Pizzas get to your door in 30 minutes or less. So do other services that even 10 years ago, used to take a long time before being rendered.
No matter what the industry, customers have been accustomed to efficiency. Gone were the days that we were expected to choose between quality and efficiency unless willing to shell out a large amount of money.
And this holds holds especially now that cloud-based phone services such as those offered by Telnum are gaining traction. It has become much easier and cheaper to add features, including those that will help improve efficiency.
Through this post, we will talk about how many call centers are enhancing call experience for customers through something called Cloud IVR Services. If you want to know how about this and its benefits, keep reading.
IVR 101: What is it?
IVR is short for Interactive Voice Response. But rather than discuss the technicalities of it, let us introduce this to you using a scenario we’re all familiar with: calling customer service.
Do you know how when you call them, you’re not directed to an agent right away? Normally, you’d choose a category first to help the company decide why you’re calling in the first place.
And depending on the company, they can further narrow it down before connecting you with an agent. From there, you can talk about the issue and how it can be addressed. Pretty simple, right?
Now, imagine if you’re connected to an agent right away instead of pushing a few buttons to specify your concern. You’ll talk about the issue in detail, only to find out that he or she can’t help you. What she does is transfer you to another agent. Then, you’ll have to talk about the same thing again.
If you’re lucky, that’s where it ends. But if you’re not, you’ll be transferred to more agents before you find the resolution that you’re looking for.
This exact situation is what the IVR prevents. It’s a response system that
- is automated
- interacts with callers
- gets relevant information from them
- determine why they’re calling
- and connect them with the best person suited to resolve the issue.
The IVR that you will use can let callers communicate using a dial pad or with speech recognition. It’s meant to help callers, sometimes even without a real person interacting with them.
What are its most common features?
Here are the most common features of IVR:
Custom messages
This would help personalize the call experience and represent your company.
Automated resolution of the problem
Your IVR can guide customers using a series of steps so they can solve the problem independently without talking to a live person.
Directing customer to help right away
Think of IVR as a receptionist that guides callers to apt people to handle specific problems. Only that it’s automated and virtual.
Call customers using no agent
The IVR can send a call to a customer based on any change in their records. This would apply to confirmation of a subscription upgrade and appointment setting.
How will the IVR benefit your call center?
The higher service satisfaction rate
As customers would be able to solve their problems much quicker with IVR than without, they’d be satisfied.
The IVR reduces inefficiencies such as connecting a customer to different agents, prolonging total call time, and creating frustrations at the same time.
Lower costs per call
With IVR, the agent’s time would now be devoted to helping with problems they’re trained to address. This helps to solve issues more quickly. And in some cases, an agent won’t be needed at all.
And with less time spent on live interaction per customer, the cost per call would be lower.
Have customer support 24/7
Even without an agent on duty, you’d still be able to address some customer problems. Automated guides and messaging provide convenience to callers at no additional cost to you.
Improve business productivity
No time is wasted directing callers to agents who can help them. This that even though you don’t change your agents’ hours, more will be accomplished.
Improve business image
IVR improves your business customer perception. It implies that you are willing to invest (and more importantly, can afford to invest) on improving the experience during calls.
Depending on why they called, this can also build trust.
The result? Happier and more satisfied customers
And at the end of the day, isn’t what all these improvements are about? Efficiency doesn’t help just the productivity rate of your agents. It also helps you respond to more customers using the same resources.
If you want to enjoy all the benefits mentioned in the previous section and get the best of both worlds – for customers and agents– IVR is definitely the best move.
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