Automate 'Where Is My Order?' Calls with Voice AI
The best voice AI solution for parcel status is a custom system built on a modern speech-to-text API. It connects directly to your shipping carriers for real-time tracking data, bypassing generic IVR menus.
Scope depends on the number of carrier APIs to integrate and the complexity of your order management system. A business using ShipStation with two carriers is a straightforward 3-week build. A company with a custom ERP and five international carriers requires more discovery and testing.
We recently built a system for a 15-person ecommerce business shipping 3,000 orders a month. They were overwhelmed with status calls. We built and deployed their system in 4 weeks; it now handles over 80% of their inbound tracking inquiries, freeing up two full-time support agents.
What Problem Does This Solve?
Many businesses first attempt to solve this with visual IVR builders like Twilio Studio. These tools are great for simple phone trees but fail with natural language. When a customer says, "The tracking says delivered but I don't see it," the flow breaks and routes to a human, defeating the automation's purpose.
A 25-person D2C brand using Shopify gets 150 'Where Is My Order?' calls daily. Their Twilio IVR asks for an order number but can only read back a static status from their shipping software. If the status is nuanced or the customer asks a follow-up question, the call is immediately queued for an agent who sees the exact same information. This approach only deflects the simplest 10% of calls.
Larger call center platforms like Five9 or Talkdesk offer more advanced features but come with high monthly minimums and per-seat licensing. They are built for 100-plus agent teams and are cost-prohibitive for smaller businesses. Their integrations are also often limited to pulling stale data from a nightly CRM sync, not querying live carrier APIs for up-to-the-minute tracking.
How Does It Work?
We start by connecting directly to your carrier APIs (UPS, FedEx, AfterShip) using their REST endpoints. We write the integration logic in Python using the httpx library for fast, asynchronous requests, retrieving live parcel data in under 500ms. We use a Supabase Postgres database to cache recent lookups, which reduces redundant API calls and lowers costs for repeat callers.
The core of the system is a FastAPI application that processes the customer's request. We use a production-grade speech-to-text service like Deepgram for high-accuracy transcription, especially for alphanumeric order numbers. The application logic parses the user's intent, extracts the order ID, queries the correct carrier, and formulates a natural language response. An entire call, from pickup to resolution, is typically processed in under 2 seconds.
We package this FastAPI application and deploy it as a serverless function on AWS Lambda. This architecture costs nothing when idle but instantly scales to handle hundreds of concurrent calls during holiday sales peaks. The total monthly cloud spend for a business handling 5,000 status calls is often under $50. All application events are logged using structlog for easy debugging and performance monitoring.
After deployment, we hand over the complete source code to your company's GitHub repository. You receive a runbook that documents the architecture, key dependencies, and monitoring procedures. The system is configured to send alerts to a dedicated Slack channel if transcription accuracy drops below 95% or a carrier API fails for more than 5 consecutive minutes.
What Are the Key Benefits?
Answer 80% of Status Calls in Under 60 Seconds
Our system resolves most tracking inquiries on the first attempt without human help. Go from initial discovery to a fully live system in less than 4 weeks.
Pay for Milliseconds, Not for Seats
Avoid expensive per-agent software licenses. A serverless architecture means you only pay for the compute time you actually use, often under $50 per month.
You Own the Code, Cloud, and Data
We deliver the complete Python source code to your GitHub. You are not locked into our platform and can modify the system as your business grows.
Get Alerts on API Failures, Not Angry Customers
Receive immediate Slack notifications if a carrier API is down or transcription quality degrades. Proactive monitoring finds issues before they impact calls.
Integrates Directly With Your Carrier APIs
We build direct connections to FedEx, UPS, USPS, and aggregators like AfterShip. Get real-time data, not day-old information from a stale WMS sync.
What Does the Process Look Like?
Scoping & API Access (Week 1)
You provide read-only access to your OMS and carrier accounts. We map your existing call flow, confirm the integration points, and deliver a detailed project plan.
Core Logic Build (Week 2)
We write the Python application, build the carrier API integrations, and configure the speech-to-text engine. You receive a technical document and a video demo.
Deployment & Testing (Week 3)
We deploy the system to your AWS account and connect it to a test phone number. You receive the full code repository and a QA testing checklist.
Go-Live & Monitoring (Week 4)
We port your existing support number to the new system. We monitor all calls for 30 days, tune the logic, and deliver weekly performance reports.
Frequently Asked Questions
- How much does a custom voice AI system cost to build?
- The cost depends on the number of shipping carriers and the complexity of your order management system integration. A typical build for a business using 2-3 major carriers takes 3-4 weeks. After a 30-minute discovery call where we review your specific needs, we provide a fixed-price quote. There are no surprise fees or overages.
- What happens if the AI can't understand a customer?
- If the system fails to parse an order number after two attempts or encounters a complex issue like a damaged package claim, it automatically transfers the call to a human agent. The agent receives a screen-pop with the call transcript and the customer's phone number, providing full context so the customer does not have to repeat anything.
- How is this better than using a service like RingCentral's IVR?
- Standard business IVRs are menu-driven ('Press 1 for sales'). They cannot handle natural language or perform real-time lookups against external APIs. Syntora builds an intelligent agent that understands a caller's intent and interacts directly with your logistics data. It's the difference between a simple phone tree and a dedicated, automated support agent.
- How well does the system handle different accents or noisy calls?
- We use modern speech-to-text models trained on thousands of hours of diverse audio. They are resilient to common background noise like traffic or televisions. For capturing order numbers, we use specific phonetic tuning to improve accuracy on alphanumeric strings, which is a common failure point for generic transcription services.
- Can this system do more than just provide tracking status?
- Yes. The core architecture is extensible. Common phase-two projects include initiating a return, updating a delivery address before an item ships, or answering product questions by querying your PIM database. Since you own the code, extending functionality is a much smaller engagement than the initial build.
- Who owns the call data and how is it secured?
- You do. The entire system is deployed in your own cloud environment, typically AWS. Call recordings and transcripts are stored in your private S3 bucket with encryption at rest. Syntora retains no access to your production data or customer PII after the initial 30-day monitoring period is complete. Everything runs on your infrastructure.
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