IVR (Interactive Voice Response) Interactive voice answer

Distinguish the static and dynamic IVR systems:

• A static IVR system is based on the voice menu in which strictly limited number of information in the form of previously written voice messages is provided to the subscriber.
• A dynamic IVR system assumes extraction of necessary information from databases according to rules of routing, developed in the company (for example, the subscriber can receive the certificate of a current status of the account or of effective currency rate).

According to the research Forrester, 72% of consumers prefer to solve the arising problems through services of self-service, but not directly communicating with the call center operator or corresponding with it by e-mail.

Rules IVR

Rules of the convenient, customer-oriented and effective IVR Four Ways to Win Customer Raves With Your Speech-Enabled IVR system^[1]:

• Simplicity — the key to success. One of the most often found complaints concerning services of self-service is an abundance of the unnecessary or unclear menu items offered at implementation of simple transactions. And even if the organization can prove need and convenience of each of them, but if, having listened to the end of the last menu item calling does not hold the first in the head any more and did not define necessary to it yet — points already much, and they are unclear to the client. If simply it is not possible to solve a task and elegantly by means of an automated system, then it is better to redirect it to the operator.
• Time — the main value. Clients can call contact center from any place at any time: being in a lunch break at work, sitting in public transport or having just put children to bed. Anyway service should not take a lot of time. An error will spend the client's time, forcing it to repeat same several times or demanding from it a large number of information. If at the solution of any questions services of self-service cannot guarantee necessary speed, it makes sense to replace them with personal contact with the operator.
• Service means communication. Following instructions of the IVR system, the client can want to ask the specifying questions or to paraphrase the thoughts. Modern services of self-service are equipped with the systems of speech recognition which will help to avoid misunderstanding and confusion. More precisely, so: recognition of a spontaneous speech is already widely used in the West and is developed for Russian — we wait for really competent and high-quality implementations!

Correctly designed IVR system, friendly both the intuitive interface of a system of self-service and short waiting time (or its absence!) — very simple in essence, inexpensive at the correct setup and extremely important tools for growth of a customer loyalty and increase in competitive advantage of the company.

Scopes of application

Customer service using "virtual employees" not an innovation for the industry of contact centers. In Russia request processing using robots is manufactured by outsourcing contact centers of telecom operators, banks, aircraft companies. Project implementation on implementation of "the virtual employee" in contact center is very expensive that makes this solution available only to large players of the market. Expenses on robots, in comparison with the operator, reach a ratio 1/5. However in a number of requests the robot will not be able to give the complete information which the client wants to receive.

About 80% of subscribers at connection with call center select "work" from the USA and Europe not with the manager, and with automatic service IVR, – a basic reason – reduction of time of request processing due to lack of waiting of the answer of the "living" operator. In Russia the situation develops now not as in the countries of Europe and the USA. In spite of the fact that the most part of addresses is standard and is solved using the IVR menu, many subscribers prefer to hear the living person and to solve the problem with the help of the operator. Researches of Teleperformance Russia & Ukraine company showed that IVR potentially reduces customer service quality. Comparison of consumer satisfaction from communication with the living person and with IVR showed that only in 7% of cases the client was happy with service using IVR.

"The client not always positively perceives the automated message handling in a number of requests. For example, at the address according to matters of argument, complaints or sales. The research of system operation of the interactive voice reply of IVR in the banking sector and methods of providing necessary information to consumers showed that no more than 15% of clients are ready to interact with IVR, other subscribers still prefer real-life communication. And at the same time, in some cases use of robots can be successful – for example, for answers to standard questions of clients, informing on changes and innovations", – the CEO Osina Ekaterina considers.

Based on the research conducted by outsourcing contact center Teleperformance Russia & Ukraine, the most customer-oriented companies adhere to model of real-life communication with the operator, but do not exclude a possibility of use of robots answering machines at emergence at clients of a standard number of questions. For clients of contact centers the IVR system can be convenient – mainly at the expense of speed and the accuracy of receiving quick access without waiting of the reply of operator to the most exact information which is not distorted by a human factor. In some cases, if the problem rather difficult not to do without participation of the operator, but to subscribers to resolve standard issues through IVR quicker. In the western banks IVR processes up to 50% of requests. Complete conversion of real-life communication on robotized in contact centers of the large companies in the near future is not expected, the most suitable option – a complex combination of work of "living" operators and robots.

