Interactive Voice Response (IVR) is an automated business phone system technology. Some of the older IVRs gather information by offering them options from a keypad or touchtone menu. IVR Systems are among the things that you can love due to the pros it offers or you can hate due to the cons it provides.
Although IVR systems have several advantages, such as increasing customer satisfaction, improving contact center operations, and reducing operating costs, they also have some disadvantages.
Before discussing the various IVR pros, let’s first have a look at the downside of IVR.
Disadvantages of IVR Systems
IVR systems have drawbacks associated with them, which can have a negative impact on customer satisfaction and retention.
One of the primary disadvantages of IVR is that they can put customers in a negative mood. While they automate certain aspects of the customer experience, they also place the burden of work on the caller.
The automated voice presents multiple options to the customer, which they must patiently listen through and understand which key to press before reaching a customer service agent. These choices are usually based on the company´s internal organization rather than the customers reason for calling.
This can frustrate customers. IVR can dampen a customer’s positive mood, or intensify their negative mood, ultimately leading to a poor customer experience.
Additionally, IVR can cause customers to abandon calls. Customers have reported negative experiences with IVR systems in the past, making them unwilling to deal with them again. This has led many customers to abandon calls before they even begin.
Furthermore, a poorly implemented IVR system can lead customers to abandon a business altogether. According to a survey by Teneo.ai and ContactBabel, US businesses waste $934m each year on transferring IVR misrouted calls, while UK contact centers spend £126m. While IVR may appear cost-effective and timesaving, it can easily damage a business’s customer base and incur in lost money for businesses.
How to Fix Your IVR
To avoid these drawbacks, businesses should prioritize their customer experience. When implementing new technology, such as an IVR, the primary concern should be how it affects customers. The solution should simplify and streamline the experience, rather than causing frustration or abandonment.
First of all – consider not to use IVR menu options. Consider an IVR system that can provide the customer with a welcoming sentence of “how can I help you today?”, just like a real agent would – this is the difference between IVR and Conversational IVR. A welcoming voice instead of a voice or touchtone prompt.
The Rise of Conversational IVR
Conversational IVR is transforming the customer service industry by delivering benefits that traditional IVR systems simply cannot match. These systems allow customers to speak freely in expressing their request, significantly reducing the cost of live agent calls as fewer calls are misrouted and some even managed without the need for a human. With AI and Conversational IVR, businesses can automate 50% or more of their conversations, resulting in cost savings and improved efficiency.
Conversational IVR also offers better speed and efficiency as it decreases call misrouting vs standard IVR systems. It can also resolve issues faster than human agents, making it more efficient and faster for customers. It outperforms live agents in availability, speed, accuracy, and availability on customers’ preferred channels. This leads to improved customer satisfaction and loyalty, which is vital for businesses.
With Conversational IVR, customers can express their issues naturally and receive the right help they need. This enhances the customer experience and reduces the need for agents to repeat information, freeing up more time to handle complex issues. Conversational IVR can handle a bulk of caller requests independently, reducing stress and churn for agents.
One of the key advantages of Conversational IVR is easy scalability and plug-and-play integration with existing tech stacks. These systems can handle calls in different languages, providing scalability and reducing operational costs. Additionally, Conversational IVR sits on top of existing tech stacks, eliminating the need for rip-and-replace solutions.
Finally, Conversational IVR delivers a consistent and speedy support system, strengthening brand and resilience. It allows customers to access all the systems and tools they need to solve their issues or receive a smooth handover to an agent. By providing a better and differentiated experience, businesses can set themselves apart from competitors and win the loyalty of customers.
OpenQuestion: The Future of Conversational IVR
Conversational IVR offers numerous benefits that traditional IVR systems cannot match, including cost-effectiveness, improved efficiency, better customer and agent experiences, easy scalability, and brand resilience. By adopting Conversational IVR, businesses can streamline their operations, reduce costs, and provide exceptional customer service, leading to increased customer satisfaction, loyalty, and growth.
Customer experience is the key brand differentiator in an increasingly commoditized world. Therefore, businesses should consider using advanced conversational AI solutions, such as OpenQuestion, to address the disadvantages of IVR and enhance customer experience and satisfaction.
