IVR stands for Interactive Voice Response, which is a technology used to automate interactions with telephone callers. When set up with voice recognition software, data can be gathered through voice instead of touch tone.
One of the main challenges of IVRs is the lack of a good customer experience, as touch tone is a limited option. Another challenge is maintaining the IVR system to ensure that it remains up-to-date with changes to products, services, or contact center operations. This can require significant resources and investment. New IVR systems provide a more intuitive and natural language-based interface for customers to interact with. This makes the self-service experience more efficient and user-friendly. One such example is OpenQuestion, an AI-powered platform that uses natural language to understand customer inquiries more accurately and provide more personalized responses. This helps to improve customer satisfaction and reduce the need for transfers to human agents, ultimately reducing costs for the contact center.