Interactive Voice Response

A new addition to the IVR is the ability to use speech recognition technology. listen and learn. The IVR can further manage queues by

providing information about average wait time. For those callers experiencing long wait times, the IVR can offer alternatives. For

example, an on-hold message can suggest to callers that
they use the IVR to get technical assistance. The system can interact with callers to learn about their problems and recommend
likely solutions from a database. The IVR can even be used in conjunction with a fax server to send requested information. The fax

can be generated based on customers' responses to questions presented by the IVR. Improved Call Routing Using the IVR system

as a front end, it is possible to improve the ACDs call routing. For instance, an IVR system can prompt callers to enter incident

numbers which signal the ACD to route callers to the specific analysts familiar with the particular products they're calling about.
For groups that commonly work by telephone, a standard application can be written which, on request, calls everyone
on a list and leaves a message with whomever answers the phone (including the option to backup and replay for those who are

scrambling to find a pencil.) Network monitoring is a particularly useful application for these systems since, if your network has gone
down, it doesn't help to try and send e-mail to the person who is supposed to fix things! 18 MANAGING TELEPHONY For those

callers experiencing long wait times, the IVR can offer alternatives. Maximizing Your IVR Benefits The following are a few tips to keep

in mind when selecting and implementing IVR applications: Choose a System That Will Grow With You Look for a system that will

add processor power, telephone lines, and voice storage capacity as needed. Use Only High Quality Recordings While this often

means professional recordings, this can be an added expense. Before you commit, check to see if there is extra cost every time you
want the vendor to make changes to your scripts. Make Sure Your System Runs Smoothly and Adapts Easily The sequence of your

voice prompts should flow smoothly under all caller scenarios. Just as important, the program's content should be easily and
quickly adaptable to your changing requirements. To meet these criteria, you may need to find a system integrator. Check for

Fax-Back as an Option Since people like to receive things on paper, make sure your vendor provides this option. Look for an Open

Solution Is the original equipment manufacturer an active participant in the ECTF (European Community Telework/Telematics

Forum)? They should be. Advanced IVR is headed for the open CT (computer telephony) server; proprietary hardware systems
will effectively lock you into very expensive upgrade paths.

INTERACTIVE VOICE RESPONSE (IVR)

Implement Speech Recognition in Your IVR Speech recognition is now a must. It makes your IVR system much more

robust (the touchtone interface to input alpha characters has proven cumbersome). Insist on Support for the Full Range of
Communication Platforms More and more, customers want multiple ways to communicate with you. Unless you have a platform
that can support multiple channels, each time you add a new way for customers to reach you, they'll have to start from scratch. Your

platform should support not only touchtone and speech recognition, but also other service options including e-mail. Purchase a

System That Integrates Easily Your IVR must readily integrate with the technology currently implemented in your center. Ask the
question, "Has your product been integrated with product X?" If the answer is "yes," make sure by checking references. If the answer

is "no," you may want to look at other vendors. Give Your Customers a Telephone-Accessible Database When your customers' call,

they should be able to select from a menu and either: 1) add items to a database (e.g., place an order) or 2) check existing
items in the database. Provide Information Servers Your IVR should be able to play pre-recorded messages or fax back documents

to the caller. Fax-back systems should not be limited to sending only pre-written documents.

MANAGING TELEPHONY

Cost Considerations How much can this cost? The answer depends on what you need and what actions you want the IVR

to perform. To give you an idea, we set up the following parameters and checked with some IVR vendors:

per day (this is at the low end of call volume where IVR applications are normally used). Customers can enter ticket numbers and the

IVR will provide information about the tickets (this requires the IVR to have text to speech capabilities and be able to communicate

with an SQL database). Customers can enter their user IDs and specify what type of access they need, and the IVR will have the
corresponding passwords reset (this requires the IVR to have speech recognition capabilities). Further Factors Given these

parameters, the vendors calculated the number of ports required to handle this volume of calls. Part of this calculation was a guess

about the two functions that the IVR would handle. The best guess was that each IVR-handled transaction would take about two

minutes. Since the IVR application is to take calls away from live analysts, the number of ports should be adequate to handle a peak

load of about twenty ports. These ports can be analog or digital, with digital ports adding additional cost. Results Based on the

scenario given above, the cost of the

if the IVR is brought in house. About one third of this cost will be for services of the integrator for the development, implementation,

and testing of the application. It is possible to reduce the up-front cost by outsourcing the IVR. This option uses the ASP (application

service provider) model where the vendor develops the application and maintains the application on its equipment in its facility.
This option can reduce the up-front charge to for a three-year contract. Even though the cost can be high, the return on investment
can make it well worth your consideration.

Information and Articles: http://www.mastersmba.com

Providing Information on various topics, please browse our other Articles for more informative resources, we house information on every topic imaginable so regardless of your needs you can be assured to find the answer here. If you wish to reprint this on your own website, simply click the "Web Version" in the right menu, and you are presented with a pre-formatted document to use.

A lot of the information is written by the Master Article team, and published exclusively on the MastersMBA.com website, and we do our best to research all information to ensure it's as accurate as possible. However at times we also publish documents given to us by other sources, we do examine these documents to ensure they are as accurate and correct as possible however at times they discuss highly specialized fields making it hard to authenticate the validity of every fact in the document. These are written by specialists in their respective fields, and we do trust their integrity and judgment however it's always a good idea when doing any research to consult a number of sources and form your own conclusion based on a number of view points.

Some of this weeks most popular categories are: Finance - Health - Business - Credit Loans and Acne