Real Estate IVR

IVR has proven to have many resource saving applications over the years. Many businesses have learned that implementing IVR systems can allow them to handle and route more inbound calls than they could with only live operators thus maximizing their ability to assist more customers. One such industry that has had very positive results with IVR systems is real estate. A recent study by Baylor University indicates that after personal referrals, IVR systems are the best method for new lead generation in the real estate business.

AdTrakker technology uses an IVR system with a unique phone number assigned to each real estate property. When a prospective buyer calls about a particular property, they are presented with a recorded message about the property and then given the option to be connected to a live agent or leave a voicemail. The AdTrakker system also has the capability to capture a buyer's name, phone number and address. Knowing where a buyer called from allows agents to estimate the buyer's current property value and use that information to identify listings that would be in the price range of the buyer. This concept may seem simple but it illustrates how an IVR system can be used in an uncomplicated manner to achieve excellent results for a business.

IVR Overdose

In light of the current economic situation, companies are learning how to do more with less in order to survive. This impacts customer service as much, if not more than other segments of a business. Even before economics pushed companies to cut costs, many businesses began utilizing IVR systems as a way to reduce overhead and ask their customers to handle common issues through a self-service solution. Although some research indicates that consumers have accepted telephone-based self-service, there is also resentment when companies put additional burdens on their IVR systems and force customers to resolve more complex issues with little help from live operators.

Research from 2007 indicates that 91 percent of American consumers already feel that companies expect customers to handle too much on their own with IVR systems. This has a directly negative impact on customer satisfaction and drives consumers away. However, the same research indicates that consumers are willing to utilize other technologies for self-service such as web-based or text message-based systems. It is important for businesses to consider the the complexity of the self-service solution before deciding to implement it on a specific platform.

The ability for a customer to see a list of options increases the ease of navigating a complex self-service menu. This can be achieved more easily in a web-based or visual IVR environment than in a standard IVR system. Similarly, the option to speak to a live operator should not be perceived by a company as a last resort for helping a customer. Some people want to use self-service, while others will always desire help from a human being. It is important to design IVR systems to take that fact into account as most callers are very frustrated when they finally reach the elusive operator. As the economy improves, certain cost control measures will likely remain in place as a means of improving profits. It is of the utmost importance for companies to maintain useful but not overwhelming IVR customer self-service systems.

Academic Research Through IVR

IVR technology has been used widely for many purposes beyond customer service including automated opinion polling and market research questionnaires. Behavioral researchers at the University of Buffalo have taken it a step further and are currently applying the technology in two National Institute of Health funded studies. The research involves investigating the effects of alcohol, marijuana and the situational behaviors that are associated with their use. The IVR systems are configured to make random calls to subjects' cell phones and conduct surveys of their experiences with respect to their use of alcohol and marijuana.

In the past, these studies have relied on subjects taking surveys at scheduled times and giving their responses based on remembering what they were thinking and feeling at moments in the past. With the use of IVR technology, subjects can be inconspicuously surveyed over their cell phones while they are actually partaking in alcohol or marijuana and can give much more relevant responses. Not only does this give more pertinent data for the study, but it also increases the privacy of participants. The true test of this survey methodology and it's future will be to see how it compares with similar studies conducted in more traditional manners.

IVR and H1N1: Round Three

As fall begins in North America, there is a heightened level of anxiety about the flu spurred by fears of an H1N1 pandemic. Earlier this year, the outbreak that began in Mexico and quickly spread around the world was a bit over-hyped by incessant media reports about growing numbers of cases and deaths caused by the virus. The initial outbreak occurred near the end of the flu season in the northern hemisphere so it's effects were likely less than if the outbreak had occurred at the beginning of the season. Now that North America is entering a new flu season, more precautions than usual are taking place in businesses and schools to avoid being dramatically impacted by the H1N1 virus.

Earlier this year, many technologies were employed in various ways around the world to disseminate information about the spread of the flu and where individuals could seek medical treatment if infected. The health ministry of India deployed an informational IVR system to offer advice for those infected while some colleges in Canada implemented proactive IVR systems to periodically monitor student health. SoundBite has recently joined the fray with the introduction of an IVR system that will not only keep employees informed about the latest H1N1 news but will also make outbound notification calls when on-site flu shots are to be administered. This proactive approach is an effort to minimize the number of employees that are affected by the virus causing them to miss work. In this rapidly shrinking world, the issue of a global pandemic is more real than ever and preparedness is key to avoiding a health disaster. Of course, a preemptive strategy is only part of a business continuity plan and organizations must be prepared if they are unable to contain an outbreak among employees.

IVR Implementation & Performance Considerations

Development and implementation of IVR systems can be a complex projects requiring careful management of cost and resources, but more specifically there are several considerations within the design phase that can make a truly helpful and customer friendly system. The IVR Deconstructed blog from Plum Voice has a list of five important considerations in IVR implementation. Audience consideration is key but not just from the perspective of what a customer might want, but also looking at the most popular questions and/or issues arising from past call center data. It is also important for customers to be able to find their desired information quickly without having to navigate through numerous menus. Keeping it simple is usually the best course to take in developing IVR systems.

