Interactive Voice Response Systems
What are Interactive Voice Response systems?
Interactive Voice Response systems, or IVR, are the finest examples of Computer-Telephone
Interaction Technology. These systems allow the user to interact with the company
they are calling through his/her touch-tone telephone. The caller can speak commands
to the database and make changes to information, purchase services and/or goods,
and sometimes check the status of orders. The greatest benefit of Interactive Voice
Response systems is that they do not require any kind of human intervention other
than voice. By fully controlling and pre-determining the users’ needs, the IVR system
helps the user to freely interact and manipulate data within the system.
How do Interactive Voice Response systems work?
The inner workings of IVR systems are quite simple. Each word or phrase initiates
a search by the system. These keywords, are easily interpreted by Public Switched
Telephone Networks (PSTN). The computer, on the other hand, interprets these phrases
through a piece of computer software. Simple Interactive Voice Response systems
require a computer hooked to the internet via the telephony card and IVR software
that stores all the other maintenance tasks of the system. These days, various kinds
of Interactive Voice Response systems are available like an IVR system with voice-recognition
software –a security feature that gives access to computer systems through recognizing
one’s voice. Another type of advanced IVR system is that which has text-to-speech
software. With such systems, there is practically no need to pre-record the answers
for all the possible customer queries. The system automatically responds to the
customer queries either through text messages or via automated voice messages. The
most advanced Interactive Voice Response systems are based on VXML (Voice Extensible
Markup Language). The chief components of such IVR systems are PSTN or VoIP network,
TCI/IP network, web server, VXML telephony server and a database.
Applications of Interactive Voice Response systems IVR systems are commonly used
in those sectors that cater to a vast range of customers like banks, airports, call
centers, multiplexes, universities, department stores, hospitals, and many more.
In these areas, it is usually difficult to provide services to all the customers
on one-to-one basis. Interactive Voice Response systems provide an efficient mechanism
to provide superlative services to businesses of all types.
Advantages of Interactive Voice Response systems
- It is unusually difficult to answer each and every phone call; IVR systems make
this process simple. The customers feel that their needs are fulfilled in a timely
manner.
- Another advantage of Interactive Voice Response systems is that they are always
on the clock. Thus, the customers can get answers to their queries 24-hours a day,
7-days a week.
- Lastly, these systems induce confidence among your customers by making your small
organization look very large.
One thing for the small business owner to consider is, when your company grows to
where you can no longer support the volume, it is time to move on to a robust system
that can handle this increase. It is a no-brainer to include interactive voice response
systems in your business’s technology package. You can only get so big. Get there
and then let the efficiency of interactive voice response systems work for you!
Back to Articles.
|
