The term IVR is short for Interactive Voice Response, which is a telephony
technology that allows interaction between callers and a phone system to
acquire or enter information into a database. More and more companies are
turning to IVR to help reduce the cost of common sales, service, collections,
inquiry and support calls to and from their company.
Interactive Voice Response or IVR is one of the most common telephone functions
in use across the business community and is capable of bringing remarkable
benefits to your company. IVR systems allow 24 hour access to a company from
its customers via its phone system. In today’s busy modern world, most callers
expect on first contact with a company, to be handled via some kind of Auto
Attendant or Interactive Voice Response (IVR) system. This method of call
handling is generally accepted as long as the caller is given ample opportunity
to opt out of the IVR system and be able to speak to a live agent.
IVR systems offer a cost effective and money saving way of handling customer
calls twenty four hours a day, seven days a week. The handling of routine phone
requests for information can consume a substantial amount of company resources
and ultimately money. Interactive Voice Response systems, tailored to a
company’s requirements can provide much the same information as a live operator
at a fraction of the cost both financially and resourcefully. To put things in
their most simple form IVR systems let callers interact with your company via
its telephone system.
IVR systems hugely reduce customer call handling costs, and can be introduced
into your company environment in a number of ways. The most basic IVR systems
simply allow you to record a message that is played when a customer presses the
appropriate number on the phone keypad. The more advanced Interactive Voice
Response systems allow callers to interact with a company on a much greater
scale. For example you could set up an IVR to retrieve specific account
information that is relayed to the caller through the implementation of
text-to-speech recognition technology. This technology allows IVR systems to
read specific information from a database and then relate that information back
to the customer in spoken format.
Typical IVR - Interactive Voice Response System Applications
The potential applications of IVR systems are virtually endless. IVR systems
can be used to automate a wide range of services and requests for information.
By combining the input of a caller with tailor made scripts, IVR systems allow
callers to call into a company or IVR hosting company using a touch-tone
telephone, and then to interact with the system in real time. Below is a list
of example IVR applications:
-
Automated account payment systems
-
Customer account information
-
Banking service for account balance transfer information
-
Customer market surveys
-
Emergency notifications
-
Virtual receptionists
-
Call centre automation
-
Order status and tracking
-
Package tracking
-
Virtual PBX’s
-
Voicemail services
-
Voice instant messaging
-
Bill reminder
-
Bill collection
-
Telesales
-
Virtual agents
-
Auto attendants
-
Call routing
-
Call recording solutions
-
Plus many, many more
Benefits of IVR Systems
-
Integrated Voice Response systems can be extremely beneficial to companies by
cutting down on live call handling time, thus saving money and enabling staff
to be free to concentrate on other business areas.
-
IVR systems can benefit callers by either allowing access to personalised
information or, directing them to the right department or, by a combination of
multiple input types and selections via menu choices involving telephone keypad
input and speech recognition.
-
IVR systems allow callers to retrieve or access information quickly with or
without additional human assistance.
-
Integrated Voice Response systems allow companies to easily expand their hours
of business, without the need for live operators to be on hand. This allows
callers to call at their convenience and still be able to carry out a multitude
of tasks automatically.
-
Call queuing times to departments within a company can be drastically reduced.
With IVR systems, calls can be transferred to appropriate departments through
the menu selection process.
-
IVR systems allow company representatives to experience lower call volumes
thorough the automation of repetitive tasks. This allows these representatives
to manage their calls more efficiently and lets them to concentrate on more
important issues.
-
Through the implementation of a good Integrated Voice Response System,
companies may actually be able to expand their call capacity and respond to
larger call volumes through the correct management and routing of all inbound
calls, reducing the handling cost per call ratio.
-
For companies who accept payments via the telephone IVR systems can fully
automate this task, allowing them to process transactions anytime of the day,
any day of the week.
-
For when call volumes are high, IVR systems allow companies to highlight new
products, updates or product information etc while a caller is on hold.
-
Companies are able to monitor call progress and transactions through the use of
daily call activity reports.
Customer Premise Equipment (CPE) IVR or Hosted IVR The Choice Is Yours
CPE – This is equipment that is purchased or leased by a customer and is
then located, hosted and maintained at the customers site. For most companies
this is an expensive way of harnessing the power a good IVR system can bring to
any business due to the initial cost of the hardware and installation work that
would be required. For those companies that have the necessary funding for CPE
there are of course benefits as well as drawbacks. CPE allows you to take full
control of your IVR system and will also allow for future company expansion,
though many hosted IVR solutions do allow for this also. The main drawback to
CPE IVR systems is that you would need continuing technical support and
maintenance either from your own internal staff or outsourced to the IVR system
provider.
IVR Hosting - If a customer prefers not to host an IVR system on their
premises, is restricted by location, lacks IT support or quite simply cannot
withstand the initial financial outlay required for outright purchase then a
remote IVR hosting solution that can be tailored to a company’s requirements
could be the answer. This option is particularly attractive for small to medium
sized businesses who wish to take advantage of a fully featured Interactive
Voice Response system, with a vastly reduced initial capital outlay, as well as
eradicating the need for system IT maintenance, and support.
Whichever form of IVR system you decide to implement, it is better to ask the
advice of experts before you go ahead and purchase any hardware or sign any
form of lease agreement. A good IVR systems provider or IVR hosting company
will take the time to sit down with you and discuss your requirements in detail
before helping you make a decision on what type of system you should opt for.
thanks for reading.
©2005, 2006, 2007 Business Phone Systems Direct. All rights reserved.