IVR Systems Remain Vital for Customer-facing Interactions
January 25, 2012
By Juliana Kenny, TMCnet Managing Editor
The voice communications industry is one of the most rapidly developing industries in the technology world today – with progressions in everything from speech analytics for the enterprise to consumer-based voice recognition software like Siri on the iPhone (News - Alert) 4S.
Even as such a booming sector, the IVR industry is occasionally eclipsed, especially from a business perspective, by email, chat, and other forms of interpersonal ways of communicating with customers. Developments in mobile have no doubt affected this perception as well. Though, voice is still the major venue of customer-facing interactions, even amongst all the self-service portals and social software.
A recent blog noted the comments of David Baker, VP of sales and business development at Servion Global Solutions, as he mentioned that the popularity of voice communications is not a passing phase through which the CRM industry or technology world is moving. IVR systems have carried the communications from customer-to-agent for years, and will continue to do so.
Engaging with a company’s IVR system, while not the most pleasant of ways to spend an afternoon, is still preferable to many consumers as it is often still the most efficient way to get information or accomplish a task regarding a customer’s account with that business.
The blogger notes, “while many customers are looking for answers to their questions over social media channels, there will still be those for whom research will raise more questions than it answers. That's when they'll want to pick up the phone and call the company.”
Voice solution providers are mostly well aware of the challenges facing the voice and CRM industry in the coming months, and one such provider is ready for the changes. Interact has developed unique real-time solutions for businesses requiring customizable, cost-efficient IVR systems. The company’s SPOT Media Platform has been lauded as one of the fastest IVR systems on the market today, and Interact also provides a creation environment for those who want to develop their own applications.
So, if voice is here to stay, why not make the most of its existence?
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