What is an Intelligent virtual agent?
An intelligent virtual agent (IVA) is software that uses AI to hold natural conversations with customers by chat or voice, work out what they want and complete service tasks such as lookups, bookings and routing.
In more detail
The label is common in contact-center software and covers what many teams call an AI agent or conversational assistant for customer service. Compared with an old scripted bot, an IVA understands free-form requests, keeps context across turns and takes actions through integrations such as the CRM, the order system and the ticketing tool. It sits between the IVR menu and the human agent. The design questions are the same whatever the name: which intents it handles, what it may change, how it hands over with the full transcript and how you measure outcomes. Track containment and resolution, plus CSAT after handoffs. We start with a few high-volume, low-risk intents, such as order status and appointment changes, and add more only as tests pass.
Example
A utility's virtual agent verifies the customer, checks the outage map and books a meter-reading visit. Billing disputes go straight to a human agent, who sees the full transcript.