When a customer calls your organization, they don’t always need to speak with a human. In many cases, a self-service option that allows customers to quickly find accurate, current information is far more convenient than being directed to an employee. This is also more efficient for your organization, which can use technology to automatically respond to inquiries and provide information without burdening employees. Customers appreciate the smart, intuitive software and the convenience of being able to access their accounts at any time of the day.
This type of technology is widely for used for customer service in healthcare, insurance and financial services, government, retail, hospitality, telecommunications and other industries. And it’s not just for large enterprises. Small-to-midsize businesses can easily implement these tools to enhance the customer experience and improve operational efficiency.
Interactive voice response (IVR) is an automated system that enables a caller to interact with a database and obtain information on-demand, using a phone-based, self-service application. Callers navigate through a call flow, responding to voice prompts with touch-tone keypad selections. Advanced solutions have automated speech recognition (ASR), which is capable of responding to a caller’s voice commands.
Inbound IVR supports a number of self-service offerings, such as the ability to make a payment, check the status of an order or account, refill a prescription, or provide pre-recorded answers to caller questions. Text-to-speech could be used to provide information that’s variable and specific to the caller, such as a date, time or dollar amount.
If the customer service inquiry can’t be addressed through this process, the IVR system can route calls to the proper department, contact center system or trigger a callback, email or text. IVR can also support contact center agents by using screen pops to share caller information. This can eliminate the need to repeat information, reduce the number and length of calls, and improve resolution times and rates, all of which translate to a better customer experience.
In addition to addressing caller inquiries, an IVR system can also walk the customer through a survey at the end of the call. This allows you to gain important insights into how customers perceive the quality of your products and customer service, as well as what influences their behavior.
Outbound IVR allows you to broadcast various notification and service messages via text message or phone call to large groups or communities. Perhaps the one of the most widely used outbound IVR features is appointment, service and payment reminders via text or phone call. We’ve received those at one time or another! Automating this time consuming and routine process frees up staff to handle more complex customer issues.
An IVR platform should be versatile enough to provide your organization with access to cloud-based applications that can integrate with any PBX and database, offering real-time interaction for simple and complex inquiries. Even if you already have an on premise or cloud VoIP phone service and/or a contact center environment through a separate business VoIP provider, you should be able to add an IVR platform.
When used in conjunction with a cloud based contact center, IVR seamlessly collects relevant information that can be passed to contact center system, so the call can be routed to the proper agent through skill-based routing. Reducing the number of agent transfers and interactions per call and shortens the time to call closure.
Ancero’s Utility VoIP IVR offers both inbound and outbound IVR applications that can improve customer service, contact center performance, and the efficiency of customer interactions. Utility VoIP IVR is compatible with top vendor platforms and can connect from the cloud to any PBX/PSTN connection that supports SIP trunking. Our IVR services can also integrate with any database platform that supports web services-style APIs.
Contact us to learn how Utility VoIP IVR can improve the quality, speed, accuracy and efficiency of your organization’s interactions with customers.