| The Seven Deadly Sins of IVR | | | | |
| | | | A poor voice recording has ruined many a good |
| The sales pitch for interactive voice | | | | IVR application. A good example is a frequent |
| response (IVR) is very compelling - being | | | | flyer application that speaks in a calm |
| able to offer 24-hour service to customers | | | | voice, “Your account balance is” |
| without human intervention. However, a large | | | | followed by a gruff speaking voice barking |
| number of IVR applications fail to work well. | | | | “eight thousand two hundred and |
| Jonty Pearce looks at seven of the greatest | | | | ten.” A common mistake has been to use |
| sins! | | | | the telephone handset to record announcements |
| | | | rather than a professional recording studio. |
| 1. No option to speak to a person | | | | This can result in inconsistent volume levels |
| | | | as well as poorer speech quality. Recording |
| The biggest trap is that IVR entices the | | | | studios are able to smooth out volume levels |
| unwary into the lure of being able to provide | | | | and provide the correct frequency profile to |
| service to the customer with no human | | | | match the telephone rather than stereo |
| intervention. IVR vendors are often guilty of | | | | quality. |
| selling this offering. While IVR can be of | | | | |
| great help, providing a self-service facility | | | | 5. Voice Recognition Accuracy |
| to regular customers, it is not the complete | | | | |
| panacea. IVR works best in two areas - | | | | Voice recognition is a very powerful |
| playing options to route calls to the best | | | | technology, but it is not a panacea. It |
| agent group and self-service to a closed | | | | claims 95% accuracy, but this is frequently |
| group of frequent callers. Automating beyond | | | | on a single command. Mobile phone users can |
| this level can often be counter productive | | | | find difficulty using the service. For some |
| with poor customer service and less than | | | | users, it simply fails to work at all. It |
| expected take up. Even worse, is to use an | | | | should be used with care and works best to a |
| IVR to answer a sales line. I never fail to | | | | closed user group. After two voice |
| be amazed at how many companies greet a sales | | | | recognition attempts the caller should be |
| opportunity with a pre-recorded voice! | | | | connected to a live agent. |
| | | | |
| 2. Poor or No hand off to an agent | | | | 6. Taking too Long for frequent users |
| | | | |
| A frequent trap is not allowing people to | | | | A new user to the system needs clear |
| connect to an agent. Cost is often the reason | | | | instructions on how to use the system. It is |
| given for this. For example, a well-known | | | | also important that frequent users can enter |
| mobile phone company publishes a number to | | | | information as quickly as possible. Most IVR |
| call if you have questions with your bill. | | | | systems allow type ahead, sometimes called |
| But, it does not allow the option to transfer | | | | cut through, that allow users to enter data |
| the call to an agent to discuss the problem. | | | | while the voice command is being spoken. So a |
| When transferring to an agent the customer | | | | frequent user would not have to wait until |
| details should be transferred with the call. | | | | the end of “Please enter your account |
| It is bad customer service to ask for the | | | | number followed by hash, or wait on the line |
| same details again. | | | | to be connected to an operator. BEEP”, |
| | | | but could enter the account number in the |
| 3. Poor menu prompt structure | | | | middle of the sentence. |
| | | | |
| This is widespread. The golden rule states | | | | 7. Insufficient testing |
| that you should never have more than five | | | | |
| options on a voice menu. There should also be | | | | So, all that trouble has gone into developing |
| no more than two levels of menu. This should | | | | the IVR application. Was it first introduced |
| be treated as an absolute maximum. Personal | | | | to a small group of internal customers to |
| experience has shown that the most successful | | | | iron out any problems? All to often the |
| menus have just three options. | | | | answer is no. This would have sorted out all |
| | | | the previous sins before they caused any |
| 4. Recording Messages | | | | lasting damage! |