The ongoing recession is an interesting thing. As companies are struggling with tighter budgets, consumer expectations in relation to service continue to grow. As a result, companies are facing the critical challenge of balancing the customer experience with their current level of resources.

As customers continue to expect better and more personalized service, maintaining retention levels can be challenging. Through a keen focus on bolstering customer relationships, IVR technology has enjoyed a steady growth in demand as companies can use the technology to increase customer interaction without spending money on human agents. 

In a recent research report, Datamonitor highlighted that outbound IVR applications tend to be cheaper and less complex than inbound IVR applications. As a result, the focus of resources for this implementation can be on systems integration and usage instead of application design.

Interestingly, although a number of verticals have a use for outbound IVR, it is not yet widespread. While the general use remains in customer retention, there is a notable uptake in collections and emergency notifications. The key goal for these companies is to improve customer service, contain costs and increase debt, although regulatory compliance is also important.

Vendors and enterprises need to be able to adapt their technology and best practices to accommodate frequently shifting laws and amendments. Those vendors that make this a streamlined process are likely to enjoy greater market share.

Datamonitor anticipates that outbound IVR will not be treated distinctly from inbound IVR in the future. These applications are expected to become increasingly interactive and outbound providers will be able to achieve differentiation through integration with back-end business logic. Those who are expected to be the most successful are those that will offer all solutions as a consolidated suite.

For the most part, outbound communications will deliver the most value when they allow companies to maximize on the flexibility of the solution. In addition, the solutions will empower enterprises to communicate with callers though a variety of channels. The more channels available in the configuration, the more value the customer will derive from it.

Five9 is one vendor that offers a unified inbound/outbound IVR and call center solution. As a proven provider in this space, Five9 has a keen strategy in place for identifying changing needs within the call center and customer service space to continue to develop solutions that meet these needs proactively.

As companies continue to place a priority focus on customer retention and maximizing the value from their technologies, Five9 will play a critical role. The provider not only delivers the customer service technologies necessary for today’s trends, but also ensures that they integrate into the current environment of the enterprise. This approach makes Five9 the optimal choice in partners for long-term customer retention.