IVR Karaoke

On the lighter side of the IVR business, cellular company Loop Mobile has launched a new service called Karaoke Messaging. The service allows users to record karaoke versions of popular Bollywood songs, save them or even then send them to their friends. The service uses IVR systems to provide instructions and other options to the user including listening to the original song to review the lyrics.

The service is only currently available in India, however this type of application could become very popular in other countries including the United States. In our "American Idol" and "Rock Band" culture, karaoke has changed from novelty product into a growing industry. The process could be easily implemented by US cellular providers and could prove to be a lucrative service especially among younger customers. As the cell phone continues to develop from a simple utility device into an entertainment gateway, there will be more innovative ways that IVR can be used to deliver content to the customer.

IVR in NHS

Throughout the debate over government involvement in health care in the United States, many on both sides have pointed to the successes and failings of the national services offered by Canada and the United Kingdom. Efficiency is always a popular topic of discussion and while inefficiencies are inherent in almost any system, recent initiatives by hospitals in the UK's National Health Service (NHS) are making efforts to save money and time for both doctors and patients.

According to internal statistics, almost fifteen percent of patients miss scheduled hospital appointments. This results in fewer patients being treated by doctors as well as puts a financial strain on the NHS system. Using a combination of text-to-speech and IVR technologies, NHS hospitals are automatically calling patients seven days prior to appointments to confirm the date and time of scheduled visits. Since implementation, the hospitals have seen a "significant improvement" in appointment attendance as well as shorter waiting lists for other patients to see doctors. It is unclear if recent research published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal influenced this project, but it appears to produce similar benefits for both patients and doctors alike.

Integrating IVR and Public Transit

As the use of public transit increases around the United States, the need for reliable service also increases. This includes implementing systems that allow customers to get up-to-the-minute information about wait times and route changes for buses, trams and trains. The city of Santa Monica is doing just that for the Big Blue Bus lines with the installation of real-time updated signs, a web-based ride planner and an information IVR phone line.

The current information system includes a hotline to a call center only available during specific customer service hours. The new IVR system is projected to be in place by February 2010 and will feature a twenty-four hour, fully-automated message center that will offer real-time information about delays and route changes. Not only will the new service require fewer call center staffers, but it will also ideally result in no customers waiting on hold to get valuable information. Public transit is not perfect, but making real-time information available to customers greatly improves use and satisfaction in this important energy saving service.

IVR and H1N1: Round Two

Last month the spread of the H1N1 virus had slowed considerably in North America but cases were beginning to erupt in other parts of the world. As a result, the health ministry of India created an IVR help line for residents to access updates about the outbreak as well as get help in locating medical assistance. Although it is still summer in North America, many local and state governments are preparing for the upcoming flu season that in some places could begin as early September.

Several colleges around Ottawa, Canada are developing IVR systems to monitor and contain any outbreak that might occur in their on-campus residence halls. Algonquin College is using a system that will periodically call all students to poll them on any flu-related symptoms they might be feeling. The college administrators will then be able to use this "snapshot" as a means for making decisions about canceling classes to minimize student contact. As the threat of the H1N1 virus returns this fall, there will likely be more localized IVR systems implemented to deal with dissemination of information about the flu.

IVR Psychology

A new report by T3i Group suggests that the global IVR market will grow almost 20% by 2013. The growth will likely come in the three largest IVR applications: incoming call handling for call centers, inbound self-service calls and outbound calls such as customer reminders and notifications. The self-service sector appears to be a key area of growth as the cost savings and return on investment from IVR systems greatly outweighs the effectiveness of largely staffed call centers.

With market growth comes the need to continually improve customer experiences and satisfaction with IVR systems. In an effort to achieve improvement, some companies are studying the psychology of IVR messages. Many customers have a preconceived idea about IVR that is immediately triggered when they are greeted by an on-hold message. Some customers feel neglected and unappreciated when they hear standard messages, but customers who are greeted with empathetic messages are more willing to accept wait times before speaking to a service representative. Furthermore, exposing waiting customers to advertising while on hold may have unintended effects due to the negative associations of being kept on hold. Changes to IVR messages need not be dramatic. Simply employing new and different ways to show empathy to customers could pay dividends in future sales and service.

IVR Evolution

IVR has been a major force is cost savings for most companies as they require fewer call center agents to handle customer interactions. However, they sometimes leave customers feeling frustrated especially with particularly complicated IVR systems. Since the advent of the Internet, some people have gone so far as to create websites to disseminate the code numbers and back doors to bypass many major companies' IVR systems so that customers can immediately connect to a call center employee. Fonolo has taken this concept a step further and created a web based system that works with companies to make IVR navigation easier and less painful for customers and customer service representatives alike.

