Acronyms, acronyms, acronyms! They’re all around us, feature in every industry, and we often know what they mean without knowing what they stand for. The telecoms industry is no different, and “IVR” is a prime example! We’ve been speaking with IVR specialists InverOak to get the low-down on IVR services.
What is IVR?
IVR stands for Interactive Voice Response. You’ll sometimes find that the “R” stands for Recognition or Recording, but in short it allows a person to communicate with a computer system via their telephone. Generally this takes place by pressing the numbers on our keypads to create tones (known as DTMF, or dual tone multi frequency) that are recognised by a computer system. It could also be by speaking into the phone, saying specific words or phrases that the phone system has been programmed to recognise.
The most well-known examples of IVR technology are the menus that are used by most companies to help us to get through to a specific department. You know the ones, don’t you? “Press 1 for sales… press 2 for existing bookings… or press 3 to connect with a live operator.” Or perhaps you’re more familiar with this one: “To vote for Jane, press 06… to vote for George, press 07…. to vote for Lisa, press 08.” Whether you love them or hate them, these IVR services are all around us, and for good reason.
Benefits of using IVR
Whether you have a love or hate relationship with pressing the buttons on your keypad, if you’re the owner of a business then you can’t avoid the benefits that an IVR service will bring to your business. Have a look at the below list and see if any of them might be of use to you:
- More efficient customer services
- Gather customer data more effectively
- Record calls between customers and your staff
- Route callers through to live agents with relevant skill-set to the caller’s query
- Professional customer greeting every time
- Decreased costs
- Increased call handling capacity
Do you run competition services? Do you have a sales arm to your business? Do you take customer services calls? Do you take payment over the phone? Whatever your business and whichever way you look at it, getting telecommunication services such as a custom IVR system up and running will save you time, money, and put on a consistently professional face for callers contacting your business.
How do I get started with an IVR service?
To get an IVR service up and running you’ll generally need a few things:
1. IVR software
2. Hardware on which you can run your IVR software
3. IVR know-how!
For most of us, we’re not going to go out and get all of these things so this becomes a simple exercise in outsourcing these needs to a specialist provider of telecommunication services who will be able to build, host, and manage IVR services that meet your particular needs.
The potential benefits are globally enjoyed and clearly proven, the costs are widely regarded as very low, and the implementation is hassle free. Contact InverOak to learn more about how a customer IVR service can enhance your business today.