In a world where personalized interactions are paramount, a French startup is pioneering an innovative approach to customer service. By developing an orchestration platform that allows businesses to build their own AI voice agents, this company is setting the stage for a new era in how companies engage with their customers.
Empowering Businesses to Craft Seamless AI-Driven Conversations
From Concept to Execution: A Startup's Journey into AI Voice Agents
In the bustling tech landscape of France, a startup embarked on a transformative journey. Initially, the team focused on web3 products but quickly shifted gears in mid-2023 to explore the potential of AI voice agents. The founders envisioned a simple yet powerful solution: integrating ChatGPT between a transcriber and synthesizer. However, they soon realized the market wasn't quite ready for this concept. To bridge the gap, they developed Donna, an AI voice agent tailored for anesthesiologists.Anesthesiologists often handle a high volume of routine calls—patients checking availability, scheduling appointments, or making changes. These interactions are transactional and straightforward, making them ideal for automation. Donna was designed to manage these calls efficiently, reducing the workload on anesthesia secretaries. Despite initial challenges with latency, Donna successfully managed hundreds of thousands of conversations across 15 private hospitals.Enhancing Performance: Overcoming Technical Hurdles
The early days of Donna were marked by technical hurdles, particularly latency issues. Calls sometimes experienced delays of up to six seconds, which could be frustrating for users. However, the team at Rounded was relentless in refining the technology. They optimized the system to reduce latency significantly, achieving response times of less than 700 milliseconds for web calls. This improvement made Donna more responsive and user-friendly.As the platform evolved, Rounded introduced advanced features like better integration with other tools, ensuring a seamless experience for both patients and healthcare providers. The improvements didn't stop there; the team continued to enhance Donna's accuracy and reliability, making it a trusted tool for medical professionals.Beyond Healthcare: Broadening Horizons with Orchestration
Recognizing the broader potential of their technology, Rounded expanded its offerings to include an orchestration platform. This platform enables companies to build custom AI voice agents using a mix of off-the-shelf models. Businesses can choose from various speech-to-text engines, language models, and text-to-speech systems to create agents tailored to their specific needs.For instance, a company might opt for Azure for transcription, GPT-4o mini as the language model, and ElevenLabs for speech synthesis. The platform guides users through the process of defining instruction trees and prompts, ensuring that the chosen models work harmoniously for each unique use case. This flexibility empowers businesses to create highly reliable and effective AI voice agents.Supporting Innovation: Building Reliable AI Agents
Rounded's core mission is to make it easier for businesses to create dependable AI voice agents. The platform provides comprehensive support throughout the development process, helping users fine-tune prompts, parameters, and variables. By iterating and refining these elements, businesses can develop agents that perform reliably in real-world scenarios.The startup's founders believe that their product will democratize access to advanced AI technologies, enabling even small businesses to leverage the power of AI voice agents. With a focus on reliability and ease of use, Rounded aims to become the go-to platform for companies looking to enhance customer engagement through AI.Funding and Future Prospects
To date, Rounded has secured €600,000 (approximately $620,000) in funding from UC Berkeley’s SkyDeck accelerator and several angel investors. Given the current buzz around artificial intelligence, the startup is well-positioned for further growth and investment. As AI continues to shape industries, Rounded is poised to play a pivotal role in revolutionizing customer interactions.
