If you’re running a customer service department, chances are you’ve heard talk about interactive voice response (IVR) technology and all the good it’s doing for businesses. It’s one of the latest call center and customer service innovations that is streamlining business operations and reducing strain on employees and entrepreneurs alike. However, the concept itself can be a little complex and, while it’s good for business, it can be hard to wrap your head around just what it does.
Interactive voice response defined
At their core, IVRS are call systems that are able to interact with callers on your behalf. They gather essential customer information and, depending on how the customer interacted with the system, route calls to the appropriate departments. IVR systems employee combinations of voice prompts and touchpad menu prompts to help direct incoming calls. They’re also able to provide responses in the form of correct contact information, including emails, voice responses, callback scheduling, and more. They can consist of hardware options but their cloud-based counterparts are proving especially popular with entrepreneurs.
IVR technology is, of course, computer-reliant and depends on computer-telephony integration (CTI) to effectively perform its job. As an added benefit, they work with both inbound and outbound calls. If that all sounds a little too conceptual, think about this: Remember way back in the day when Moviefone was the end-all, be-all of a theater’s showtimes? If you ever called that line to see what time a film was playing, you already have an idea of how an IVR works. You were presented with a menu of distinct options and you likely never ended up speaking to a human being during your call. Naturally, this type of system comes with a lot of extra benefits.
Benefits of IVR technology
The immediate benefit of using IVR technology should be apparent from that previous example. Depending on how thorough your menus are CTI are, you’re potentially eliminating the need for a massive staff of customer service representatives. In many instances, IVR systems are able to provide customers the information that they need without needing to connect them with a representative.
This means a few things. Firstly, you can scale down your customer service hiring. Saving on additional salaries and employee expenses can greatly improve your profit margins. Secondly, you’re speeding up the customer service process on the whole which leads to higher rates of customer retention and satisfaction. Nobody likes going through multiple representatives and multiple departments to access basic information so it makes sense to cut out these extra steps.
IVR technology can also have an impact on your sales and marketing departments. If you’re not able to handle customer inquiries at all times of the day, your IVR might be able to handle it. For sales, this means affording customers the ability to fill out sales forms with their keypad. These forms can then be forwarded to a salesperson and correctly processed. Many companies also use IVR systems for marketing surveys which can be automatically sent out to both gather customer feedback and gauge interest in your products and services.
Plus, since IVR systems run without interruption, you’re effectively gifting your business with a 24/7 customer service department. You can field calls at any time of the day, schedule callbacks, and handle simple customer requests all without direct human intervention.
A smart investment
Most every business can benefit from incorporating an IVR in its customer service model. It streamlines otherwise time-consuming processes, eliminates some of the more mundane aspects of customer information gathering, and can save you time and money. IVR technology is a great tool for a business owner to have in their operation.
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