7 Benefits of an IVR System

It would be hard to believe if you say that you called a company's official customer contact number and never heard a voice asking you to press 1 for English and 2 for Hindi, or press 1 for sales and 2 for speaking to a customer executive. In the current competitive business world, automation is not merely a differentiating factor but has evolved to be a necessity in achieving successful customer service. One of the most common but simple yet effective tools which provide customers with an enriching experience is an Interactive Voice Response or an IVR System. An IVR is an inbound solution that enables customers to reach out to you for support and other services.

What is an IVR?

An automated telephony technology, Interactive Voice Response (IVR), interacts with the customers, collects their information, comprehends their reasons for the call, and routes them to the most appropriate agent within a team. For businesses, IVR solutions are valuable as they are a sophisticated means to reduce costs and gain productivity by automating customer communications using prompts.

Features

• Customised greetings, messages and prompts

• Personalised caller information

• Automated customer service and problem resolution

• Route calls to appropriate teams or departments

• Intelligent data-driven call routing

• Pre-built templates

Benefits

Even though the list of benefits that IVR solutions offer to a business is long, let's understand the top seven advantages of employing this technology.

#1 - Increase first contact resolution

Callers are always steered to the agent who is most capable of addressing their needs. The appropriate agent will be more qualified or eligible to answer the question, satisfying the customer in a better manner. 

#2 - Increase customer service efficiency

Businesses that employ an IVR have agents who are more proficient at solving specific problems and addressing particular customer requirements they are assigned, resulting in an increased customer service efficiency.

#3 - Increase professionalism

Not only does an IVR system allow you to greet your customers professionally, but it also allows personalisation which increases customer satisfaction and builds a long-term relationship.

#4 - Reduce operational costs

IVR solutions replace a receptionist or a customer service executive who answers calls and directs them to agents, thereby saving the additional staffing costs and efforts. Furthermore, these systems increase efficiency, reduce operational costs, and are affordable, leading to higher ROI.

#5 - Increase customer satisfaction

With easy to use and reliable IVR, customers are never routed to the wrong department or agent who fails to solve their queries. And this leads to higher customer satisfaction. 

#6 - Increase Inbound Call Capacity

IVR solutions allow businesses to manage higher call volumes efficiently. The inbound calls are routed to the most suitable agent or department to handle the said issue. Moreover, the waiting time is comparatively shorter than when the IVRs are not being used.

#7 - Prioritise calls based on the value

IVRs permit you to prioritise calls based on callers' value, that is, when a high-value customer calls, the IVR system routes them to the most qualified agent. And in a scenario where all agents are busy, high-value customers are directed to the front of the waiting queue. We know that IVR systems account for a meaningful portion of the call experiences today. Be it a Fortune 500 business or a startup, IVR optimisation techniques are critical for boosting their business. Numerous IVR solution providers offer top-notch services. One such IVR service provider in India is mtalkz, which helps companies become leaders in the customer service and experience domain.