How do IVRs assist companies?

The Interactive Voice Recognition (IVR) system is something everyone is familiar with whether they are aware of it or no; they greet you when you call a company. This could be to discuss your current or prospective account, and that in itself is part of the reason there is nothing that these systems are used by companies.

Whenever companies are contacted over the phone, the caller will very rarely be connected to a human being initially. The first thing they are most likely to hear is an automated menu which asks you to cooperate with it. While some people find this frustrating, it assists the company with managing the phone calls that come through to them.

Most companies will organise their customer service departments into the different sections that customers call about. For example: sales; complaints; problems etc. This means they can train the different departments to make sure they are able to handle all of the enquiries that come through. The idea is that each section focusses on one aspect of the service and excels in that field and as well as being able to excel, it is pre-set who takes the phone call for each enquiry.

One of the biggest problems faced by call centres when they were first established was passing customers around between the advisors until someone was able to help. This was frustrating for the caller and resulted in complaints for the company. Now, the IVR is able to delegate calls to the most appropriate advisor.

They are also used to gather information about the reasons customers call the company. When the interactive part comes into play the company is able to evaluate which departments are in demand and which are not. This means they can make sure the departments are populated by enough advisors in order to manage the workload.

However, there is yet another benefit. With companies’ websites playing a leading role in customer service these days, the data collected through the IVR can also allow for the company to put the desired information on the website therefore allowing the customer to answer their enquiry without necessarily having to contact the company.

IVRs can also be manipulated to greet the customer with an answer to an enquiry – if for example the company offers utilities like water or electricity and there is a problem with one of these services a large volume of customers will call the company in order to report the problem. If the IVR is in place to explain that the company is aware of the problem, the phone lines are freed up for other customers to call.

Everything that a company does with IVRs is to ensure that their customers receive the best customer service possible. Speak with EuroDigiTel using the following link for more information regarding IVRs: http://www.eurodigitel.com/