What is IVR (Interactive Voice Response)?
Streamline your customers’ support journey with a multi-level Interactive Voice Response (IVR) menu. Create excellent customer experiences with the Call Flow Designer and ensure your clients can always reach the team or agent they need.
How Does IVR Work?
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.
What Makes IVR Unique?
Enhances Customer Support Management
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.
Improves Customer Conversion, Retention & Experience
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.
Increases First-Contact Resolution
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.
Boosts Agent Performance & Team Efficiency
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.
Common IVR Mistakes
Over-Complicated Call Flow
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.
Long Hold Times
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.
Low-Quality Voice Prompts
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.
Lack of Agents
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.
Get a first-hand experience
with CloudTalk
“We started using CloudTalk to have a flexible call center system that would let us encode all the logic that we wanted into our IVR system.“
Administrator in Customer Electronics
G2
How to Setup How to Set Up a CloudTalk IVR
WATCH
THE VIDEO
#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.
FAQs
What does IVR stand for?
How does IVR work?
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.
What are the benefits of an IVR system?
– Increase customer service efficiency
– Increase professionalism
– Reduce costs
– Better customer experience
What is IVR in call centers and Customer Service?
IVR 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.
What are the key IVR features?
Interactive Voice Response systems have several key features, including:
– Call Flow Designer
– Callback
– Predictive Dialer
– Smart dialer
– SMS/Text Messages
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Call Flow Designer
Build custom call flows for your business. Ensure your customers are paired with the right agent or department every time.
Predictive Dialer
Ensure more customer calls are made in a shorter amount of time. It is an ideal tool for getting in touch with your customers efficiently.
Smart Dialer
CloudTalk will compile a list of numbers from any website or system and create a calling queue directly in your CloudTalk phone app.
Callback
If there are any unanswered phone calls, CloudTalk automatically calls your customers back.
