Companies Learn Slowly from IVR Mistakes
One challenge many companies face is lacking the right data to understand how well the IVR is performing. They have numbers about how long calls take on average but no insight into why some calls take longer than others. External factors could be impacting the contact center; for instance, if a new product ships, calls will go up.
Analytics have emerged to help firms better understand what is occurring. After consumers use an IVR several times, behavior patterns emerge. Do they call at the same time every month to schedule their appointments? Are they consistently having trouble with one of the products? Do they call at a specific time of day?
After gauging customer behavior patterns over time, analytics helps companies decide how to tune the IVR to meet customer and business needs. If a number of callers are dropping out at a certain step in the process, then the firm needs to take a closer look at the prompts and determine what is causing the problem. The issue might be subtle.
“Latency tells a company how confusing the prompt is,” Rolandi says. “If 15 percent of customers sit for five seconds or more before responding to a prompt, it is [a design flaw]. They do not understand what the system is asking.”
Omnichannel Gains Traction
Omnichannel support, which involves tying IVR to other service channels, has also been a growing area of focus and attention. Here, the goal is to offer users choices and funnel customer service interactions into the most appropriate channels. For instance, having an IVR correctly take down a user’s address can be challenging because the system might have trouble understanding what the person says. Giving the consumer an option to send a text with his address might streamline the process.
With omnichannel, customers gain more control over the process. Once customers can pivot between channels, they’ll feel more empowered and will gravitate to the channel that is the most comfortable—a win for both the business and customers.
In addition, omnichannel solutions have the potential to change customer interactions dramatically. For instance, a customer dials an IVR after a flight is canceled. The system recognizes the person, greets him by name, knows his flight has been canceled, and offers alternative arrangements.
While all companies are striving to build such timely, helpful solutions, they are not easy to deliver. Such interactions require companies to link half a dozen or more complex applications together, build customer service solutions smart enough to put all of the data into context, and have channels integrated well enough so they respond appropriately to the customer.
IVR system design is at a crossroads. Historically, these solutions were built to direct calls away from agents and increase self-service. They were used for simple tasks, like ordering a new service or returning a product. Recently, computers have become more powerful, businesses have started to shift their focus more toward customers, and customer interactions have become more sophisticated.
Best practices for creating IVR scripts have emerged, and organizations are gradually adopting them. Companies need to focus more on what the customer wants and less on meeting their own needs. The IVR scripts must be simple to use and present fewer barriers for callers to reach contact center agents.
Finally, organizations are trying to tie all of their service channels together and present the customer with a more integrated experience. If all these steps are taken, the IVR experience will be viewed more favorably by companies and callers alike.
Paul Korzeniowski is a freelance writer who specializes in technology issues. He has been covering speech technology issues for more than two decades, is based in Sudbury, Mass., and can be reached at paulkorzen@aol.com or on Twitter at #PaulKorzeniowski.