Give customers calling your support or customer success teams the chance to choose from top topics when calling in and reduce average call duration by 40%.
Add up to 10 different caller choices to your Interactive Voice Response (IVR) menu selection.
Happy with your setup? Add any additional steps after each choice for the best possible CX.
Cut the middle-man by providing 24/7 automated answers through self-service options.
"With CloudTalk's Analytics I now get to see every step of the way. We can find discrepancies between our agents and gain a much better understanding of our teams' setup."
Nelly Donnelly Service Delivery Manager
See Nokia customer story
"CloudTalk improved our team's cost and efficiency. The script feature allows us to lead the calls in a much more systematic way, as well as all the action buttons to trigger actions directly into our backend."
Yohann Bensadoun Global Supply Growth
See Glovo customer story
"Our call volume tripled in only 2 years, from around 10,000 calls to 30,000 per quarter and with CloudTalk, we can now handle all of this communication easily. It was an excellent choice."
Frederico Lopes Head of Customer Service
See DiscoverCars customer story
"We have seen a significant increase in our outbound call volume since we started using CloudTalk and we can now reach out to more prospects and customers than ever before."
Elay Sasson Call Center Manager
See MyHeritage customer story
IVR (Interactive Voice Response) is an automated phone system with call-routing capabilities. The technology works with ACD (Automatic Call Distribution) and allows customers to interact with a computer before connecting to a representative.
Typically, the pre-recorded menu triggers as soon as a customer calls, letting them navigate it either verbally or manually (using the phone’s keypad). Afterward, the person is automatically connected to the agent or department best suited to help them.
The IVR’s fundamental goal is to keep everything running efficiently and boost your call center’s productivity.
An IVR Menu, also known as Call Flow, is the visual representation of how calls will be routed based on certain variables, including location, IVR menu selection, and more.
Your routing, or IVR Menu Tree, can be edited via CloudTalk’s Call Flow Designer. To have a deeper overview of caller-based routing, read more here.
From the Dashboard, click the lefthand tab labeled “Numbers”. Here, you should see a list of existing numbers supported through CloudTalk. You will also be given the option to + Buy a number or port an existing number.
Once you’ve decided which number you want to create a route for, click the blue pencil icon on the far right of the chosen number’s row. It opens the Call Flow Designer for that specific number. If no current call flow exists, the page may appear blank, with only the number showing in a small white box.
Whenever we add a new step, we will do so by clicking the blue + icon at the end of the previous white box or branch tip. We can click the gray cog icon within the white box labeled the step in question to view or edit a step already made.
Most action steps include a box labeled “Seconds to wait on this step”. To avoid recursive loops and other flow problems, make sure to enter an amount of time in seconds. These represent the buffer time in which a caller will wait on a step before the system repeats a prompt or pushes the call to the next stage.
It seems you’re interested in IVR. If you’d like to hear how IVR works, please press “1”.
That’s something you might hear when you come across an IVR. IVRs are automated interactive voice response systems the caller can interact with via their device’s keyboards. They offer several predefined paths, which customers can use to access information ( account balance, order status, etc.), or contact specific teams and agents.
Letting customers access answers to the most common questions (e.g., business hours, address, contact details, etc.) without needing to speak to an agent saves admin time and allows your agents to focus on what they do best.
Every second counts in customer support. IVRs reduce average call duration by 40%, letting customers access information and solve problems faster, preventing frustration and improving conversion and future retention.
Thanks to IVRs, customers no longer need to waste time waiting to be transferred. By communicating their intent ahead of time, they can instantly contact the relevant team or agent and solve their problem on the first try.
Dealing with basic questions takes time and company resources. With the IVR taking some of the load off your agents’ shoulders, they can focus on the difficult queries that really require their attention.
63% of customers agree that poor call flow design ruins the user experience. Make sure your menu options are clear, short, and straightforward, so customers can easily find what they’re looking for.
70% of people say they get “extremely frustrated” if they wait on hold for more than a minute. If you can’t fully prevent hold times with your IVR, implement callback or automatic routing to make the experience faster and more pleasant.
Don’t use cheap text-to-speech or non-professional voice actors for your IVR voice prompts. If they’re difficult to understand, people won’t want to use your IVR, defeating its purpose entirely.
Customers have various specific needs that require human attention. Don’t frustrate people by trying to swap out live agents for an IVR entirely, or you run the risk of hurting your business in the process.
01
Log in to your CloudTalk account
02
From the Dashboard, click the left-hand side Numbers tab
03
Select the number for which you want to edit your IVR by clicking the blue pen button on the far-ride side. Alternatively, you can also Purchase a Number on this screen
04
Add new steps to the IVR flow by clicking the blue “+” button next to the latest step, or edit pre-existing steps by clicking the grey “cog” button
05
Click the green “Save Plan” button to confirm your changes.
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IVR automates the telephony system. With an IVR system, you can create pre-recorded greetings, which offer a set of menus with different options according to the caller’s needs. When a customer calls on your business phone number, the IVR system automatically greets the caller and sends them to the desired department. It is an automated approach to customer service.
IVRs are powerful automations for virtual phone systems, allowing you to create pre-recorded greetings, interactive self-help menus, and routing call flows. Setting it up is simple, and you can do it only in 5 steps:
1. Log in to your CloudTalk account
2. From the Dashboard, click the left-hand side Numbers tab
3. Select the number for which you want to edit your IVR by clicking the blue pen button on the far-ride side. Alternatively, you can also Purchase a Number on this screen
4. Add new steps to the IVR flow by clicking the blue “+” button next to the latest step, or edit pre-existing steps by clicking the grey “cog” button
5. Click the green “Save Plan” button to confirm your changes.
Here are a few IVR best practices to help you ensure that both your agents and customers get the most out of your call center automation:
– Keep pre-recorded call prompts and menus brief
– Ensure prompts are clear and easy to understand (hire a voice professional if needed)
– Provide an option to switch to a live agent at any point during the IVR interaction
– Frequently update call menus and IVR scripts to keep information current
– Integrate third-party CRM tools for instant, easy access to customer data
– Let customers schedule automated callbacks instead of waiting on hold
– Have several alternative routing options in place in case desired agent is unavailable
– Set/study automatic analytics/recordings to ensure effective menus/announcements
Any company can benefit from an IVR. Typical use cases include:
– Account identification
– Transactional information
– Product Assistance
– Sales call routing
– Appointment confirmations
By integrating an IVR into your everyday operations, you can expect to:
– Increase customer service efficiency
– Increase professionalism
– Reduce costs
– Better customer experience
Interactive Voice Response is commonly used in call centers. It answers incoming calls, gathers information from callers, and directs them to the right agent or self-serve option. IVR system is your company’s first point of contact with customers who pick up the phone and call your support team.
Interactive Voice Response systems have several key features, including:
– Call Flow Designer
– SMS/Text Messages
– Smart dialer
– Callback
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