While it's no surprise that many people are less than pleased to hear an interactive voice response, or "IVR," system when they are hoping to get a live person, over the past few years, IVR has done its best to ramp up efforts to increase its systems and offer users a more simple, versatile platform.
For example, IVR provider Angel.com recently revamped its Caller First Analytics, a fully integrated, business intelligence analytics reporting capability from MicroStrategy (News - Alert) for voice solutions offers unique, robust analytics designed to deliver unprecedented ability to make better decisions and implement improvements based on insight into the performance of voice applications.
Here, an IVR company did what many users lack when dealing with an IVR system - they put the caller first.
However, for senior Intel (News - Alert) executive, David Perlmutter, who also experiences some frustrating IVR systems, he not only feels the pain of often frustrated IVR users, but thinks the underlying issue with system that don't put the caller first, is that it creates bigger obstacles to people working more naturally with computers.
"Typing is not necessarily natural," Perlmutter said during an interview at the Intel Developer Forum in Beijing, adding that handwriting and voice recognition will make it much easier for people to use computers, but there seems to be a disconnect between finding the right algorithms and a capable system.
While the problem still persists - and may even do so for some time coming - there is constantly work being done to upgrade these new systems to improve automated banking, airline ticketing and voice commands for many other companies.
Despite all of the improvements on the voice side of IVR, the typing mechanisms still need a boost.
Perlmutter, co-general manager of the Intel Architecture group and seen as a potential successor for company CEO, believes the human-to-machine interface, beyond voice, will improve in coming years. The world is already moving from text to mouse to touchscreen and "we'll continue to move into more gesture recognition," he said.
Kelly McGuire is a TMCnet Web editor, covering CRM and workforce technologies, and anchor of its daily TMC Newsroom video broadcast. Kelly also writes about eco-friendly "green" technologies and smart grids, compiling TMCnet's weekly e-Newsletters on those topics, as well as the cable industry. To read more of Kelly's articles, please visit her columnist page.Edited by Kelly McGuire