Table of Contents
Gen-Z has grown up speaking to their phones, just not always in the way you might expect. From sending voice notes on WhatsApp to narrating TikTok videos, this generation is actively reshaping how voice is used in day-to-day life. Rather than dialing a phone number, they use speech to seamlessly blend voice into how they communicate online.
And they’re not abandoning voice when it comes to customer service, either. A recent McKinsey survey of 3500 customers found that live phone conversations remain one of the most preferred ways to contact companies for help and support, a trend that holds true even among 18 to 28-year-old Gen-Z consumers.
Unlike past generations that saw phone calls as formal or scheduled, Gen-Z treats voice like a flexible layer of their digital communication. Voice is how they cut through clutter, especially when tone, emotion, or nuance matters.
Understanding the generation built for omnichannel interaction
As the first digital-native generation, Gen-Z grew up alongside smartphones, with many getting their first device in their early teens. They’ve come of age in a world where digital communication is second nature. On average, Gen-Z spends over 7 hours daily on screens, according to a Genius report. They are fluent across platforms, bouncing between TikTok, Instagram, Discord, and ChatGPT, and increasingly use voice not just for fun, but for function.
What sets them apart isn’t just their fluency across platforms. It’s their expectation that all digital interactions should be fast, fluid, and low-effort. If texting feels slow, they’ll switch to voice. If typing a long issue into a chatbot gets frustrating, they’ll call. Not because they love the phone, but because it works.
And in customer service, it does work. Research by PolyAI and Dynata shows that 86% of Gen-Z prefer calling customer service over emailing or filling out forms, flipping the common stereotype on its head. In fact, new research from McKinsey suggests that Gen-Z may be reaching a tipping point with self-service fatigue. One financial services provider reported that Gen-Z callers are 30–40% more likely to pick up the phone than millennials, using voice support as frequently as baby boomers. And across age groups, high-value customers increasingly see live phone support as an essential part of the premium experience they’re paying for.
What Gen-Z wants from customer service
If your brand still sees voice as a “legacy channel” or something you only maintain for older customers, it’s time to shift your thinking. Voice is becoming the channel of choice for resolution, especially when a situation is urgent, emotional, or complex.
With its high volume of repetitive interactions, the contact center is a natural entry point for automating the customer experience effectively. Solutions like AI agents make scaling to meet this demand over the phone possible.
To meet Gen-Z’s expectations for efficient, frictionless, and genuinely helpful phone experiences, AI agents must:
- Sound human-like
- Handle multiple intents, changes, and clarifications
- Recognize tone and urgency
- Be trained on your brand tone, product, and CX language
If your phone experience still sounds robotic, leads callers through rigid workflows, and only allows callers to speak in one-word answers like a 2005 call center, Gen-Z will notice. And they won’t call twice.
A guide on how to design a voice experience Gen-Z will actually use
Rethinking voice starts with recognizing that Gen-Z isn’t avoiding the phone; they’re avoiding friction. Their comfort with digital tools, paired with high expectations for speed and clarity, creates a clear opportunity to reimagine the phone channel as a strategic differentiator.
Here’s a step-by-step approach to building a Gen-Z-ready voice experience:
1. Audit your voice experience
Start with the basics. What does your phone experience feel like today?
- Are you still using IVR trees with rigid menu options?
- How long does it take to reach a resolution?
- Does the system support natural, free-form speech?
If your system still feels transactional or outdated, it’s time for a change.
2. Identify use cases that deliver fast results
Gen-Z calls when speed, clarity, or emotion matters. Look for use cases where voice isn’t just helpful, it’s the preferred option.
These include:
- Low-risk, high-impact use cases that can quickly demonstrate value, like call routing, balance inquiries, or authentication flows
- In situations where context matters, typing out the full story is frustrating
- Moments where fast resolution matters, like time-sensitive travel or account access issues
For Gen-Z, voice is about getting things done quickly and clearly, not waiting on hold or navigating endless menus.
This will also benefit your customer service representatives. Automating low-value calls, such as password resets, ID&V, and simple FAQs, can alleviate 30–60% of agent time.
Automating these parts of the call can cut average handle times by 20–30%, freeing up capacity for human agents to spend more time with customers that need them most without compromising customer experience.
3. Design for natural conversation, not scripts
Forget about keyword matching or rigid phrasing. Gen-Z expects:
- To speak in their own words (including slang, pauses, or interruptions)
- To change topics mid-conversation
- To get confirmation that their issue was understood, without repeating themselves
Your AI agent should behave more like a helpful human and less like a form with a dial tone. An AI agent who greets customers warmly, asks the right follow-up questions, shows understanding, and responds clearly is far more likely to engage customers, efficiently resolve issues, and deliver benefits across your organization.
4. Train your AI agent on brand and context
Generic voice AI won’t cut it. Build intelligence around:
- Your actual CX workflows, terminology, and product logic
- Your brand voice, tone, personality, and empathy style
- The most common questions Gen-Z customers are asking
A well-trained agent not only understands but also represents your brand.
5. Test and keep iterating
Scalable voice AI isn’t just about automation volume; it’s about building something that can grow without breaking trust, creating friction, or sidelining your customers.
That starts with designing with your future users, not just for them. Establish strong feedback loops, not just from analytics dashboards, but from your agents, customers, and CX teams. These insights become essential for refining and expanding your strategy. Document everything: what worked, what didn’t, and what needs to be adjusted.
This kind of feedback loop helps you improve faster and avoid scaling experiences that frustrate the very audience you’re trying to serve. Voice, like any product experience, needs iteration. Make sure you’re designing with, not just for, your future customer.
Make voice a brand experience, not just a support channel
Gen-Z isn’t rejecting voice; they’re setting a higher bar of expectation, and for brands, that’s not a challenge, it’s an opportunity.
If your phone experience feels slow, rigid, or impersonal, this generation will skip it. But if it’s fast, flexible, and actually helpful, they’ll use it and remember it.
For a generation that’s grown up with every tool at their fingertips, businesses that meet Gen-Z’s expectations for speed, clarity, and emotional intelligence will earn more than trust; they’ll earn loyalty.
Ready to create voice experiences your customers will trust and even enjoy? Book a demo and hear the difference for yourself.