IVR

Interactive voice response (IVR) systems can cause a strong improvement in customer experience and contact center operating costs like few other customer-care technologies can. Speech-enabled IVRs have the ability to pick up where their dual-tone or touch-tone multifrequency counterparts leave off. But this doesn't necessarily make it an all-purpose cure-all. Rather, when speech technologies come into play, the design of the system is that much more important. Voice user interface design is a top obstacle to higher rates of satisfaction.

 

Designing a speech-enabled IVR can be complicated. The following are seven proven strategies to aid in the transition to speech-recognition IVR technology.

* Much frustration with speech-enabled IVRs comes from feeling trapped in the system. This can be avoided by giving callers the chance to opt out of the application and get connected to a live rep.

 

"What we're looking for," said Opus Research founder and senior analyst Dan Miller (News - Alert), "is a closer integration of the speech application with the call-routing application and linkage to the business logic that supports the goals of CRM."

 

* There really is no substitute for communicating with your customers for gaining insight into the customer service experience. It’s the best way to get valuable information like why they're calling, likes and dislikes and what they're trying to accomplish.

 

* It’s a good idea to automate frequent tasks like getting stock quotes and making address changes. Stay away from high-stress tasks and situations that are less frequently used.

 

* Speech technology may add to what callers can do via automation, but that doesn’t necessarily mean a major boost in the percentage of self-service interactions as a result. In other words, shoot for a modest target.

 

"If today 20 percent of the people are being handled by the IVR and you put in speech, it's not going to jump to 95 percent," says McGee-Smith Analytics president and principal analyst Sheila McGee-Smith. "But you'll get [another] 15 percent, 25 percent -- and that's good. Don't expect that speech is dramatically going to get you near to 100 percent because you'll be disappointed."

* You would think that using a speech-enabled IVR would be likely to bolster the quality of customer interactions, but a lackluster approach to testing will ruin the chance of improving satisfaction levels.

 

* Companies often miss one of the main elements of the overall “feel” of a successful speech system: the voice that is used for the recordings. Professional talent adds to the aesthetic of the system.

 
* All of your customers are different. Speech recognition initiatives require an understanding of the makeup of your customer base. Create profiles that describe user segments, adding characteristics geared to providing customer visibility.