Fonolo works with businesses to create maps of their IVR systems and then create web based portals for customers to use allowing them to pinpoint exactly where they want to go in the IVR menus. From the Fonolo website, a customer can search for participating companies, decide their particular destination and begin their call. Before the call begins, the customer enters a call-back number where they can be reached. The customer takes no part in the call as the Fonolo "Deep Dialing" technology navigates to the desired point in the menu. When the intended party is reached, Fonolo calls the previously entered customer contact number and connects the customer to the intended party. This should result in a much better calling experience for both the customer and the customer service representative.

Fonolo's service is free for customers with the cost being supported by participating companies. After an initial setup cost to map the IVR menus, companies only pay for phone minutes used during customer calls. This does not signal the end of IVR systems but rather a potential evolutionary step to more widespread use and improved customer experiences with the systems. This could even result in further cost savings as this technology could decrease customer service agents' time per call and lead to more situations where customers can resolve issues without ever needing to speak to live agents.

Cloud Telephony and IVR

Small businesses are created every day and most strive to increase their sizes to become medium or even large business. In the process of growing, both in size and in customer base, more resources are required by a business to stay connected to its customer base. The realm of customer service is no small part of a business. The advent of IVR systems served as a way for a businesses to avoid the need to invest time and money in a staffed call center to handle the daily volume of phone inquiries from customers and clients. Instead, calls could be interactively routed to the appropriate responder by a computer system rather than a human operator.

Cloud telephony could be the next evolutionary step forward in the realm of small business customer service. A drawback to a traditional IVR system is that the installation and start-up costs associated with implementing the technology can be prohibitively large. Cloud telephony offers the benefits of the IVR systems without the capital investments typically required. Rather than purchasing and physically locating the equipment on-site, the small business instead outsources the ownership to a dedicated service provider who assumes all installation and maintenance costs of the systems. Meanwhile, the small business "rents" the equipment for IVR and other uses and connects via Internet-based protocols. This would allow small businesses to be more competitive with larger firms in the same markets by cutting the costs associated with creating complex IVR systems for customer service. There are still issues to be resolved with basing such a concept on Internet protocols, but the approach could allow for better customer service for businesses of any and all sizes.

IVR in Training

Train by Cell has created a unique solution to the company training that has in the past been handled by in-class instruction or web-based utilities. Both in-class and web-based training have their benefits, but they require employees to generally take time out of their workdays and be available at a certain location or in front of their computers. Train by Cell has introduced a training scheme that is accessible on any smart phone including the ubiquitous Blackberry and iPhone. Employees are able to listen to training over their phones and then respond to questions through an IVR system or text message to test their comprehension of the material.

This system would not necessarily be ideal or optimal for all types of employees, however it could be extremely efficient for sales associates who conduct much of their daily work outside of the office. Mandatory training requirements could conceivably be met while waiting in an airport or during train commutes. This novel approach to corporate communication could save money for employers who would otherwise have to pay instructors to conduct one or more training class while taking employees away from their work. Furthermore, employees would be more free to complete training when their schedules allowed thus improving their overall productivity.

Outbound IVR vs. Predictive Dialers

For years, predictive dialers have been employed by telemarketers so that one operator can call several phone numbers simultaneously and make a sales pitch to the first person that answers his or her phone. Predictive dialers are also used by some companies to communicate with their customers and clients. The systems are popular because of their cost effectiveness since they allow operators to connect to a customer almost every time they dial a group of numbers. As efficient as the systems are for operators, they can be equally frustrating for the customer who is the second or third to answer the call in the few seconds after the operator has already connected with the first customer. Those later customers are greeted with silence and usually assume it to be a wrong number. Those same customers may be called several more times in the following minutes before finally being connected to the operator, at which time the customer is usually not interested in the information or the sales pitch.

Recent data suggests that outbound IVRs are rapidly taking the place of predictive dialers as speech recognition and dual-tone multi-frequency technology improves. Some companies are even employing them as a means to conduct standard business transactions in lieu of operator assisted calls thanks to the ability to verify customer identity and record user submitted information through the IVR system. There are several advantages, the greatest of which is cost. Live operators are still employed to assist if problems should arise during a call, but far fewer are required than in a call center using predictive dialers. Furthermore, customer satisfaction is greatly improved as calls are received by the customer on the first attempt rather than multiple attempts. Current trends suggest that outbound IVR will continue to excel as the technology improves resulting in greater cost savings through efficiency and improved customer satisfaction.