Interactive Voice Response (IVR) has come a long way since it was first introduced and is one of the most widely used and progressive kinds of call centre software available today. Facilitated by all kinds of companies throughout the world, the main purpose of the system is to deal with the large numbers of calls that some organizations of a particular nature can experience and is humanly impossible to handle. A well-designed IVR system will considerably reduce operating overheads and aid organizations in supporting both their clients and staff as well as improving the customer experience.

IVR is a tool that enables a computer to distinguish a voice command or keypad inputs generally used in telecommunications. The system recognizes the input and working through a flow chart either proceeds by asking another question or redirects you to the correct department. The IVR system is facilitated to handle almost any function where the interface can be broken down into a series of basic menu choices. In telecommunications the systems have proven to be very capable and dependable in handling large numbers of phone calls.

Interactive Voice Response systems can save an organization a lot of valuable time and expense as well as staff resources. Some examples of typical IVR applications are televoting, credit card transactions and telephone banking, and one of their most important advantages to a large company is that they can lengthen the working business hours. Companies and organizations that are receiving thousands of calls every day, such as call centres, need to have a way of handling all incoming calls. If customers has to wait for long periods of time before reaching customer service this will make them frustrated and probably angry, and that is something no company wants. This could for example be an embassy where a customer requires passport and visa information, or a bank where the client just needs to verify an account and have no particular need to speak with a person, a caller like this just need the information.

The alternative, to recruit staff to deal with the volume of calls and enquiries, would cost them considerably more as they would require at least 2 or 3 members of staff to cover the same hours as an automated service can provide, and each member of staff would need a salary plus the other benefits an employee of a large corporation expects.

Call centres use IVR systems to identify and send customers to the right location for information or department. With the ability to categorize a customer, the company can then change their services in order to suit a client’s need.

IVR systems can be used to handle the millions of people calling in to vote for TV game shows, the most popular being Pop Idol and Big Brother. These systems are also used to take orders for mobile phones, such as ringtones and logos, competition entries and an entire range of adult activities.

The systems range considerably in their functions, the less expensive models are quite basic and instructions a simple yes or no voice command, or press 1 for….press 2 for….dial pad command. Advanced systems will ask for names, your address, dates of birth and recognize the answers, this will speed up the whole process. These kinds of systems are suitable for non-emergency situations where the same information is required and can be a lot faster than if the phones are manually answered.

IVR systems are normally installed in-house and maintained by the IVR provider who integrates the system through the client’s network. There are obviously limitations to IVR systems in comparison to having the telephones manually answered, but the advantages to clients and the organization far outweigh any limitations.

If you are thinking of getting incomparable customer interface for your organization then take a look online for call centre and voice recognition software. A sophisticated application that utilizes voice biometrics, biometric authentication and speech recognition will save your organization valuable time and in the same time bring your company costs down.