July 26, 2022
July 26, 2022
We know that “a happy customer is the greatest advertisement”. Today, businesses keep a customer-centric approach. It is a major factor that determine their success amidst the changing business landscape and cut-throat competition. The emerging IVR i.e. interactive voice response technology proves as a boon. How? An IVR, which is also known as Auto Attendant, is basically business call management software that automates the business calling process. It streamlines business communication making the whole process extremely effective.
“Why do businesses need to have an IVR system when the job can be done by a human resource?” This question must have crossed your mind. Well, here are some statistics that would help you understand better:
A study suggests that “69% of respondents prefer to resolve issues without any human intervention. Also, 63% of participants preferred to search for solutions within a business’s digital channel rather than calling its customer helpline.
Clearly, providing customers with the type of customer service they want will add more value to your business operations. An IVR system that can resolve a user’s issue with a self-service method or can route the call to the right agent is therefore of great use.
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There are two types of IVR systems – Cloud IVR and On-site IVR. In an On-site IVR, the system integrates with the existing telephone system of the business. The maintenance and management of those systems falls on the business. Whereas in a cloud-hosted IVR, the whole system resides on the cloud. Also, the maintenance part falls on the service provider.
It is always a better choice to go with a hosted IVR system. The reason is that in a hosted service, you just need to pay a monthly subscription fee. In return, the installation and maintenance will be taken care of by the service provider. Technical difficulties can be resolved by connecting with the customer care of the service provider. Therefore, it lets you better concentrate on the work.
It presents the user with a telephony menu and routing system that generates interactive responses for callers. The system then directs the call to the intended agents. All this happens without any human intervention and takes a few seconds. Thus, reducing the time for query resolution.
For a growing business, budget constraints and high customer expectations are two major challenges. A hosted IVR system helps in easily addressing these issues. It emerges as a mission-critical tool that lets them handle more calls without spending too much.
Many businesses are unsuccessful in managing calls which badly affects their reputation and revenue. Two major reasons for such a failure are :
So now, let’s understand the advantages of having an IVR system for businesses.
Call volumes will grow with time. Hiring human resources to answer business calls can exhaust your financial resources. Having an IVR means you only need to invest in a single software that is going to handle all types of call volumes.
Customers can call at any time. As an IVR is available 24/7, there will always be a high level of uptime. This means you have someone who is going to answer calls even after business hours. With human resources, this is difficult to be achieved.
In a study conducted by HubSpot, “90% of customers wanted an immediate response to their calls and queries”. The speech-driven menu offered by an IVR routes the customer to the right agent. This certainly adds efficiency to the customer support process. The customer gets his query, concern or request answered quickly which enhances customer delight.
It is estimated that by the year 2024, there will be 8.4 billion digital voice assistants globally. An IVR recorded greeting is the first voice that your customers hear when they call. Pre-recorded voice greetings are a good way to start. Else you can create your own greetings to put a pleasant first impression on the customer.
An IVR that offers a text-to-Speech feature can be highly useful. This eliminates the need to hire a voice actor for recording. You can simply type in the prompt as per your choice. Then the hosted IVR system will present you with a menu of voices to choose from. It gives a harmonious and professional image to the business.
Employees exhaust their precious time in answering routine calls. With an IVR system a business can help employees from saving their time. Recorded messages can take care of basic questions like business address, working hours, etc.
An IVR can record all the business calls. This offers a great opportunity to analyze customer service and find areas of improvement. IVR software are also useful in analyzing customer data and customer experiences.
In case of cloud-hosted IVR, there is no requirement of hardware. It functions in a cloud-based environment. Moreover, you can always customize it to suit your business-specific needs.
With a predefined menu, the call transfer is done to the right department. This is done without any chance of errors. Moreover, the customer does not need to wait for their turn. Certainly, which makes the overall experience an amazing one.
As per a report, the IVR market is expected to grow by USD 3.7 billion by the year 2023. IVR has its utilization across a wide range of sectors. Here’s a brief about some of the major ones:
IVRs are useful in pre-treatment questionnaires. Also, appointment scheduling and follow-ups can be easily executed. Further, lab test results, IVR technology finds many practical uses in the healthcare sector.
An IVR system can help parents in retrieving performance parameters of their child. This helps them keep an easy check from time to time.
Banking institutions can also leverage IVRs for providing account information. For example- balance inquiry, transactions, make payments, deposits, etc.
Clearly an IVR service provider offers endless possibilities when it comes to managing business communication. A business’s success does not only depend upon great communication with the customer. It is equally important to protect their data. Always choose a reliable service provider so that customer-sensitive data remains completely safe.
Note– This post has been last updated on 26-07-22.
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