What is an IVR and what are the benefits of implementing it?

An IVR (Interactive Voice Response or interactive voice response) refers to a service system through voice menus which can be configured in a personalized way and are executed in real time during a call allowing customers to communicate with our company, selecting various service options by simply pressing certain keys on your phone and according to these selected options, being able to provide a response or carry out an appropriate action until delivering a solution to the client's need.

According to the above, we can identify that the IVR is the entrance door to a company from which the client will be able to access the spaces in which they will find a response to their needs. If the customer does not find the answer they are looking for in the menu delivered, the call will be taken to a company collaborator who will be in charge of addressing the request and delivering a solution or making a sale effective.

Knowing the customer's journey is a vital part of this process since this is what supports us by providing information about what they are looking for and how the process for delivering a solution can be facilitated. 

A suitable IVR should be:

• Dynamic: An IVR must be a fast, efficient system configured with the necessary information to deliver solutions to customers with as few interactions as possible.

• Flexibility: Change is a common factor in our daily operations, which is why interactive voice response must be ready for change at any time, whether because new additions arise, because the market changes or because time has made the one we had obsolete. The IVR should be personal and reflect the company's value proposition.   At iKono we have clients who require these constant changes, which is why the system and process must always be up to their needs.

• Personalization/institutionality: Having an institutional image line in your communications will give you a more professional image and give your clients greater confidence.

Among the many benefits that implementing an adequate IVR can bring you, we can find the following:

• Save your clients time: Patience is not a very common virtue among our clients since they can easily lose it, which is why we must avoid taking them to listen to a menu with long options or that are difficult to understand. Fortunately, one of the benefits that IVRs offer is that they allow you to form your menu according to your needs and what the customer expects. Additionally, missed or abandoned calls are minimized more frequently when this system is implemented. If you have a callback module, customers will have the option to call back when their waiting time is very long. Finally, you will have an IVR which will allow you to guide clients, suppliers and other people who contact your company with the service agent best suited to their needs, guaranteeing an optimal response at all times.

• Provide tools to agents to maximize their performance
  Having an efficient IVR can improve the experience of both your internal and external clients, since it maximizes effectiveness in attention and promptness and in addition to this, it will place your agents in the fields in which they have greater knowledge and the calls answered. They correspond to requests about this knowledge, which will facilitate the response and provide greater security to the agent.
  

• Lower costs in your Call Center
  It is important to emphasize that an IVR can support the reduction of costs in your Call Center since it avoids loss of time, guarantees that the routing of the call is appropriate according to the request and even within the same IVR a response can be delivered to the customer without having to reach an agent, reducing the time spent on telephone communication.

Finally, with these points delivered, we can deduce that to have a properly implemented IVR, it is important to keep in mind that it must be dynamic, flexible and personalized. If you have these points, it is very likely that your internal and external clients will obtain better benefits and feel most valued, creating better experiences with the service.

Fountain: https://interfono.com/ivr-por-que-es-tan-importante-en-tu-contacto-con-el-cliente/