A call center is an important business asset as it deals with multiple inbound and outbound requests, such as customer queries, helpdesk services, telemarketing services, event scheduling, etc. Even in today’s digital world, customers prefer phone-based support when reaching out for inquiries or assistance. This is because of the prompt response and feedback that helps build trust between a business and a customer. However, a call center is not a cost-effective solution to managing support and can be time-consuming, challenging, and difficult to measure.
Talking to a customer on the phone is challenging, as the call center might not always have the resources to address all customer inquiries at once, resulting in longer customer hold times.
Some departments might not be suitable recipients for a customer’s query, resulting in dissatisfaction and overheads to the call center. A solution that can help businesses manage large volumes of inbound requests and correctly route them to the right department is indispensable. This is where an IVR solution comes into the picture.
IVR is an acronym for Interactive Voice Response and is an automated call management software that customers first encounter when calling a contact center. It is used to offer customers a personalised greeting along with a category of menus to select their query or concern.
Features of an IVR solution
Modern IVR solutions have evolved from the traditional IVR solutions, which were limited to basic menus and routing. They present a host of useful features to clients, which include:
- 24×7 support: An IVR system can attend to customers at all times of the day, even without the presence of call center employees. This ensures that customers can get certain queries resolved even during odd hours, enhancing connectivity.
- Scalable: IVR solutions for small businesses are perfect as they can increase the capacity of the solution to cater to even more customers depending on volumes, giving clients the power to manage growth and scale rapidly.
- Time-based call routing: In case a customer calls outside of working hours, the IVR solution can route an important call to an agent’s personal number, enabling quick query resolution and enhancing customer satisfaction.
- Personalized experience: Clients can record customized and innovative messages for customers, displaying a connection with them. Clients can also opt to record in regional languages to appeal to various customer groups. Similarly, when customers call back, the IVR solution can automatically connect them to the same agent that they conversed with to improve query resolution.
- Ease of analytics: Clients can integrate the IVR with their CRM and store an exhaustive log of call histories, call recordings, and frequency information which they can use for agent training and understanding customer sentiment.
- Secure and reliable: Knowlarity’s IVR solution ensures that private information can be stored safely with stringent database protection measures, eliminating cyber risks.
- Design programmable surveys: Clients can take customer feedback through an IVR by asking questions related to their products and services and requesting customers to key in their responses through keyboard inputs. Analysis of aggregate inputs can reveal important data about customer perception about the client.
Benefits of adopting an IVR solution
- Improved brand image: Through personalization, reduced wait times, and efficient call routing, clients can improve accessibility and reach to customers. All these positively impact its brand image.
- Improved call-center utilization: IVR solutions can smartly route customers to the concerned department, thus reducing call drops and improving agent utilization rates.
- Reduced costs: An IVR system can automatically address customer needs by providing status updates and critical information, reducing the inbound volumes to a call center. It also improves agent utilization rates, which brings down costs for the call center.
If you are analyzing your IVR solution needs, look no further than Knowlarity. We are a cloud call center communication company, and our solutions are used by leading companies globally to collaborate, communicate, and increase ROI through executive insights that help improve business decisions. Knowlarity is trusted by more than 6000 enterprises located across more than 65 countries in multiple industries. We are also one of the leading IVR providers in India. We help our clients realize the full potential of business communication. Through automation and minimal investment, SMBs, start-ups, and enterprises can drive greater call management efficiency and scale-up without worrying about downtime or investment. You can contact Knowlarity on our toll-free number 1800-123-3705 to talk to a customer representative.
