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January 16, 2012

Webinar - Best Practices for Designing Today's IVR Systems


Did you know that hardware died in 2011? If not, it’s time to meet its immortal ghost: the cloud.

Back in the fall, IVR experts Angel took to SpeechTEK (News - Alert) 2011 in New York City to spread the word on hardware’s demise. In a keynote presentation during the three-day conference, the IVR company issued a call to action to enterprises around the world to move to the cloud, or take a chance at falling behind.




"Hardware simply doesn't move at the speed of business," Don Keane (News - Alert), vice president of marketing and business development for Angel, told attendees during his presentation. “Enterprises need to be able to execute proactive and reactive changes in real-time to accommodate ever-changing customer demands, maximize revenue and achieve brand loyalty – and hardware doesn't offer that level of control or agility. Businesses must turn to the cloud to make the most of the voice channel, or risk lost opportunity every time the phone rings."

The “death” of such an outdated technology was a long time coming, as described by Angel, solely because a company’s voice is not in its visually-appealing websites, or engaging product advertisements in media. Rather, it’s the interactions it has with its customers over the phone. These interactions, or conversations, often occur within an interactive voice response system in which customers are assisted and directed by automated technology.  

"Advertising, marketing and customer care are often seen as the voice of the company,” Keane added. "In fact, the concept of a company voice is literal; it's the experience that enterprises provide when a customer picks up the phone. If you trust that customer interaction to outdated technology, you risk providing an outdated experience."

As an expert in cloud-based voice technologies, Angel has seen it all and is equipped to spread the word on what not to do when it comes to an IVR. On Thursday, Jan. 19, 1 p.m. EST/10 p.m. PST, Angel will host a webinar featuring Blade Kotelly, a human-factors engineering and business innovation strategist, author and educator who will look closely at a collection of IVRs to demonstrate best practices in leveraging cloud technology in order to delight, and entertain callers.

For more information and to register for the webinar, entitled “The Art of Designing the Customer Experience,” click here.

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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Tammy Wolf is a TMCnet web editor. She covers a wide range of topics, including IP communications and information technology. To read more of her articles, please visit her columnist page.

Edited by Jamie Epstein