Better Designed IVR Systems and Applications Keep Customers Satisfied

Employing an IVR system will provide your organization with an efficient and cost-effective solution to automatically answer your customer’s common inquiries. Listening to the voice of the customer, Plum employs an entire IVR user interface team, which develops its core platform and developer tools.

The IVR user interface team has inherent knowledge of the interworking of Plum’s VoiceXML IVR platform and experience in best customer service practices. Through the combination of VoiceXML (News - Alert) development expertise, versatile deployment options, telecom and data integration, as well as a VoiceXML UI design team, Plum has the ability to design, build, deploy and manage IVR systems and business across industries.

First, in an effort to make a call flow in a user-friendly fashion, Plum works with companies to design and document IVR application requirements, which includes the development of a call flow specification, detailing all the menu options and data integration points. Next, engineers conduct rigorous user testing in a hosted IVR environment or turnkey on-site server. Finally, once the application is launched, technical support is provided if necessary.

Plum recognizing the evolution of the IVR market, must ensure a quality product to its customer base, and by listening to the voice of the customer it can do so.

IVR systems first became useful in the 1970s as companies were seeking a way to cost-effectively automate simple services on the telephone. Today, the communication channels are extensive, putting increased demand on an IVR system to expand their capability to continue to deliver value on all platforms. One very obvious change has been the mobile Web. As this has now moved into the mainstream, 22.7 percent of households in the U.S. have eliminated their landline phones. 

The reality in today’s market is that the always-connected customer demands connectivity and continuity in all devices, from every place and within every relationship. To meet these new standards, companies must re-evaluate their technology spending and their allocation of resources. This focus may drive decision makers to decide to invest in more feature-rich IVR systems with rich phone applications.

Bad customer service can cost a company millions of dollars. Automated self-service applications could turn off customers, but with the correct design, utilizing customer service best practices, the overall effectiveness of a contact center will improve.

Jaclyn Allard is a TMCnet copy editor. She most recently worked on the production team at Juran Institute, a quality consulting firm producing its own training and marketing materials. Previously, she interned at Curbstone Press, a nonprofit publishing press in Willimantic, CT, and fulfilled the role of Editor-in-Chief for the literature and arts journal published by the University of Connecticut. To read more of her articles, please visit her columnist page.

Edited by Juliana Kenny