Most call and contact centers now use some type of interactive voice response (IVR) system; this technology has been around since the 1980s and is well-established. Yet, even this mature market has seen some significant growth in the past few years, DMG Consulting said in a Tuesday report.
DMG’s “2008 Worldwide Interactive Voice Response Trends and Market Share Report” shows that the IVR market has, as the firm put it, “exploded” in recent years. The company estimated that worldwide IVR revenue reached $1.867 billion at the end of 2007, and projected this number will grow to $2.4 billion by 2010.
That’s a pretty optimistic forecast given the current global economic climate, but DMG said there are solid reasons why IVR market growth isn’t likely to slow down anytime soon. Four trends in particular are driving this growth: a “steady flow” of innovation, expansion of the outbound notification sector, increasing popularity of hosted solutions, and healthy demand for self-service applications.
Plus, IVR solutions inherently offer cost savings for call centers, a definite plus in a recessionary climate.
“The primary value proposition of IVR systems has been their proven ability to provide cost saving in customer service environments,” noted Donna Fluss, president of DMG Consulting, in the report. “More recently, their benefits have extended beyond productivity to improving the overall customer experience and brand building. A large number of customers rely on IVRs and find them to be a convenient, easy-to-use, and dependable way to do business.”
In other words, IVR systems aren’t just good for call centers; they’re good for customers, too.
Further, DMG predicted that a recession might actually have a notably positive effect on the IVR market. Enterprise spending freezes caused by current economic troubles won’t last forever, and when they’re lifted companies will be more likely than ever to invest in this technology as a way to save money going forward.
“Sales will be driven by spending on self-service applications, replacement of outdated and expensive-to-maintain systems, and the need to standardize technology in newly merged and consolidated companies, especially in the IVR-intensive financial services industry,” DMG predicted.
DMG did note that the IVR market in the U.S. has seen some slowdown recently, but this is being offset by international sales in markets like Saudi Arabia, Eastern Europe, India, Brazil and the Pacific Rim.
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Mae Kowalke is senior editor for TMCnet, covering VoIP, CRM, call center and wireless technologies. To read more of Mae's articles, please visit her columnist page. She also blogs for TMCnet here.Edited by Mae Kowalke