Controlling the IVR Dialog
March 24, 2011
Companies in different industries use IVR to make their businesses more efficient and to improve customer service by enabling callers to access information over the phone 24 hours a day.
While use cases and functional requirements for IVR vary from industry to industry, the one requirement that all businesses have is the need to control the call flow or dialog.
The call flow is the caller-user interface that presents menu options and commands to the caller. It delivers information, collects information from the caller and processes requests by accessing the company’s database.
As business needs change, companies have to update IVR call flows to accommodate new menu options, branding requirements and the ability to access new or different data to provide accurate and up-to-date information to callers.
The easiest way to change an IVR call flow, without recourse to an IT department or development resource, is to use a platform based on a graphical user interface (GUI). GUI tools enable business users to change IVR applications without having to write code. Users need only arrange and connect visual elements on a page to create or change call flows.
GUI tools, such as Plum’s QuickFuse platform, intuitively help users design IVR call flows by visually mapping all the menu options and commands a caller can access while navigating through an IVR application.
In addition to visual call-flow mapping, QuickFuse offers an audio file management tool that stores all recorded prompts. Using the audio management tool, users can easily make changes to the wording of prompts without affecting the structure of the call flow or the application’s functionality.
The QuickFuse platform is also entirely web-based, so users can access its interface from any computer via a standard web browser to make changes to an IVR application or create a new call flow in minutes.
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Edited by Juliana Kenny