How a Media Platform and IVR System Can Transform your Customer Service
January 09, 2012
By Juliana Kenny, TMCnet Managing Editor
The customer relationship management industry is more competitive than ever with small and medium-sized businesses closing in on enterprises, voice and desktop solutions abounding with options, and everyone looking towards the cloud. But sometimes it’s good to get back to basics. In a recent blog post from the thinkers over at Interact, a provider of IVR systems and unique communication solutions, Ed McKee, director of marketing for the company, expounded upon the ways media resources and IVR systems integrate to improve business’ customer service strategies.
Media platforms and IVR systems work together to handle a business’ voice, audio, and video resources and “can be used to create services that have historically been closed systems, such as voice mail and auto attendant,” noted McKee. As automated services become the norm in companies’ CRM strategies, media platforms become more vital as they are natural features of telco environments, automated customer service, and automated bill pay.
So how does IVR play a part? McKee writes, “IP Media Platforms support Session Initiation Protocol (News - Alert) (SIP) which enables Voice Over IP (VoIP), or put more simply, they allow you to talk to your VoIP service provider.” Clearly, a customizable, flexible IVR system is key here. Media platforms also enable outbound services – or ways in which businesses can be “proactive” about reaching their customers.
In the same vein, inbound services can improve with optimally functioning media platforms as well. With an integration of a telco environment and a CRM system, a business can achieve end-to-end visibility while monitoring call center activities and customer reach-out.
McKee urges us to look beyond the traditional notions of what a media platform can do: “Historically, most people think of media platforms and only see the traditional inbound press 1, press 2 IVR applications… Whether it’s for individual appointment notifications, town hall meetings, or school closings, a media platform should have multiple ways for you to manage and start your outbound campaigns.”
And those of us who are looking ahead in 2012 to make our customer service strategies the best they can be will want to consider how easily our media platforms enable us to develop applications. Most of us will want a simple system, and McKee offers up the idea that the proper service creation environment will allow users to manage and develop applications with ease.
Want to learn more about the latest in communications and technology? Then be sure to attend ITEXPO East 2012, taking place Jan. 31-Feb. 3 2012, in Miami, FL. ITEXPO (News - Alert) offers an educational program to help corporate decision makers select the right IP-based voice, video, fax and unified communications solutions to improve their operations. It's also where service providers learn how to profitably roll out the services their subscribers are clamoring for – and where resellers can learn about new growth opportunities. For more information on registering for ITEXPO registration click here.
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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 Stefanie Mosca