The legend of IVR
Once upon a time, there was a human contact center agent. Soon, one agent became many. And so it went for a time.
But then came Interactive voice response, or IVR, along with IVR testing solutions, and there was great rejoicing throughout the lands. The end.
Actually no, not the end. In fact this was just the beginning. The arrival of IVR has seen an explosion in contact center innovation and customer experience (CX) personalization.
Let’s take a look at some of the key features of IVR technology and learn how Spearline’s IVR testing solution reinforces their potency in the contact center arena.
The IVR big guns
It is difficult to imagine how any modern contact center could function without an IVR, and the following sample features go some way to explaining why.
Built-in automatic speech recognition (ASR)
ASR authenticates callers’ identities prior to speaking with an agent and helps to identify the reason for the call, which improves the efficacy of call routing. ASR can also create fully transcribed translations of call conversations.
And speaking of transcription, Our IVR transcription feature travels along every possible journey of an IVR system and automatically transcribes all audio, presenting it on a complete map that shows the point at which each IVR prompt occured. This allows you to identify issues with your IVR scripts before they can have any negative impact on your customers.
Skills-based routing
This feature performs call routing tasks based on the skill sets of available agents. Calls are routed to ensure that agents only deal with issues they are likely to have sufficient competence to remedy in one call. This type of advanced routing reduces customer frustration while building agent satisfaction and confidence.
Queue callback
As the name implies, this feature lets your callers choose to have a live agent call them back, often at a time of their choosing. This feature alleviates the pressure on live agents who may be dealing with high call volumes, and cuts the costs associated with over-staffing.
Intuitive script designer
Conversational design is a fine art that requires careful attention to ensure it sounds natural. Many IVRs have Intuitive Script Design (ISD) to help you to develop your customer journey script, some even use a variety of voice types at different stages of this call journey.
Dynamic IVR
A dynamic IVR system can demonstrate maximum responsiveness right from the start of a call. At the most superficial level, personalized recorded messages can make your customers aware that you understand a particular issue, such as an outage, has occurred and that you are actively dealing with it.
At the more sophisticated end of the usage scale, dynamic IVR can integrate with your CRM to offer a personalized set of menu options based on what it already knows about a customer.
Reaping the rewards
The modern IVR is a means to wow your customers, delivering meaningful experiences that lock in brand loyalty. Here is just a sample of the many ways IVRs reward your investment.
Increase first contact resolution
IVRs bulk up your First contact resolution (FCR) rates through expert, skills-based routing that matches callers to the most qualified agent and reduces the need for call transfers.
Spearline’s In-country testing infrastructure, coupled with our IVR testing tool ensures that critical metrics like FCR are never left to chance. Map your global coverage, and be assured that your customers in each country are being presented the correct IVR options and receiving the correct localisation messages.
Boost your customer CX
The vast feature-set most modern IVRs boast means your business will always look professional and competent, giving your customers the impression that you have numerous, well connected and developed departments, whether this is the case or not.
IVRs also allow you to run customer surveys to determine real satisfaction levels and design future sales and marketing strategies to shore up your CX ambitions.
Manage high call volumes
IVR systems allow companies to handle high call volumes with ease. Callers are automatically directed to the agent or department most likely to service their needs quickly. If callers are added to a queue, IVRs can provide approximate wait times along with additional support information or advertising content, and many even offer callback options and alternative messaging channels.
Scope to prioritize high-value customers
IVRs let agents focus on high priority callers first, routing less complex calls to self-service avenues. Dynamic call routing means your high priority callers don’t have to wade through the same menu options and quing journey they encountered at the outset of their experience with your service.
Open all hours
Essentially, IVRs make yours a 24/7, 365 business. Live agent working hours are curtailed by office hours, holidays, vacations, illness, and other unforeseen events; your IVR is impervious to these limitations.
This ‘open all hours’ benefit is only as good as the IVR testing and monitoring structure that underpins it. IVR testing tools like Spearline’s, provide peace of mind that your IVR is working as it should inside and outside of regular working hours. Our automated, scheduled IVR testing solution presents you with a complete map of your entire IVR system along with audio recordings in .WAV audio format
Takeaways
IVRs are a must for any self respecting contact center with aspirations of CX excellence, high employee satisfaction levels, and lower operational costs.
Our parting advice to you is to devise your IVR menus carefully, including as much personalization and localization as possible, and always offering a route to a human advisor; customers might still choose to go along for the IVR menu ride but they will be grateful for the choice.
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