According to an article by Kimberly Hill on CRM-Daily, phone self-service systems are seen by many by many companies as a good way to cut costs and by many customers as a necessary evil. Jokes about poorly designed interactive voice response systems abound, and the service from some is so abysmal that jokes are not even appropriate.

The problems are not as difficult to solve as many think, says Forrester Research's Moira Dorsey. Of the 15 phone self-service systems she evaluated in a recent study, 14 scored a failing grade on Forrester's criteria. However, many of those failures occurred because the companies involved simply did not employ common, well-known best practices.

The criteria companies should consider when designing IVR systems span several categories, says Dorsey. First, the system should provide essential information and provide it in an easy-to-understand manner. Some companies make the mistake of using industry jargon when speaking to their customers, she explains.

According to Database Systems, an IVR system processes inbound phone calls, plays recorded messages including information extracted from databases and the Internet. It can then route calls to either inhouse service agents or transfer the caller to an outside extension. It enhances a phone system's features of predictive dialing, ACD, and digital call recording.

A good IVR solution is an automatic toll free phone answering system. It collects useful information from a caller before the call is transferred to an agent. The IVR system could fulfill the callers request without a transfer. IVR software systems should give an organization 24x7 capability, providing around-the-clock information to callers.

The navigation of an IVR system should be efficient and intuitive. Menus and prompts should be clear and concise, and users should be informed of global commands periodically. Over half of the systems Forrester tested did not offer to repeat the prompts just given in case a user missed some information.

Of course, offering human assistance at key points is crucial, but it is a step that many companies omit in an effort to reduce the number of more expensive interactions with live representatives.

Drafting IVR prompts in script form can be a useful way to begin the design process, says Dorsey. However, the menu options should be tested in spoken format, since that is the way users will hear them. Poor production quality hampered the effectiveness of several systems Forrester tested unclear speech and swings in volume interfere with customers' absorption of information.

When errors occur, the system should clearly state that fact and offer alternatives, rather than simply presenting another set of menus, she noted. Credit-card companies, in particular, failed to inform customers when incorrect data was entered before proceeding to another step in the process. The trust, or lack thereof, that a customer places in a company is closely linked to the design of its self-service systems, Dorsey said.

David Sims is contributing editor and CRM Alert columnist for TMCnet.

To discover how contact centers can save money and increase productivity by making the switch to IP Telephony, be sure to attend TMC's IP Contact Center Summit May 24-26, 2005, in Dallas, Texas. IP Contact Center Summit is co-located with the Speech-World conference, where you can get expert guidance in the deployment of speech technologies to strengthen customer relationships.