IVR is an automatic response that customers get when calling your contact center, enabling them to give information about themselves – such as their preferred language – that then helps you direct them to the right agent.
IVR has quickly become an industry standard, providing companies with cost savings and organizational proficiencies, not to mention expanded client satisfaction.
What is IVR?
Interactive voice response (IVR), or a phone tree, is an automated phone system tool that answers incoming customer calls and offers options for next steps via a menu. It uses these responses to route customers to the right agent or department, provide recorded responses to frequently asked questions, deflect calls by allowing callers to switch from a live call to a text message, and more.
IVR technology by DialerKing is a cost-effective solution for call center teams and improves the employee experience by deflecting incoming calls and allowing agents to focus on high-level tasks.
Your IVR phone system can also increase customer satisfaction by providing immediate answers to basic, common questions and freeing up more agents to handle urgent, complicated matters. It also saves customers time—an IVR can ensure they get a callback and don’t have to wait on hold for an extended period of time.
What is the Purpose of IVR?
IVR serves a few different functions, but all enable call center agents to be more efficient and allow customers to get help faster.
The primary purposes of IVR are to:
- Handle simple questions or requests so agents can focus on complex issues.
- Lower operational costs by reducing the number of calls agents must accept.
- Route callers to the appropriate department to increase first-contact resolution rates.
- Enable callers to get a callback so they don’t have to wait on hold.
- Deflect calls by allowing callers to switch from a live call to a text message.
- Greet customers and collect key customer details upfront.
If your company chooses an IVR system by Dialerking, it will serve as the first point of contact for customers who need support.
How Does IVR Work?
IVR deflects inbound calls by greeting callers and offering them a menu of options. The caller can make their selection using the keypad on their phone. Depending on their selection, the IVR system may prompt the caller to enter additional information, such as an account number or PIN.
The standard IVR process works like this:
- A customer calls the customer support team.
- The IVR system greets the customer with a set of options, such as which department they want to reach.
- The customer chooses the relevant option.
- The IVR provides responses to simple questions, routes the caller to the appropriate agent, or enables the caller to schedule a callback or move to another channel.
Our advanced IVR also have features like:
- After-hours call forwarding
- Overflow
- Call recording
- Mute and hold
- Warm transfer
- Customizable greetings
- Conferencing
Benefits of Using an IVR System
Resolve issues faster
Many consumers say that quick resolutions are the most important part of good customer service, and IVRs can enable you to assist callers faster. IVRs don’t just save time for your customers—they save your staff time, too. By deflecting and fielding simple questions, these systems give agents more time to solve complex or pressing issues.
If you’re experiencing an exceptionally high call volume, you can set up your IVR system to:
- Split calls into different groups or categories.
- Assign agents to each group.
- Setup prerecorded answers to FAQs.
- Schedule a callback if no support agents are available.
- Use intelligent routing to organize tickets by priority.
As a result, IVRs reduce hold times and increase issue-resolution speed. It’s a win-win for everyone involved.
Increase first-contact resolutions
Customers want their questions answered quickly without jumping through too many hoops—68 percent of customers say they get annoyed when their call transfers between departments.
Our IVR helps by routing calls to the appropriate agent right off the bat. This can also improve the first-contact resolution (FCR) rate—the percentage of customer tickets that are resolved by agents on the first attempt.
Provide 24/7 support
Round-the-clock support is a key aspect of a good customer service experience. But not every business has the ability to offer live support 24/7. That’s where an IVR system comes in.
With IVR, you can use pre-recorded responses to answer frequently asked questions without tying up your support agents or needing to increase headcount.
- Holidays
- Emergencies
- Peak hours
- Product launches
By providing 24/7 support, you can make sure your customers are informed and less frustrated when agents aren’t available.
Triage calls
There are many ways to prioritize calls, and your business should determine which calls to push to the front of the line. According to a Report, 61 percent of consumers will stop buying from a company after a single bad customer service interaction, so you simply can’t afford to make high-value customers wait.
Some of the top benefits of an IVR include the ability to:
- Prioritize calls from VIPs.
- Route callers to a specific group based on their area code.
- View tickets for callers waiting in queue.
- Route calls based on priority rather than time of arrival.
- Execute triggers to change the call priority or destination group when a customer enters the queue.
- Send callers to the first available agent until the maximum queue wait time is reached.
Reduce incoming call volume with effective IVR menu
Create custom IVR menus to reduce incoming call volume and save agents time.
Voicemail or Callback
Prompt callers to leave a message or receive a callback when dealing with long wait times.
Number or Department
Forward calls to a specific phone number when a problem requires specialized knowledge.
Secondary IVR Menu
Use a recorded message to direct callers to your website for information or offer more options.
Text Back
Switch phone calls to text messages to reduce inbound calls and provide digital resources.
Answer Frequently Asked Questions
Answer frequently asked questions automatically with pre-recorded solutions.
