What are IVR solutions?

"IVR solutions" is a collective term that refers to various interactive voice response solutions designed to automate the handling of incoming and outgoing calls. IVR solutions are made possible with VoiceXML, a programming language that enables IVR applications to perform sophisticated tasks such as analyzing audio, differentiating between a human voice and a touch-tone, and automating different actions based on voice and/or touch-tone prompts.

Inbound IVR and Outbound IVR

IVR solutions can be divided into two main categories: inbound IVR that deals with incoming calls and outbound IVR that deals with outgoing calls. Inbound IVR solutions allow for efficient and timely handling of large volumes of inbound calls, improving the customer experience by automating many tasks and eliminating the need for a live person to handle every request, thus reducing wait time for callers. Examples of inbound IVR solutions are call routing and call tracking. Similarly, outbound IVR solutions aid businesses and organizations in maximizing their marketing efforts by offering a fast and efficient means of spreading their message to thousands of people at once without requiring the time and workforce to call each person individually. Examples of outbound IVR solutions are automated dialers and voice broadcasting.

What are the benefits of IVR solutions?

IVR solutions are highly customizable based on the needs of your business, which means they are a very fluid solution able to change with the times. Once in place, an IVR system can be programmed in a number of ways to automate different tasks, as needed, and distribute the work evenly amongst your staff. Likewise, as IVR solutions tend to eliminate the need for a live person to handle mundane tasks, using IVR solutions in your business is a smart way to reduce staffing costs, maximize the productivity of existing staff and enhance customer satisfaction by increasing the chance that your customer gets the information he or she needs in a timely, simple manner. Finally, IVR solutions are invaluable in maximizing your ROI in regards to advertising efforts by allowing you to isolate which advertising campaigns are lucrative and which are not delivering results.

Additional Resources

Ifbyphone Glossary

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