In addition to the considerations during the implementation of the IVR systems, choosing appropriate metrics to measure effectiveness is important in closing the loop on the development of a system. Without clear measures of success, there is no way of knowing if the desired outcome has been achieved by the implementation of the system. The always useful Call Centre Helper advises paying attention to the percentage of abandoned calls handled by the IVR system. Their data suggests that the recent increase in abandoned call percentage indicates that customers find systems too hard to navigate. Considering these tips for implementation can help customers to overcome their preconceptions and previous bad experiences with IVR. The goal is to implement a system that the customer can use.

Integrated Health Care IVR

With the health care debate continuing in the United States, many companies have introduced innovative solutions to help in health care management through IVR technologies. From appointment notifications and followup care to maximizing doctors' appointment schedules, several specific programs have been unveiled in the past few months to help save both time and money. Now CallFire.com has unveiled an IVR solution that combines many of these concepts into one convenient package.

In addition to offering appointment reminders to patients, the CallFire system can be configured to quickly fill canceled appointments by making automated outbound calls to patients on a waiting list. Further customization options allow for the patient data to be integrated in such a way that outbound calls can be personalized. The IVR system is also capable of making followup calls after appointments and surgeries to ensure that patients adhere to post-visit instructions. Most importantly, the system collects patient feedback through voice response surveys that assist in improving services and overall medical care offered by the physician. Continued advances and integration of IVR technology into the medical profession will undoubtedly help save time and money for doctors and patients alike.

IVR Development Issues

Development and implementation of IVR systems is crucial to achieving the end result of an efficient tool for managing customer service. An inefficient development process can result in delays in deployment and a substandard product. A recent survey conducted by the Customer Experience Foundation has found that delays in projects and poor budget estimates of IT solutions are costing call centers considerably, both monetarily and in the eye of the customer. The survey suggests that more that one quarter of projects is delayed and that more than half of project managers simply expect problems to arise during development that will slow and/or delay implementation. IVR systems are among the the types of IT projects with the highest-risk of delays.

The survey suggests that "bad practices" and "classic mistakes" contribute to delays. It appears that little to no cost-tracking and inadequate testing are common during development with the goal of quicker delivery driving poor project management. The results also suggest that the lack of post-project reviews and executive sponsorship contribute to the problem. Besides the monetary costs associated with delays, implementing a poorly tested IVR system costs money from a customer satisfaction perspective. The lessons learned from this survey are that developers must invest in adequate resources from both a financial and managerial perspective. Better budgeting and resource management is key to avoiding costly delays. Secondly, the culture of blame must be changed so that more effort is put into solving problems during development rather than assigning responsibility for the problems. Both of these suggestions are not easily achieved but with the proper leadership, the process of IVR system deployment can be improved.

Business Continutiy and IVR

The future is always uncertain and major catastrophic events can occur at any time from natural disasters to pandemic outbreaks. In such cases, company offices may have to be closed for an extended period of time for the safety of the employees and the public as a whole. Thankfully, as long as telephone and Internet lines are functional, business can go on via telecommuting. But such an option is not available without a viable business continuity/disaster recovery plan. It is an integral part of companies both large and small.

Many tools can help achieve a plan, foremost of which is redundant off-site data storage locations where electronic business operations can be run if there is an issue with normal operations at headquarters. In addition to data management, communication with employees is crucial. Emergency notification and informational IVR systems should be created to maintain communication with employees who may be working from their homes. Read more about the other important considerations of business continuity/disaster recovery plans here.

Call Center Metrics

Measurement is key to determining efficiency and effectiveness but choosing the right metric can mean everything when it comes to accurate evaluation. A recent webinar at DataInfoCom examined the switch that Dell made from measuring average customer call times to measuring the rate at which issues were solved on the first call. Although call center cost is directly tied to the length of calls, there is certainly something to be said for tracking the number of calls by a single customer in order to resolve a single issue. The results of Dell's decision to track the new metric led to an increase in the average customer call time, but over the same period the number of issues solved on the first call improved by 20%. Although not specifically stated, this would almost certainly improve customer satisfaction since multiple calls to resolve issues were less frequent.

In an effort to further improve customer satisfaction, Dell also implemented an IVR survey at the conclusion of technical support. This allowed them to collect immediate feedback and pass the information on to the call center operators quickly so that they could modify their approach to achieve maximum effectiveness. The overall concept of this plan could easily be applied to any self-service IVR system. Customer satisfaction with self-service IVR systems is typically very low so it would logically follow that a system that could easily assist a customer in resolving an issue in one call, without the help of an operator, would improve overall customer satisfaction. This type of plan would simply require the IVR system to quickly and easily allow customers to resolve common issues themselves in as short a time as possible. There are some aspects of an IVR system that are harder to control than others, such as the speech recognition components, however the layout and menus can and should be designed for optimal customer use. It is not the "magic bullet" in the realm of customer satisfaction, but it could be a relatively easy method to achieve better results.