The adoption of IVR self-service technology can be tricky. Customer's distaste for self-service technologies is a result of poorly implemented call center IVR strategies that lead to customer frustration. Creating a dual objective that is centered on both business and customer requirements then putting a strategy into place with your customer service best practices will lead to a successful self-service call center and will have your customers completing their calls

Building a successful IVR requires developing a call flow that provides the customer with the correct prompts in order to elicit specific answers to queries. This requires an experienced team with industry best practices understanding to facilitates conversation flow, weeds out incorrect grammar, and nebulous concepts in order to provide the means for the customer to obtain a satisfactory answer to a problem or question. IVRs are not human, so the challenge lies within how to create a human-like experience or the perception of one.

Leveraging IST's extensive experience in speech applications, the call flow is designed from the customer's perspective taking into consideration different contexts that they use the system. This allows your system to meet the anticipated needs of the caller. It also enables advanced self service functionality.

IST can migrate your aging IVR self serivce application to newer, more flexible platforms allowing you to adapt quickly to changing business needs, and improve the level of automation for your existing self service applications - through natural language call steering, speaker identification. The wealth of rich data gathered via a well designed self service application also facilitates intelligent routing. Using

IST IVR consultants will work with you on achieving tangible benefits that will increase your competitive edge, reduce your operational cost while increasing your customer satisfaction. Below are some of the benefits experienced by our customers that have chosen to deploy feature rich IVR platforms.

Decrease Average Speed of Answer

by giving agents the information they need to be prepared for a call before they answer the phone. Good IVR will transfer caller identification and information to an agent’s computer beforehand so they can be prepared for the call and get it answered and resolved in record time.

Decrease Abandoned Calls

by giving callers the option to help themselves through self-service. If a customer is calling for information they get automatically through your system without any hold times they will not have hung up in frustration and anger but only after having found a speedy resolution to their call objective.

Reduce Your Operational Cost

Typical above 60% of your operational cost is attributed to your human resources such as agents, supervisors, quality control, team leaders, trainers, workforce managers, etc ... By introducing a new IVR system or enhancing the percentage of calls handled by self services you can turn your call center from a cost center into a profit center. Typically you can get an ROI for well designed IVR project anytime between 1 - 3 years.

Decrease Agent Frustration

by giving them the tools they need to get customer services calls answered quickly and efficiently to customer satisfaction. A frustrated agent dealing with calls will lead to a frustrated customer and lost revenue due to lost time and low customer retention rates. IVR technology makes for happy agents and customers alike.

Increase Efficiency

by having calls handled partially or fully depending on the caller’s needs. 24/7 self-service capabilities give callers flexibility when planning their call times and takes the pressure off your agents during heightened call periods. Something as simple as giving customers the chance to call after hours and have their needs met by an automated system can give you a boost in efficiency and save call center costs.

Increase Customer Satisfaction

by taking care of their needs and giving them the high quality personalized service they demand. Through IVR software your phone system can gather caller data, verify their identity and choose the most appropriate agent for the caller’s situation. So no matter if they are using the fully automated self-service system or partial automation and agent assistance, their call is consistently moving toward an agreeable resolution in a reasonable period of time—this makes for a happy and satisfied customer.

Increase Sales

by getting customers to buy more products and services from you and promote your business through word of mouth. A simple phone call can make or break a future sale or referral and if handled poorly cost you customer loyalty. Through IVR system implementation you can keep your business growing so you can continue to improve your goods and services.