What is IVR?

IVR (Interactive Voice Response) is a telephony technology invented in the 1970s to segment incoming calls, and connect them to the right team or individual in an organization or call center. Since its invention, IVR has evolved drastically from taking inputs through keypresses to taking voice commands through NLP. Here’s how the versatile Freshcaller IVR system - that has both legacy and voice recognition features - can help you set up an IVR number and improve the efficiency of your call center.

The benefits of IVR that can transform your business

 

Boost operational efficiency with legacy or speech-enabled IVR

When you route a call to the right team through IVR, you not only segment incoming calls but also ensure that a caller’s query is solved in the least possible time.

What's more, you optimize your incoming call charges through faster resolutions. You take care of the 3 cornerstones of operational efficiency - people, time, and money. 

IVR to improve operational efficiency IVR to improve operational efficiency

 

Measure agent efficiency with IVR CSAT surveys

One of the quickest and most time-tested ways to collect feedback after a phone call is through post-call IVR surveys. Get quantifiable inputs from your callers to understand how your customer support agents have solved their problems. Measure customer satisfaction and, in turn, agent efficiency with simple CSAT surveys through IVR.

IVR to improve people efficiency IVR to improve people efficiency

The 3 types of IVR offered by Freshcaller 

Use any of them or a combination of all three Freshcaller  IVR features to set up a flawless and modern call routing strategy for your call center.

Single-level IVR

A single-level IVR or the classic IVR comes in handy when you cater to an audience who typically speak a single language. Through a single keypress, they can be connected with the right team or department that can solve their queries.

Multi-level IVR

Multi-level IVR can be used to offer multilingual support or for solving granular support queries by offering the callers multiple levels of menu options. It can also be used to build a self-service or answering system that can address FAQs.

Read case study

Speech-enabled IVR

If you are looking to revamp your customer experience, Freshcaller's speech-enabled IVR allows your callers to converse or raise queries verbally instead of navigating through key-press IVR menus, to connect with the right agent or team.

How to set up an IVR number in Freshcaller 

Once you sign up for Freshcaller, you can buy phone numbers from over 90 countries or port in your existing business phone number. You can then proceed to create a simple IVR flow through the intuitive and visual interface of Freshcaller, and connect it to your phone number. Your IVR number will be ready to go! You do not need any technical expertise or the help of developers to set it up.

Creating a speech-enabled IVR call flow is also a breeze. You can create your own IVR bot and train it to understand the intent of your callers. 

IVR setup IVR setup

IVR best practices to live by

Your IVR setup is a great medium to communicate to your callers or customers that you care about them. Stick to these fundamental IVR best practices to set your call center up for success and some customer love.

Always underestimate the extent of human memory and patience

In an attempt to cover as much ground as possible, businesses often provide too many IVR menu options at one go. Not everyone can remember what option #1 was when they are listening to option #9. Make sure you optimize the length of your IVR menu (number of options) just like you optimize its depth (number of levels).

Understand how listening works

Pre-recorded messages are the backbone of IVR menus that work on key-press. Hence, it’s important that they should not confuse the caller. For example, it is always a best practice to state the purpose before specifying what key to press — "if you wish to speak to a customer support representative, press 4". This way, callers can make a decision first and then perform the action.

Make room for mistakes

Do not immediately hang up if a caller gives an invalid input. To err is human. To forgive a couple of times is a good IVR system. So allow callers to give their inputs more than once.

Always have a human handy

Do not bury the option to talk directly to a customer service representative, deep within your IVR menu. Make it easy for your callers, who are truly in need, to speak to a human directly.

Keep your IVR CSAT surveys short and simple

Make sure you ask for only one piece of information or input per question. Always ask for the consent of your caller before offering them a post-call customer satisfaction survey to complete. If you have multiple questions, make sure they are ordered logically.

Track and improve

Observe what the most sought after IVR menu options are. Needless to say, these would be corresponding to the most frequent problems your customers are facing. Revisit and optimize your IVR menus based on these observations, periodically. If you are using speech-enabled or conversational IVR, track voice inputs to train your IVR bot better.

Setting up call flows was never easier

Here are some other ways you can set up call flows in Freshcaller 

Routing Automation

Implement data-driven call routing with Routing Automation. Use data dips to route calls and offer personalized customer service.

More about Routing Automation

Agent Extensions

Give your priority callers the freedom to skip the IVR menu and connect to their preferred agent or representative directly.

More about Agent Extensions

Smart Answer Voicebot

Most bot solutions require coding and are cumbersome to maintain. Our voicebot tracks intent and engages with customers to resolve issues faster.

More about Voicebot

FAQs on IVR