Hosted IVR

November 05, 2012

Getting Today's Cloud-based IVR Solutions Right

By Tracey E. Schelmetic
TMCnet Contributor

Once upon a time, an interactive voice response (IVR) solution was a box that sat in a company’s IT room. It was about as flexible as a steel girder, and it was generally updated with each new presidential administration. Cloud IVR solutions have opened up a whole new world of opportunities for companies who want a flexible, easy-to-update solution. It’s critical to get the set-up right, however, because a poor IVR experience can be a very frustrating experience for customers, leading to a drag on customer satisfaction.

When done correctly, interactive voice response can be not only a great tool for your call center by reducing agent talk time, but also an asset to your customers, writes cloud-based contact center solutions provider AVOXI’s Aida Kamber. When customers find they are able to speak to the right person the first time, and don’t have to speak to an agent for simple transactions, customer satisfaction will increase and cloud IVR won’t be seen as a burden.

Kamber offers tips to ensure that your company’s IVR helps your customers rather than hinders them.

• Always keep it simple. There is nothing more frustrating than a cloud IVR that has eight different options, and eight different levels. By making your cloud IVR short and to the point, your call completion rates will increase, as will customer satisfaction.
• Provide the most common options first. If you know that a high percentage of your calls are for sales, make sales the first option in your interactive voice response.
• Have a trained and knowledgeable agent ready. One of the most important factors of customer satisfaction is a friendly, helpful agent on the other end.
• Provide an out. No matter how well your interactive voice response is set up, some customers are going to be unwilling to listen to all of the options. Allow these customers to press “0” for an operator who can direct them to who they are trying to reach.
• Use the information your customers provided you. If you ask a customer for their account number during the hosted IVR, make sure that information reaches the agent before the customer does. Nobody wants to be forced to repeat information.

An IVR system can be a powerful tool in increasing customer satisfaction when set-up properly. So, make sure you take customer satisfaction into consideration and take the appropriate steps to make your call center efficient.

Edited by Brooke Neuman