What is an interactive voice server and what are its benefits for customer service?
Companies use a variety of strategies to improve productivity. Some of these involve the organization of their call centers. This is particularly true of interactive voice servers, the use of which has a positive impact on customer service performance, and therefore on the company’s bottom line. This technology, developed by Kavkom, is the subject of this article.
IVS and IVR: two acronyms for the same reality
IVR and IVS are used interchangeably to designate a particular configuration of a company’s call center. The first acronym, an abbreviated name for Interactive Voice Response, is the French translation of IVR.
In practice, an IVR automates your switchboard and handles incoming calls without the need for human intervention. Depending on the caller’s choices, the system’s configuration unleashes responses tailored to his or her needs. If the customer’s concern requires a personalized response, communication is directed to the appropriate agent.
How does an IVR work?
An IVR works in a few simple steps. As soon as the sender dials your company’s number, there’s no waiting time. A digitized voice responds and guides him through the choices that correspond to his expectations. “If you’d like to know our opening times, press 1. If you’d like to speak to a customer advisor, press 2, etc.” These suggestions guide the caller to the most appropriate response to their query.
Answers are configured on the basis of frequently asked questions. In addition to the touch function, an IVR can offer your callers a voice recognition system. So, instead of clicking on a key on his keyboard, he simply speaks the word corresponding to the chosen proposition.
IVR benefits for your call center management
The benefits to your company of using an automated call center improve performance on a number of levels.
Boost your call center’s performance
Putting such a system at the heart of your call center ensures its efficiency. By sorting requests, agents are assigned only those calls that require special handling. In this way, the less busy sales department is better able to concentrate on finding the right solutions to customer problems. This organization reduces waiting times and increases customer service productivity.
Improve the way your customers’ requests are handled
With its multiple personalization possibilities, the customer experience can be enhanced by applying different parameters. This is the case, for example, with the approvals made possible by contact identification. If your call center offers this option, you can personalize your greetings according to the caller. Greeting customers by name, right from the start, is a little extra that customers appreciate. The system can thus reduce its waiting time by reducing the number of choices it has to make to get in touch with the qualified agent.
Optimize your telecom budget
In the case of a call center run entirely by human advisors, the company is obliged to hire a large number of employees to meet its customers’ needs. This type of organization inflates your company’s telecom budget, while at the same time increasing payroll costs. There’s nothing like it when you opt for a virtual call center.
The savings generated by an IVR apply equally to telephony equipment and premises management. Instead of multiplying the number of offices according to the number of agents, we settle for the minimum necessary to keep our IVR running. It was by addressing these issues that VoIP telephony took the lead in business telephony.
Providing assistance around the clock
Since human intervention in its management is greatly reduced, the call center can operate every day of the week and at any time of day. This way, your customers or prospects can get answers to some of their concerns without having to wait for your opening hours. Beyond all these advantages, a call center enhances your corporate image. Customers who are satisfied with the pleasant experience provided by your organization retain a high opinion of your company and praise your services.
In conclusion, a call center backed up by an interactive voice server boosts a company’s productivity, improves its image and enables it to achieve savings on a variety of scales.
