Interactive Voice Response (IVR) Systems: Changing the Way Phone Calls are Answered

Reading time: 2 – 2 minutes

Most of you may have already experienced calling your favorite service provider for mobile, internet, or cable television, etc. and find yourself talking to a monotonously sounding representative over the phone who simply asks questions and allows you to respond within a short time frame. Sometimes it transfers your call to a different department in order to speak with a live person whom you sometimes thought of being just another prerecorded answering machine, right? If your answer is yes, then you might have just encountered some virtual interactive voice response systems adopted by the company you’re trying to reach.

An Interactive Voice Response (IVR) technology filters out specific caller inquiries using interactive voice and touchstone keypad recognition by which questions are asked by pre-recorded or dynamically generated audio that routes calls to specific extensions or departments based on the generated caller responses. It can be annoying at times but the more you get exposed to these systems, the more you get used to it.

The challenge that is left here for customer service front liners is to satisfy every caller’s needs after going through a hurdle in attempting to reach the right department or extension in order to speak with a live agent especially for the not-so-tech-savvy people as this could sometimes be overwhelming. For the IVR providers, the benefit of a highly scalable technology is an added advantage but for the companies who are currently adopting the technology, it’s a must that they implement the system in a simpler way within the grasp of their customers spearheaded by highly competent and friendly frontline agents.

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