Using an IVR System to Attend to Emergency Needs

The dilemma surrounding how to best take advantage of the latest in voice technologies is coming to a head in certain parts of the world, not the least prominent of which is Australia.

A recent commentary from an Australian writer, Jason McClintock, for ABC mulled over how far the nation has come in terms of how to effectively communicate emergency needs, and pointed out the fact that “people need real-time, trusted information from the relevant government agencies, and communities need to be able to provide current, local information that can be leveraged by those agencies and emergency services.” That is where an IVR system comes in.

The process involved in focusing information details regarding the whereabouts of the emergency situation, what is needed, and how many emergency response workers need to attend is quite complicated, but the technology exists to create a streamlined system, and it begins with an interactive voice response system.

McClintock wrote, “In some cases the use of SMS alerts makes sense; social networking sites were used to a great effect during the Queensland floods; traditional telephone calls alerting danger can provide detailed information thanks to the interactive nature of a phone call. For example, a simple interactive voice response could be used to ask questions such as: Do you intend to stay and defend? Do you plan to evacuate? Is it possible to evacuate?”

Interact, Inc., offers location-based services featured in its IVR solutions that can help create a better emergency alert system. With the ability to create a customized IVR application for nearly every vertical, Interact supports organizations that need to streamline their communications channels to customers. In the case of emergency aid, location-based features are exactly what the doctor ordered.

Juliana Kenny graduated from the University of Connecticut with a double degree in English and French. After managing a small company for two years, she joined TMC (News - Alert) as a Web Editor for TMCnet. Juliana currently focuses on the call center and CRM industries, but she also writes about cloud telephony and network gear including softswitches.

Edited by Tammy Wolf