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IVR Service Providers Become Increasingly Popular with Businesses, Consumers

By Ed Silverstein, TMCnet Contributor

The popularity of Interactive Voice Response (IVR) is increasing -- with current projections saying it will be a $3 billion business by 2017. IVR has found to benefit both enterprises and customers, alike.

Businesses see many benefits with IVR. It leads to lower customer service costs. Consumers find they have a much shorter wait on hold and get directed to the right communications option quickly.

Quicker service leads to happier customers, too. A recent Harvard Business Review Study suggests that an experience which reduces effort on the part of customers leads to increased customer retention. And IVR via self-service technology will reduce callers’ time and effort, and lead to more consumer loyalty, according to report from Sys.con Media. 

The use of Natural Language Understanding technology means callers do not have to sort through menu choices. It also leads to quicker handling of calls, lessens the number of misrouted calls, and leads to improved self-service, the report adds. Speech recognition has made it easier for callers, too. Another option is voice biometrics via a customer's voice. It authenticates through the sound of a person’s voice not a password – which is easy to forget and may be difficult to change.

On the other hand, IVR technology can be complicated to build and to maintain, Sys.con Media said. It can be expensive and time-consuming, too. As IVR gains more market share, many organizations look for easier approaches. They have often turned to hosted IVR service, Sys.con Media said. Hosted IVR gives callers the options they want but makes it easier for businesses. Businesses also get the latest technology through hosted options. With hosted IVR, the vendor maintains the technology and provides a cloud-based or hosted service.

It is expected that by next year hosted IVR purchases will exceed on-premises IVR purchases. It makes sense for businesses and consumers as they use more IVR services.