Introducing IVR Systems
You have probably experienced Interactive Voice Response systems, otherwise known as IVR systems, many times in your life. When you call the bank and a machine answers, asking you to press 1 for account balance and so on, you are communicating with an IVR system. With help from Denphone, an inexpensive IVR system can be implemented for your business. This allows for cost savings as it frees up valuable staff time from answering simple questions on the phone.
Interactive voice response (IVR) is a dialog system technology that allows a computer to detect voice and keypad inputs. IVR systems can respond with pre-recorded or dynamically generated audio to further direct users on how to proceed. IVR systems can be used to control almost any function where the interface can be broken down into a series of simple menu choices. In telecommunications applications, such as customer support lines, IVR systems generally scale well to handle large call volumes.
IVR Systems can be implemented in multiple languages which is useful for companies without a strong base of English, Japanese and Chinese speakers (for example). IVR systems also help web retailers build trust with their customers, as an IVR system can be connected via a free call 0120 number.
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Typical uses of IVR Systems
Along with reducing costs and improving customer experience, IVR systems are typically thought of as being used to service high call volumes. Examples of typical IVR applications are: telephone banking, televoting, and credit card transactions. Increasingly small companies are joining large companies in using IVR services to extend business hours of operation and to cut human resource costs.
Companies use IVR systems to identify and segment callers. The ability to identify customers allows services to be tailored according to the customer profile. It also allows the option of choosing automated services. Information can be fed to the caller allowing choices such as: wait in the queue, choose an automated service, or request a callback (at a suitable time and telephone number). The use of computer telephony integration (CTI) will allow the IVR system to look up the caller line identification (CLI) on a network database and identify the caller. This is currently accurate for about 80% of inbound calls. In the cases where CLI is withheld or unavailable, the caller can be asked to identify themselves by other methods such as a PIN or password.
Voice-activated dialers
(VAD) Voice-activated IVR systems are now used to replace the switchboard or PABX (Private Automatic Branch eXchange) operators which are used in many hospitals and large businesses to reduce the caller waiting time. An additional function is the ability to allow external callers to page hospital staff and transfer the inbound call to the paged person.
Entertainment and information
The largest installed IVR platforms are used for applications such as voting in TV game shows such as Dancing with the Stars and Big Brother which can generate enormous call spikes. Small and medium sized businesses can also take advantage of IVR systems in various ways including hour of operation, vacation information, and sale items.
The following are some of the more common uses of an IVR:
Anonymous access
IVR systems also allow callers to obtain data relatively anonymously. Hospitals and Clinics have used IVR systems to allow callers to receive anonymous access to test results. This is information that could easily be handled by a person but the IVR system is used to preserve privacy and avoid potential embarrassment of sensitive information or test results.
Clinical trials
IVR systems are used by large pharmaceutical companies to conduct global clinical trials and manage the large volumes of data generated. The caller will respond to questions in their preferred language and their responses will be logged into a database and possibly recorded at the same time to confirm authenticity. Applications include patient randomization and drug supply management.
Technologies used
Denphone runs IVR systems on its' Denphone Asterisk-Based PBX system. Denphone offers a managed hosted service from either their data center in Tokyo or in Osaka, as well as from systems located on the customers premises. Call logging is available to track the success of campaigns, and professional voice recording services in a number of languages are available.
DTMF signals (entered from the telephone keypad) and natural language speech recognition interpret the caller's response to voice prompts.
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 create the speech in tiny fragments that are spliced together (concatenated) before being played to the caller.
Extended IVR Systems
A simple voicemail system is different from an IVR in that it is person to person whereas an IVR is person to computer. IVR voiceforms can be used to provide a more complex voicemail experience to the caller. For example, the IVR could ask if the caller wishes to hear, edit, forward or remove a message that was just recorded.
An automatic call distributor (ACD) is often the first point of contact when calling many larger businesses. An ACD uses digital storage devices to play greetings or announcements, but typically routes a caller without prompting for input. An IVR can play announcements and request an input from the caller. This information can be used to route the call to a particular skillset. (A skillset is a function applied to a group of call-center agents with a particular skill.)
Interactive voice response can be used to front-end a call center operation by identifying the needs of the caller. 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. A traditional IVR depended upon proprietary programming or scripting languages, whereas modern IVR applications are structured similar to WWW pages, using VoiceXML, SALT or T-XML languages. The ability to use XML developed applications allows a Web server to act as an application server, freeing the developer to focus on the call flow. It was widely believed that developers would no longer require specialized programming skills, however this has been proven to be misguided as IVR applications need to understand the human reaction to the application dialogue. This is the difference between a good user experience and IVR hell.
IVR and VoIP
The increased usage of VoIP in voice networks is giving a large boost to the use of how IVR systems used in voice networks, this is mainly due to the introduction of protocols such as SIP and IAX.
Denphone is able to provide Japan termination for IVR systems - your system could be in New York or Frankfurt for example, and a customer could dial a 03 Tokyo DID/DDI or 06 Osaka DID/DDI and be connected over IP to your system. The caller ID would be sent and a representative would be able to call back to the customer if required.
The introduction of SIP means that point to point communications are no longer restricted to voice calls but can now be extended to multimedia technologies such as video. This will bring a new meaning to automated services as IVR extends its reach to video calls. Many IVR manufacturers are currently working on IVVR (Interactive Voice and Video Response) systems, especially for mobile phone networks. The use of video will give IVR systems the ability to use graphical and video information to assist the caller.
The introduction of video IVR may allow systems in the future the ability to read emotions and facial expressions. It may be used to identify the caller, using technology such such as Iris scan or other biometric means. Recordings of the caller may be stored to monitor certain transactions, and will be used to reduce identity fraud.
Criticism of IVR Systems
IVR is often criticized as being unhelpful and difficult to use due to poor design and lack of appreciation of the caller's needs. Some callers object to providing voice response to an automated system and prefer speaking with a human respondent. A properly designed IVR application should provide the caller's needs promptly and with a minimum of complexity. Denphone can work with you to produce the IVR system, in English or Japanese, to produce the IVR system that best fits the needs of your customers. Outsourced usability studies are an option here.
Outsourcing vs. contact center automation
Contact centers are very expensive to run, and can be seen as a drain on companies' operations. Methods of reducing costs include outsourcing and automation. Outsourcing to other countries can reduce operational expenditure by as much as 30%, however, differences in culture and language can prove problematic for customers, whose dissatisfaction can lead to customer complaint and loss of business.
Automation in a contact center can also reduce operational expenditure by around 30% though the introduction of technologies such as customer profiling, CTI, and IVR using speech recognition. The use of automation in the contact center promotes efficiency, allowing contact centers to be located in the country from which the call is originated. However, automation can also prove problematic when it fails, and can lead to long wait times for available agents.
Automated Attendant and IVR - what is the difference?
It has become common in industries that have recently entered the telecom industry to refer to an Automated Attendant as an IVR. The terms Automated Attendant and IVR are distinct and mean different things to traditional telecom professionals, whereas emerging telephony and VoIP professionals often use the term IVR as a catch-all to signify any kind of telephony menu, even a basic automated attendant.
Information used in creating this page was sourced from the English entry from Wikipedia. That page can be found here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ivr and is used under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License.
For inquiries related to IVR systems contact us today for a free no-obligation quote. To find out how you can save costs and improve your business productivity with the latest communications technology, phone +81-3-4550-1405 (Tokyo), +81-6-4560-3200 (Osaka) or contact us to set up an appointment today.
