TMCnet Feature Free eNews Subscription
March 19, 2019

What is an Interactive Voice Response System?



The growing prevalence of technology in the customer service industry has resulted in an increase in the number of businesses offering the option to communicate through digital channels. Interactive voice response, or IVR, is a technology used for the automation of frequently performed telephone transcriptions. IVR is a necessary step for any company looking to integrate technology into their customer service model.



How does IVR work?

Interactive voice response systems involve using a computer application to interact with a human through the use of pre-recorded voice prompts and dual-tone-multi-frequency (DTMF) tones of the phone keypad. IVR is often used for service selection, data collection, announcements, and self-service.

IVR also features additional services, including automation for phone menus, pre-recorded voice prompts, interaction with customers using DTMF tones, and the automatic routing of customers based on their responses. Bright Pattern’s cloud-based software uses IVR to improve contact center services for agents, agent teams, campaigns, and customers.

The contact center’s tools for routing, reporting, quality management, coaching, and surveys also provide great ways to assess agent performance. The built-in knowledge base also can help maintain training levels and the consistency of replies, and supports features like full-text search and use frequency, as well as content importing and exporting.

The knowledge base also gives you important business insights by offering features like incremental revenue analysis, interactive voice responses, issue tracking, and the average longest delay in queue. These features promote quality management within your business, which helps to enhance customer satisfaction and drive business growth.

How can IVR help your business?

Web chat was the fastest growing digital channel in 2017, while chatbots were used by less than two percent of all businesses. The increase in AI spending and an increased knowledge base led chatbots to become the first stop in the customer service journey. A recent survey by Spiceworks (News - Alert) revealed that 40 percent of all large businesses will implement chatbots by 2019.

While 75 percent of customers say that humans provide more effective customer service, 76 percent of those customers still value the option to interact through digital channels. The number of customers who would prefer to interact through AI depends on the industry. Giving your customers the option to connect to you through digital channels to obtain information like order history, tracking, and returns will help to expand your customer base and leave your current customers satisfied.

IVR is the next step in technological integration to help your business meet growing customer service expectations. In addition, IVR offers customers the option to use a digital channel to obtain information and solve simple issues. In moving toward technological integration, a library of tutorial videos, virtual agents, troubleshooting pages, and flowcharts should all be available to give customers more independence in addressing and troubleshooting any problems they face.

Utilizing the services of IVR in your company’s contact center can increase the effectiveness of your customer service department. IVR eliminates the need for agents to devote time to mundane tasks, and instead allows them to focus their attention on helping individual customers.

Automated systems like IVR allow agents to devote more time to helping specific customers to ensure that their needs are met rather than rushing the interaction to handle the next customer in the queue. This will also allow agents to use their time to critically think through complex customer interactions and offer better customer service.

All in all, utilizing an interactive voice response system will help you focus on customer experience, offer consistent, high-quality customer service, and promote the overall growth of your business.



» More TMCnet Feature Articles
Get stories like this delivered straight to your inbox. [Free eNews Subscription]
SHARE THIS ARTICLE

LATEST TMCNET ARTICLES

» More TMCnet Feature Articles