For most stores, a keypad call (press 1 to confirm, 2 to cancel) is the right first step for COD confirmation: it is simple to run, the outcome is always clear, and it updates your store automatically. A conversational AI voice agent makes sense when you also need to fix addresses, answer questions or handle high-value orders with more care, and you have the volume and attention to tune it.
Start with keypad calls: COD order confirmation calls call every new COD order and write the answer back to your store. Hindi and English.
What each one does
Keypad call
The customer hears a short message with your store name, order number and COD amount, then: "To confirm your order, press 1. To cancel it, press 2." The keypress is the answer. If they press nothing, the call ends politely and the order is tagged for follow-up. If they don't pick up, the call is retried.
You can see the exact default wording in our COD confirmation call script in Hindi and English.
AI voice agent
The customer talks to a voice agent that understands speech. It confirms the order, but it can also ask about the address, take a landmark, note a preferred delivery day, or answer "when will it arrive?" The outcome is extracted from the conversation as data.
Side by side
| Keypad call | AI voice agent | |
|---|---|---|
| Customer action | Press 1 or 2 | Speak naturally |
| Outcome | Always clear (a keypress) | Interpreted from speech |
| Address or landmark changes | No | Yes |
| Answers questions | No | Simple ones |
| Call length | Short | Longer |
| Setup | Pick a script and rules | Design prompts, test, tune |
| Ongoing work | Check outcomes weekly | Review recordings, adjust prompts |
| Best fit | Every COD order | Problem orders, high-value orders, address issues |
Where keypad calls win
Clarity. A keypress can't be misheard. "Confirmed" means the customer pressed 1. That makes the write-back to your store safe to automate: confirmed orders go to packing, cancelled orders are cancelled, with no one listening in between.
Speed to start. You choose a script (ready-made in Hindi and English), a calling window and a retry rule. There is no prompt engineering and no testing of edge cases in conversation.
Predictable cost. Calls are short and similar in length, so the cost per order is easy to estimate.
Works for every order. Because it's simple and short, you can call every COD order rather than choosing which ones deserve a call.
Where an AI voice agent wins
Addresses. Many delivery problems come from incomplete addresses and missing landmarks. A keypad can't capture "near the temple, second lane". A voice agent can.
Customers who want to talk. Some customers answer "yes, but I'm away till Monday". A keypad call records that as confirmed or not; an agent can capture the condition.
High-value orders. If one RTO on an expensive order costs more than many calls, a longer and more careful conversation can be worth it.
Combined with other steps. An agent can do the confirmation, an address check and a delivery preference in one call.
What each one needs from you
Keypad
- A way for your store to send new COD orders (a webhook, a platform integration, or a plugin)
- A decision on what each outcome does in your store (tag, note, status, cancel)
- A calling window and retry rule that fit your pickup time
AI agent
All of the above, plus:
- A conversation design: what the agent asks, in what order, and when it stops
- A list of what it must never say or promise (delivery dates, refunds)
- Someone to review recordings in the first weeks and adjust prompts
- A plan for what the agent's extracted data (new address, preferred day) does in your systems
What doesn't change
Whichever you choose, the basics are the same. Call soon after the order and inside daytime hours, retry a limited number of times, check the order is still open before dialling, and make sure the answer reaches the people who pack and ship. A brilliant AI conversation whose outcome sits in a spreadsheet nobody opens saves nothing; a plain keypad call whose answer tags the order does. See when to call a COD customer.
Which fits your store
Small store, a few hundred COD orders a month
Keypad calls. The setup is small, the outcome feeds straight into your packing list, and your team can call the handful of problem orders by hand.
Growing store, thousands of COD orders a month
Keypad calls on every order, with a rule for unreachable orders. Look at where RTOs still come from. If addresses are the main cause, consider an AI agent for those orders only.
Large brand with dedicated ops
Keypad calls for the bulk, plus an AI agent for high-value orders, address problems or specific regions, with someone owning the agent's quality.
Worked example (illustrative)
The numbers below are assumed round figures, not measurements. A store with 3,000 COD orders a month calls all of them with keypad calls. After a month, it looks at its RTOs and finds that about a third were "address incomplete". It keeps keypad calls for every order and adds an AI agent call only for orders whose address is missing a landmark or pincode detail, a few hundred a month. Each tool does the job it is good at.
Questions to ask before you choose
- What causes most of your RTOs? If customers change their mind or never meant to order, a keypad call handles it. If addresses are the problem, an agent may help more.
- How many COD orders a day? At higher volume, the predictability of keypad calls matters more.
- Who will review calls? An AI agent without someone reviewing its calls drifts. If nobody owns that, start with keypad calls.
- What will you do with the extra data? A new address or landmark from an AI call is only useful if it reaches the courier label. Check that your systems can take it.
- Which languages do your buyers use? Check the languages each option supports on real calls, not just on a feature list. Edesy's keypad scripts are in Hindi and English.
On Edesy
- Keypad COD confirmation calls are the self-serve product: COD order confirmation calls. Hindi and English scripts, calling window, retries, a fresh check before each call, and write-back to your store. A custom store connects today by signed webhook; Shopify and WooCommerce are set up for you during the pilot.
- A custom AI voice agent for COD verification, built around your brand and order flow, is a separate service: AI COD verification service.
Start simple
If you're unsure, start with keypad calls on every COD order. Within a few weeks you'll know your answer rate, how many orders get cancelled on the call, and what's still causing RTO. That tells you whether an AI agent is worth adding, and for which orders. Set up COD order confirmation calls.