Interactive Voice Response technology has been revolutionizing companies’ customer service for decades. As it has improved over the years, customer experience has improved with it. Even if you have never read up on Interactive Voice Response technology, you are sure to have encountered it when communicating with a call center.
IVR solutions have become an everyday part of business phone systems. The process involves communicating with an automated voice by pressing buttons on your telephone keypad or speaking to a recorded message that recognizes your specific words. IVR technology allows customers to gain information and be directed to the right place effectively and efficiently. Here is a closer look at how IVR tech is transforming customer service for the better.
Customer Service Is Available Around the Clock
Just think. With Interactive Voice Response technology, your business does not need to employ as many call handling agents or spend time and money training them. Conversational IVR, in which customers talk to the recorded voice when prompted, is especially good for significantly reducing costs because it optimizes the process for a lower average call handling time. In turn, that boosts your productivity and cuts your costs. While IVR software helps your business to save on expenses, it simultaneously enables you to provide 24/7 access to your customers, thus enhancing their experiences. Customers want to be able to resolve issues at any time of day and with IVR, they can do that. Instead of having humans manning the phone lines 24/7, IVR tech can handle many customer queries and issues during the night and holidays.
IVR Provides a More Personalized Customer Experience
The information that customers give to IVR systems allows for a more personalized experience to the customers, which helps to create better relationships between your company and your customers. Furthermore, some IVR systems can be programmed with personalized greetings for callers who are known, based on those customers’ called ID data.
You Can Create a Professional Impression of Your Company
When a customer phones up a company and is put through to a basic or conversational IVR system, he or she will naturally feel as though the company is large and sophisticated with a host of call center staff on standby to handle queries, even if the reality is your call center staff are composed of two people and you operate from small premises. By using an IVR system, you can easily create a professional impression of your business and make customers feel as though they are in safe and competent hands.
Conversational IVR Technology Goes Beyond Handling Basic Tasks
While traditional IVR technology is excellent for handling a wide variety of basic and repetitive tasks, conversational IVR systems are able to do much more by understanding customer intent while maintaining the context. Conversational IVR can give customers information and advice on your brand’s products and service and instantly resolve various problems without the need for any human intervention. When customer queries are more complex, an IVR can intuitively sense that and seamlessly transfer the conversation to a human call-handler, making the experience as smooth as possible and maintaining a high level of customer service.
Conversational IVR Systems Become Smarter Over Time
Conversational IVRs get smarter with time, which means they can continually enhance how they communicate with your customers. They are self-learning, so they can enhance their capabilities and increase the types of tasks and queries they can handle. That enables customer issues to be dealt with faster and in the right manner. It also means IVR systems can provide higher quality conversations over time. So, businesses that use Interactive Voice Response technology can automate their front-line customer service to revolutionize customer service in a variety of ways.
