.
“No matter how advanced AI becomes, people can still tell the difference between a bot and a person,” he said. “For many, just knowing someone is willing to listen makes all the difference.” VoxMail seeks to integrate AI as a bridge rather than a barrier, using the technology to streamline processes while keeping the human touch intact.
Rebuilding Trust with Customers
Ultimately, Caolan sees VoxMail’s mission as restoring trust between companies and their customers. “When a company makes it easy for customers to reach them, it immediately builds confidence,” he explained.
By leveraging AI to facilitate communication rather than replace it, VoxMail ensures businesses remain approachable while managing support efficiently. The result is a win-win for both companies and their customers: faster resolutions and more meaningful connections.
Whether you’re a small business looking to improve customer support or a customer yearning for better service, solutions like VoxMail highlight a step forward in making customer interaction seamless and human again.
Show Notes
- Our guest, Caolan Melvin, on LinkedIn.
- His company, VoxMail.
Podcast editing: Mila Jones, milajonesproduction@gmail.com