Automating tasks might be a newer phenomena, however automation has existed in certain aspects for sometime now. An IVR, is essentially, an auto-attendant. With IVR businesses can automate certain customer interactions if not all by simple voice responses. Since IVR is an older technology that has existed since the 1970s, it has also quite improved over the years. In current times, IVR and IVR systems are hosted on the cloud. Businesses also choose to have an IVR Number to manage customer interactions that require repetitive tasks like payment reminders, order confirmation, etc.
An IVR system is simply called Interactive Voice Response. It is programmed to offer callers a relevant, personalized and pleasant customer experience. It helps bring callers to the relevant response, and in some cases the right business representative or the most fit agent that has been trained to provide expert advice.
Also, it is very important for a business to have a well-designed IVR to make sure that the customer has great experience with the business. The customers should be able to reach the right answer without struggling. The IVR should be designed keeping in mind customer ease and solving queries at once- preventing repeat calls and boosting First Contact Resolution Rate.
Accessibility, IVR & Changing Times
Being easily accessible to customers is not an optional service for a business to add. Various customer studies and market research papers have proved that customer accessibility is directly related to better customer engagement. And IVR, definitely is accessible for a business to get so that customers can get queries solved and get support.
Hence, Businesses must believe the fact that customers these days have more choices and would go for another brand in no time in case they have remotely bad experience with the business. Hence it is quite obvious, a pleasant customer experience with a business is of central importance. If a business isn’t driving engaging and positive experiences for its customers, it is losing them or on the path of losing them. So for a business to offer great experiences to its customers and their changing expectations, it is important for a business to get the simple yet automated technology of IVR.
Why IVR is important for a business
Since we now know basically how IVR is fit for the current business landscape and its ever changing nature. Let’s look at how IVR is advantageous for a business, and get deeper into why IVR drives business growth for companies across the growth spectrum and sectors.
Offer customers a stellar experience
It is easier for a customer to dial up a business than other channels of customer engagement. It is easier as well as offers a great opportunity to businesses to offer a seamless experience. With a well-thought out IVR flow, businesses can easily manage customer engagement and offer a great brand experience.
Boost Operational Efficiency & Optimization
A well-designed IVR menu can manage calls easily and quite rightly redirect calls to the right customers. The outbound IVR can even help with small tasks like appointment confirmation, payment updates, reminders, etc. When intertwined with tools like Text-to-Speech, IVR can enhance customer support to another level without the involvement of any business agents. IVR can even support a business when there's an influx of customer calls. Since IVR is essentially a cloud-hosted software, it can be edited rather quickly for efficient management of customers without lowering service standards.
Save on costs
To put it forth again, businesses want to offer better service without having to spend extra. In essence, businesses want to be able to do more for their business without having to spend more money. This whole “problem” is solved by IVR. There are many studies that have iterated the fact of how IVR leads to cost savings for a business. In fact, on a general level, automation always leads to cost savings.
As a business owner or manager, you cannot ignore the prowess that IVR offers for your business. Apart from being wholly automated and cost-efficient, IVR drives customer engagement that always leads to the right answer whatever the question may be. One of India’s premier IVR Service Provider is Knowlarity. It is a cloud communication company that is relied on by various businesses to refine customer engagement processes. Visit Us to know more.
Written By: Aliya