Make your customer service INTERACTIVE- Understanding Everything About IVRs

Using bots or computers to handle the queries of clients is one of the most dynamic ways to reduce the efforts of a company rather than to hire live customer support agencies. Interactive Voice Response systems or IVR’s, as it is commonly known, is a computerised program that interacts with customers without any need for the intervention of human beings to handle the process. IVR programming assists the callers with pre-recorded message templates stored in the system to help them with menial or monotonous tasks, which reduces the time wasted by the caller while waiting for a customer service representative to answer.

History of IVR:

Before dwelling more on the advantages of IVR let us take a look back into its history.  As many of you know about it, IVR is not a discovery of the modern age. It was used in the past, but it had a less formidable presence back in the 1970’s in call centers. This technology at that time was expensive and very few companies relied on it for servicing their customers. The system in the 70’s was not resourceful and failed to understand most words and hence could not answer efficiently.

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Reeling back to the present, there has been a tremendous advancement in the IVR systems which have made them cost-friendly and robust. The vocabulary capacity of these machines has increased, which has led to improved proficiency, which helps customers get instant responses.

Due to these reasons, there has been a huge demand from businesses to implement these systems into their customer service department, which helps them in analysing and consolidating the demands of the customers as well as bulking up their capacity for higher intake of calls. Now that we are familiar with the past and present of the IVR systems, let us take a look at the advantages of IVR.

Advantages of Cloud IVR and On-Premise IVR:

1.    Decreasing Call Volume

Previously a company with a limited set of employees would have to ultimately limit the volume of calls depending, on their capacity. This would result in smearing the brand value of the company since the customer service section could not answer the queries of the remaining callers. IVR services will allow continuous customer service to all your clients irrespective of any holidays or short staffing problems.

2.    24×7 Customer Support

Is your live customer service care on hold due to some reason? Well, fear not as IVR will provide a 24×7 service to assist the callers anytime.  Non-stop service is the IVR solution that records and transmits messages during any part of the day or night, irrespective of any conditions.

3.    Better Customer Service

There was some speculation about the transformation of the customer service from live to IVR in the past. This transformation has culminated smoothly into customers enjoying the undivided attention they get through these IVRs. Other than being prompt, these IVRs can be personalized while satisfying the client’s needs. Tweaks can be implemented that allows personalized remarks by tracking the caller id of the caller. Personalized messages like wishing the caller on his birthday can be implemented which ignites the emotion of trust and respect for the company. Language options can be re-configured for every client based on their previous call which enables them to complete their task faster. These is a list of some personalized tweaks which can be incorporated into your customer service through IVR messages.

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4.    Lowering Costs

So why do companies invest in technologies? One of their primary objectives is to reduce the costs incurred through the current process. Well, implementing the IVR software will definitely reduce your expenditure in the long run. Although you need to invest in the technology at the initial stage, you can reduce the intake of employees for running your live customer care service. Training these employees also takes up additional resources of your company and these costs are reduced too after employing the services of IVR software.

5.    Image of the Company

Maintaining the image of your company is essential and providing undivided attention to your customers is the best way to do so. The personalization concept of the IVR will allow you to interact with your client base seamlessly, which will ultimately help in gaining their trust. IVR can be a boost to SMBs. The IVR will allow enterprises to record messages and file them in databases which can be analysed to create patterns of the needs of the clients. For example, if there is a demand by the callers to incorporate a better menu in your IVR, you can update your software to meet the needs of the customers. This is one of the dynamic solutions for small business that helps you reduce the grievances of the customers.

Need for IVR:

The advantages of the automated voice response system are many but is it really crucial for your business? It is obvious that customers choose systems or products that have a better customer service. So why not invest in technology that will help you build a better base for its clients as well as help in retaining them. Estimates reveal that 85% of customers will stick with companies that have IVR services by the year 2020. This statistic shows you that you need to be prompt with your decision to install IVR into your process.

Now comes the part of purchasing the IVR system. Before you invest in an IVR system, you need to go through your options since you have the option of choosing cloud IVR solutions or offline IVR solutions. In this section, we will take a look at the some of the guidelines before you invest in an IVR.

An IVR system –

• Should be able to handle unlimited calls.
• Have a robust monitoring system which makes processing fast.
• Should seamlessly work with back-end applications which make it more efficient.
• Should have the capacity to deploy data extremely

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Advantages of IVR Cloud Services:

1.    Lower Operating Costs

Since there are lesser costs involved in setting up a cloud IVR rather than using hardware services for offline IVR, it is better if you upgrade to a cloud service. The cloud service will also allow you to segment your customers which can be channelled into distinct processes.

2.    Easy Scalability

The scalability options for cloud services are easy since there is no hardware involved. With our scheduling platform you can easily plan your Car Detailing in California. During scaling up you can directly go to the website and increase the traffic or make the desired changes you need to make. Since space does not hinder you, because there are no wires and machines, it is easier to scale up.

3.    Downtime

Working with hardware increases the probability of encountering a problem or technical glitch. Using the cloud service will reduce the likelihood of the system shutting down.  It is thus a fair assumption that you will have a service up 24×7 for 365 days a year.

The increase in the trend of using IVR for businesses has imposed a necessity for the other businesses to upgrade to IVR. The wide range of resources available at hand through the IVR app allows you to target more customers, which increase your outreach. Before purchasing make sure to check the product of the company and ensure you are making the right buy.

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