Good IVR is Easier than You Think
June 04, 2013
By Mae Kowalke, TMCnet Contributor
Sometimes a bad first experience can color or perspective for years.
I used to hate sushi. My first time trying sushi, and I got the stomach flu. After that, I stayed clear of sushi for the next four or five years. But as anyone who has eaten more than a couple sushi rolls will tell you, sushi is wonderful. I just had a bad early experience.
The same is often the case with interactive voice response (IVR). Many businessmen remember the robotic, hard-to-configure IVR systems of the past and steer clear of the technology.
But just like sushi, IVR has much to offer for those who give it a second look—it doesn’t have to be hard to configure, and it doesn’t even have to be robotic from a customer perspective.
Long and complicated to set up is the biggest objection for many when it comes to IVR. But setup doesn’t have to take weeks or even days; with modern, hosted IVR solutions such as Nimblevox, it can literally take just minutes to set up an IVR system. That’s because the system for these Web-based IVR offerings leverages an easy-to-use Web-based designer.
A second common objection to IVR is that the company doesn’t want to pay a programmer to configure the IVR system, yet they don’t have the right person currently on staff.
Again, with a hosted provider, configuring IVR is cake simple. You don’t need a programmer any longer to have a full-featured IVR system. Again using Nimblevox as an example, IVR systems come with call routing and auto attendant, payment processing, surveys and voice information.
While providing a simple online setup tool, it also offers advanced functionality such as text-to-speech, automatic speech recognition, DTMF recognition and answering machine detection.
Further, with Nimblevox, you get real-time statistics and reporting since the IVR is Web-based. It shows live call data, usage and other statistics and custom reports can be generated from the system.
Then there’s the third concern: The robot voice.
I hear you. Nobody likes talking to a robot. But those days are gone, let me tell you.
One of the best parts about IVR, however, is that you can record your menu in your own voice so that your customers never deal with anyone other than you. It’s easy to setup an IVR: you can use your own phone to record the prompts, and customize the listening options. Your IVR, your way.
Old IVR systems did suffer from the robot voice issue, but nowadays you can get instant, personalized interactive voice response.
Businesses are using IVR to generate leads, upsell and cross-sell new products, provide phone surveys and streamline the customer service experience. Isn’t it time you took a second look at IVR?
Edited by Rachel Ramsey