Signs of the good voice interactive portal

• Short polite greeting – just you should not force the client to hang on the line while the robot lists it all indisputable advantages of your company.
• The accurate and laconic description of menu items – should not be overloaded the client with redundant information. Excessive detailing at requests often confuses calling, also as well as "unostentatiously" broadcast information of advertizing character.
• Simple and clear structure of the menu – try to avoid repetitions and a large number of internal tabs in the system of the menu.
• An opportunity to contact the operator at any stage of passing of the menu – provide the button of "emergency exit" operating regardless of location of the client in the system of the menu.
• The possibility of fast set of the known combination of digits for getting into a certain section of the menu (at a repeated call) – need to listen to long lists of options before pressing the necessary button, will not cause in the client anything, except irritation.
• Opportunity to determine by voice the call reason – allows to reduce considerably "the client's route" and time of processing of its address.

Typical errors at the organization of the interactive voice systems of self-service

The IVR systems became an integral part of most contact centers long ago and are actively used by consumers for different solution of questions. However there is a number of typical errors at the organization of the interactive voice systems of self-service preventing them to become really effective instruments of customer service:

• Creation of structure of the menu, being guided only by requirements of the company

Too often dialog between the client and an IVR system is adjusted to aspiration of the company as much as possible to simplify processes of routing and control.

As a result it is difficult for client to decide on the choice of a necessary option from offered by a system. At best everything will end with just slight discontent arising at the appeal to contact center, and in the worst can lead to repetitive errors during the routing and loss of clients. A secret is in that having accurately realized that you want to receive when routing, to construct dialog with the client by the most logical for it in the way, having taken the reasons of the appeal to contact center as a basis.

• Automation only of simple and minor tasks

Automate temptation only the least important and simplest transactions it is often too big. However success of any system of self-service depends on that, the options how fully offered correspond to needs and expectationses of clients. Clients should understand that they will be able to find in the IVR system that "button" which to them is necessary and to solve the problem with its help. Unfortunately, not always they manage it.

• Problems when preserving a context of communication with the client

Despite existence of technologies for preserving of the complete information about calling, too often it is necessary to tell clients of contact centers about the problem upon transition from one automated system to another or when changing the operator again and again. Integration of computer-integrated telephony gave the chance to solve this problem 10 years ago, and modern telephone protocols, such as SIP, facilitate this task even more. However and today many clients are forced to repeat same several times in attempt "reach" the specialist necessary to them.

Answerphones

The most expensive type of calls is the conversation with the operator (by estimates of Forrester Research, more than 12 dollars for a call) while the cost of hands-off processing of a call does not exceed 5 dollars. At the same time it is quite possible to process about 60% of calls using an automated system, without involving the operator. ^[2]

The answerphone with open grammar allows addressed to the service center to ask the question in a natural language, but not to click in the tone mode or to tell only the fixed set of voice commands. As it appeared, the majority calling prefer not to use tone set, and to wait for the reply of operator. Little also IVR with the fixed set of voice commands, i.e. with the closed grammar helps. Subscribers do not like to listen to the end of instructions up to the end and therefore cannot correctly give a voice command. For these reasons and IVR with tone set, and an answerphone with recognition of commands do not enjoy popularity at the people addressing to contact centers.

The IVR technology with open grammar is based on continuous speech recognition and text classification of phone calls. A system tries to classify a request and to issue the answer according to the set program. The main problem consists in gathering many requests — for each category it is necessary to analyze more than 500 unique options of questions. Only in this case high-quality operation of the mechanism of cataloguing therefore it is very difficult to implement systems with open grammar is guaranteed. Usually these remarks register from a live talk, however on it time — of three months before half a year is required considerably.

Swindlers abduct money from bank cards of Russians using IVR

In Russia the new type of fraud in the form of theft of data on bank cards of clients using external interactive voice answers (IVR) develops. Media told in the spring of 2016 in Zecurion company which specializes in security issues of remote banking^[3] about it ^[4].

In particular, within this scheme citizens are called not by swindlers, and the robots programmed by them who are represented by bank employees and find necessary information. From April, 2015 to April, 2016 using this method swindlers stole 6 million rubles from bank cards of Russians.

It is noted that IVR are programmed on incoming calls - for a greeting of subscribers ("Thanks for a call to our company. If you know the extension of the employee, dial number right now"). But now malefactors began to use IVR and for outgoing calls. The robots programmed by swindlers, being represented by bank employees, ask citizens to call given cards, logins and passwords for an input in Internet bank, CVV-and PIN codes.

"The new fraudulent scheme is rather specific, but is effective. The victims know little that robots can call. Coming up against an unusual situation, bank clients are lost - it is the first that is necessary for malefactors. It is much easier to process the person further. Secondly, the answering machine causes trust: in representation of people the similar systems use the large companies; also the robot has no intelligence to deceive. But at the same time citizens who become a target of swindlers, forget that living people customize a system", - the head of analytical center Zecurion Ulyanov Vladimir comments.

According to forecasts of Zecurion, at the end of 2016 the volume of embezzlement from cards of Russians using robots will grow by 40-50%.

Notes