Interactive Voice Response Systems (IVR)

We realize that the IVR is often criticized as being unhelpful and difficult to use due to poor design and lack of appreciation of the callers' needs, but in this new technological world every business you call you cannot avoid them. A properly designed IVR should connect callers to their desired service promptly and with a minimum of complexity.

In telephony, interactive voice response, or IVR, is a phone technology that allows a person, typically a telephone caller, to select options from a voice menu and interact with the phone system. A pre-recorded voice prompt is played and the caller presses a number on a telephone keypad to select an option - i.e. "press 1 for yes, press 2 for no". Voice recognition can also interpret the caller's simple spoken answer such as "yes", "no", more complex words, sentences and business names, or a number as a valid response to the voice prompt.

Other technologies include the ability to speak complex and dynamic information such as an e-mail, news report or weather information using Text-To-Speech (TTS). TTS is computer generated synthesized speech that is no longer the robotic voice generally associated with computers. Real voices are used to create the speech in tiny fragments that are spliced together before being played to the caller.

An IVR can be utilized in several different ways:

• Equipment installed on the customer premise
• Outsourced Solution Provider (OSP).

Many business applications employ this technology including telephone banking, order placement, caller identification and routing, balance inquiry, and airline ticket booking. Voice mail is different from IVR in that it is a one-way communication tool (the caller leaves a message), whereas an IVR attempts two-way interaction with the caller. Automatic call distributor (ACD) systems are often the first point of contact when calling many larger businesses and can be used in place of an IVR.

Interactive voice response can be used to front-end a call center operation by identifying which service the caller wants. Information can be obtained from the caller such as account numbers. Answers to simple questions such as account balances or pre-recorded information can be provided without operator intervention. Account numbers from the IVR are often compared to caller ID data for security reasons and additional IVR responses are required if the caller ID data does not match the account record.

IVR call flows are created in a variety of ways. Older systems depended upon proprietary programming or scripting languages, whereas modern IVR applications are structured similar to WWW pages, using VoiceXML or SALT or T-XML languages. This allows a Web server to act as an application server, freeing the developer to focus on the call flow. Developers no longer require specialized programming skills, as Web developers already have the tools needed to create an IVR call flow.

With an IVR Solution from S.E.E.D.^© Technology Center, services once handled by live representatives can be automated. Your callers can get information - account information, order confirmation, payments, surveys and anything else you designate - directly over the phone without any interaction with your representatives, anytime they want. They can also be transferred to a live person if you so desire. The possibilities are endless.

Put our experience and technical expertise to work in custom-developing your IVR solution. To find out more about our latest IVR-Based, VoIP solution - iPhone-In-A-Box™, visit the information page by clicking the link or giving us a call.