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July 31, 2012

Webinar - IVR Systems Must Adapt to Meet Next-Gen Needs


Customer interactions have always played an important role in business success. With the economic pressures that loom today, it’s especially important that customers are satisfied with all the communication they have with a company. 





Because of this importance, the technology used to improve telephone interactions must also be considered. Interactive Voice Response (IVR) systems have been used by companies for some time to help reduce the need for agents and improve efficiency. While not all encounters with these systems fostered positive results in the past, the technology is necessary and will continue to be used well into the future.

Just as the contact center and the customer has changed, so too must these technologies and systems.

During a recent webinar, “Discover how to extend the life of IVR systems: Upgrade to open standards and deliver an anytime any where experience with Visual IVR,” Keith Ward, CTO at Product Support Solutions (News - Alert) (PSS), offered an inside view of technology options and how they can be integrated into today’s Next Gen call center environments.

According to Ward, there are three basic pillars to understand the necessary transition to next gen systems and capitalizing on new technologies in today’s call centers.

The first pillar includes knowing where most companies are today with their legacy systems that they have had in place from 5-15 or more years and still function today.

Next, working toward the second pillar is migration to new methods and capabilities and the transition from legacy systems to next gen systems available today.

Finally, the third pillar includes benefiting from the move to that environment by making use of capabilities like visual IVR and social networking.

Aside from being outdated, legacy IVR systems also restrict the use of VoiceXML (News - Alert) and benefits around mobile, smartphone and tablets.

Updating the call center to offer these latest technologies is key to meeting the needs of Gen Y customers. Most people are no longer going to be picking up a phone to interact with a company – instead they will turn to social media and texting – so it’s vital that the call center leverage those capabilities.

But how do we move forward? What about risks and issues? Check out the rest of the Webinar HERE.


Want to learn more about the latest in communications and technology? Then be sure to attend
ITEXPO West 2012, taking place Oct. 2-5, in Austin, TX. 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 click here.

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Edited by Braden Becker