What is Interactive Voice Response and is it right for my business?

Interactive Voice Response is an automated phone system that answers calls, presents callers with a range of options, and uses their responses to divert queries to the appropriate support agent.

But using automated technology doesn’t come without its challenges. Keep reading to find out more about interactive response, how it works, and its pros and cons. We also outline how it differs from call answering services to help you determine which solution is best for your business.

What is Interactive Voice Response?

You’ve probably encountered Interactive Voice Response in the past when calling a company or your GP surgery. It’s the automatic machine that greets you and asks you to specify the reason for your call.

Essentially, it’s the modern switchboard. It sounds a little something like this:

Thanks for calling [business name]. To help us put you through to the right place, please select from the following options: Press 1 for customer service, press 2 to track your order, and so on.

• See more: Top tips for building customer loyalty

When setting up an Interactive Voice Response, you can pre-record a more personal and on-brand message or use AI. Callers can then physically say what they need help with, or you can prompt them to use the keypad on their phone and select the most relevant option. Their input is recorded, and the call is routed to the correct live agent or department to resolve the query.

Even though the technology is still evolving, Interactive Voice Response is widely used by businesses of all sizes nowadays. For example, start-ups can save valuable time and money by eliminating the need to hire additional staff. It can also help improve their brand image and increase customer satisfaction by delivering quick support.

Meanwhile, established companies can use Interactive Voice Response to manage busy periods more efficiently by ensuring that every caller is connected with the right agent every time.

How does IVR differ from call answering services?

The main difference between Interactive Voice Response and a call answering service is the human touch. Even though a person can pre-record the message, Interactive Voice Response is automated, and there is no real-time human interaction before the call is routed to the corresponding department.

On the other hand, call answering is handled entirely by real agents. From the moment a call is answered until the query is resolved, the caller interacts directly with a human representative.

Another important difference between the two is the scope of practicality. Interactive Voice Response is limited in what it can do; it can answer and transfer a call, but that’s effectively it.

However, a call-answering agent can take messages, answer simple questions, book appointments, and schedule callbacks.

With that in mind, if you need a basic solution to boost the efficiency of routine inquiries, Interactive Voice Response could be right for you. But a call answering service is more suitable if you’re looking to give your callers a more bespoke, seamless, and personalised brand experience.

Benefits of Interactive Voice Response

Efficient

Integrating Interactive Voice Response into your telephone system can significantly boost efficiency and productivity. You don’t need to hire a receptionist as that first point of contact. Instead, automating this function frees up your existing team to focus on their core tasks.

Also, an Interactive Voice Response system can handle multiple calls simultaneously. So, your employees’ workload remains manageable, and you avoid developing a backlog of missed calls.

Cost-effective

It also saves you money – now that’s music to any business owner’s ears. As mentioned above, Interactive Voice Response reduces your staffing needs, which can cut your gross expenses by around £26,000, roughly what it’d cost you to hire a receptionist right now.

Higher customer satisfaction

By quickly routing callers to the right source of help, your customers will be happier. When they get in touch, they expect a swift answer and a speedy resolution – they don’t want to be held in a queue and then endlessly transferred from one department to the next, repeating themselves every time they speak to someone new.

With Interactive Voice Response, you can avoid these common frustrations, improve customer satisfaction, and boost retention.

24/7 availability

An Interactive Voice Response system means you can be open for business around the clock. Not literally, of course, as your employees need a break, too.

But if someone needs support after hours or in a different time zone, it allows you to provide some form of help any time of day or night. For instance, you can adjust your automated message to guide people to self-help sources, provide emergency contact details, or even advise them of your opening hours so that they can call back later.

Improved insights

The automated system can make it easier for you to capture essential data about your callers. For example, you unlock insights into why people are getting in touch and popular contact times and track how long it takes to resolve issues. You can then use that information to visualise trends, spot opportunities, and improve your services.

Potential challenges

While Interactive Voice Response technology can transform your business for the better in many ways, it still poses some challenges. It’s an automated system, after all, so some errors are always to be expected.

Irrelevant/complex menu options

It’s essential to get the routing options right when presenting callers with a menu. If they don’t hear a relevant option, they’ll be left frustrated and confused, and they’ll either hang up (you’ve now lost a customer) or choose the wrong one.

Flawed speech recognition

How many times has this happened to you or someone you know? A machine asks why you’re calling, and you state the reason, but it replies: “Sorry, I didn’t get that.” And you go round and round in circles before simply giving up.

If you ask callers to verbally choose an option over dialling it on their keypad, there’s a chance that the speech recognition technology won’t respond correctly. Also, it can only recognise the keywords you’ve programmed it with, so if someone doesn’t say the right thing, the Interactive Voice Response system won’t work.

It’s impersonal

While Interactive Voice Response (IVR) systems can be efficient when functioning correctly, they often lack the personal touch that customers value. Despite technological advancements, many people still prefer speaking directly with a human representative rather than interacting with a machine.

An international survey by AnywhereWorks shows that nearly 80% of consumers across the UK, US, and Canada want to speak to a natural person when they contact a company. Crucially, 42% also said that AI is making the customer service experience worse, stating reasons such as:

• AI doesn’t solve their problems, and
• They’re worried about giving out their details to AI

Call answering services could be more suitable

Considering the above pitfalls, a more suitable solution could be a call answering service. It still promotes efficiency, potentially even more so than Interactive Voice Response technology.

You can be sure that each call is transferred correctly without the risk of being held up by malfunctioning tech. As a result, your customers have a positive experience and are encouraged to interact with you again.

• See more: How we answer your calls explained
• See more: Telephone answering services – what you need to know

Call answering is also affordable for businesses of all sizes. It’s usually a function outsourced to a third-party provider, costing you considerably less than hiring a permanent in-house employee.

In addition, having real people answer your incoming calls doesn’t mean your company can’t be contacted after 5 pm. A good-quality call-answering provider should offer an after-hours service, capturing voicemails when no one’s available to take a live call. That way, your customers are tended to around the clock, and you never miss an opportunity.

Finally, whether you run a one-person band or have a team of 100 people, you can consistently deliver that irreplaceable personal experience with a call-answering service. This will make your brand more memorable and create a professional and trustworthy brand image to which people will want to return.

Unlock the potential of a call-answering service today

If you’ve reached the end of this blog, we hope you agree that a call-answering service is better for business. Don’t get us wrong, we’re not denying that Interactive Voice Response systems offer impressive benefits, but we think call answering is safer and more effective.

Ready to find out for yourself? Try Bizik for free today. We promise that our talented and experienced team of virtual support agents will answer your calls in your own unique way and treat your callers exactly how you would yourself.

Chat with us today by calling 020 3917 7444 to get your quote and start your free trial.