Customer Retention and IVR

Despite the many improvements of IVR systems since their inception, they still score poorly on customer surveys. This is once again evident in a UK consumer survey conducted by Greenfield Online. The survey reports that 41% of users find voice self-service to be the "most annoying" customer service tool when compared with paper communications, email, text messages and live call center agents. Furthermore, only 1% of consumers have a positive impression of the technology. A main point of contention is the lack of integration between voice self-service and operator assisted service. This most likely refers to situations where customers are asked to repeat information to a live agent that they have already reported to an IVR system earlier in their call. The end result is that customers are left feeling less like an individual and valuable asset to the business and more like one of many identical clients.

Some would suggest that these results are an indication that IVR simply does not work and should be replaced by live customer service agents. However, this assertion assumes that live service agents are better equipped to handle the burden of customer support than an automated system or combination of the two. The fact is that while a human agent may be able to recognize speech better than a voice self-service system, the cost of doing business in such a way is unsustainable. It would be unprofitable for most companies to respond to every customer service issue with a live agent. The increased manpower requirement would likely lead to outsourcing to a foreign call center which introduces another set of customer satisfaction issues. Furthermore, call center agents would simply be overwhelmed by the volume of inbound customer service calls.

UK consumer data suggests that 73% of customers end a relationship with a business due to poor customer service and this costs the business £248 (approximately $400) per year. From this information, it is clear that there is a fine balancing act between running a cost effective business and maintaining customer satisfaction. It would appear that one of the best ways to retain customers while still employing an IVR system is to address the issue of perception. A customer wants to feel that his business is just as important as anyone else's and this can be achieved by creating a personalized voice self-service experience. There are redesign and implementation costs, but the long-term dividends gained by having satisfied customers can far exceed the short-term monetary investment.

28 Tips to Improve IVR

The UK magazine Call Centre Helper has released a list of twenty-eight tips from industry experts to improve IVR systems. Some are intuitive while others are not quite as obvious. The highlights of the list include involving linguists to help develop a usable system that recognizes speech patterns, making engaging menus that don't bore the customer and allowing the customer the option of quickly reaching a live operator. The suggestions repeatedly emphasize the importance of speech recognition. Without good speech recognition algorithms, the system's effectiveness is greatly reduced.

The tips also include the need for audience analysis. Without a good understanding of the customers and their expectations, the system will not be an effective tool for dealing with common issues that may arise. They also advise against making overly complex menus that offer too may options at any particular level. Again this goes back to understanding the user of the system and a barrage of information and/or options can be overwhelming to the customer. Perhaps the best bit of advice is not to expect perfection from the initial system implementation. A good IVR system must be viewed as an evolving tool that can be changed to best fit the intended users. It is important to remember that the system is flexible and can be modified multiple times and continually improved based on user feedback.

Rise of the Hosted Contact Center

IVR systems have long been utilized by companies in an effort to reduce costs and burden on their customer support personnel. Further monetary savings have been achieved by outsourcing some or all of the infrastructure required to operate an IVR system to a hosted contact center. It should come as no surprise that in this recent economic downturn, while many companies have tried to find ways to remain profitable, companies specializing in hosted contact services have seen tremendous growth.

A recent study by DMG Consultants indicates that growth in the hosted contact center infrastructure market has exceeded expectations through the first half of 2009. Forecasts suggest that the market will grow by 30 percent in 2009 and again by 35 percent in 2010 before settling to 20 percent growth in 2011. The reasoning behind the massive growth arises from the fact that many companies see the benefit of IVR technology but don't have the capital to invest in the costly equipment. The downstream effects of this growth bodes well for the future of the IVR industry as whole through these tough economic times.

IVR for the Hearing and Speech Impaired

Although web-based customer service utilities are growing in popularity, telephone-based IVR systems are still the standard for a vast majority of companies. In the UK, more than 75% of customer service interactions are handled over the phone by automated systems. Although the systems operate relatively efficiently and effectively, an estimated nine million hearing and/or speech impaired customers are excluded from this type of services. The convenience of checking balances, paying bills or scheduling service visits simply isn't an option for speech and hearing impaired customers through traditional IVR systems.

Thanks to advances in mobile telephones and their networks, video IVR systems are finally a reality. Not only do they improve customer service experience in general, they allow hearing and speech impaired customers to enjoy the same self-service options that are available to non-impaired customers. Adoption of these types of systems will surely take time, but with the explosive growth of smartphones and the accompanying downloadable customer service applications, there is sure to be an exponential demand for telephone-based visual customer service interfaces. Traditional IVR systems are by no means a thing of the past however. Visual service is simply an augmentation of the existing service options for some customers while for others, it's an option that they can finally utilize.

Another Medical Application of IVR

In an ongoing effort to use technology to improve medical care, many forms of IVR systems have been implemented in many stages of the treatment process. From simply finding an available physician to complex follow-up after a hospital stay, IVR systems are helping doctors provide better care for patients at decreased costs. Houston, TX based HealthHelp has found a way to further improve their management of radiology benefits to allow for twenty-four hour service through an IVR system.

HealthHelp manages a clinical database to assist physicians in choosing the best radiology solution for a particular diagnosis. Under the previous system, doctors were limited to using a call center and/or online form to interface with the service. The system was further limited by the fact that it was only staffed during certain hours of the day. Qwest recently developed an IVR system for HealthHelp that collects the pertinent insurance information, American Medical Association (AMA) codes and specific clinical queries that allow the automation to quickly process and approve the necessary medical tests. As a result, the correct medical test can be determined and conducted at any hour of the day thus allowing for more responsive medical care. A widespread development and adoption of this type of application could conceivably save many lives and health care dollars around the country and the world.

Integrated IVR

Recent research suggests that more customized and customer focused IVR systems result in improved service and experience for users. Integration of customer profile information into the IVR system can make for a much more personalized customer experience. InVox has integrated this concept into their recently announced cloud telephony offering. In addition to creating an online user interface for the IVR workflow design, the system is capable of using customer specific data to customize and enhance the IVR menus and on-hold messages.

The inbound call system is capable of identifying incoming callers and cross-referencing them with their in-house records. For example, the system can look up future appointment schedules and supply the customer with a reminder or even an offer to reschedule. It is also capable of transcribing voicemails which it can then deliver to the proper recipient in text form. The system can also solicit spoken responses from customers to handle common transactions like a traditional speech self-service IVR system. These types of increased integration of value added services are likely to be the future of telephone-based customer service systems.

Automated Medical Followup

The ongoing healthcare debate in the United States has been spurred by many things, chief among them are the rising costs of medical care. Regardless of the outcome of the debate and future legislation, improved care and reduced costs should always be a goal to strive for in the medical field. Audiopoint has recently released a product that aims to do just that. NotifierRx is a telephone based application that can be used to communicate and follow-up with discharged patients to monitor their recovery and address any problems in a timely manner.

The recovery period following a hospital stay is fraught with opportunities for relapse or infection that can result in a costly readmission for care. NotifierRx communicates important recovery and medication reminders to patients but also allows for medical staff to acquire specific follow-up information. The patient can be asked a series of questions through an IVR system and his or her spoken answers are recorded for the physician to review. Based on the questions, appropriate actions can be taken quickly that could result in outpatient or even in-home care saving both time and money that would otherwise be spent during the readmission to the hospital. Time is of the essence in medical care and using automated systems to help with patient monitoring can shorten the response times and achieve cost savings and improved customer care.