IVR

Britons are not big IVR self-service users but when they do use automated phone response the savings are large. For that reason there will be more movement to entice U.K. callers to use automated apps, such as by employing user-friendlier speech recognition.

 

A new ContactBabel (News - Alert) study found that only 6.5 percent of the 10.3 billion inbound calls to U.K. contact centers are dealt with entirely through self-service, rather than through live agents. The savings amount, however, to over 1.6 billion pounds (USD $2.75 billion) annually.

 

The report “The UK Contact Centre Operational Review (6th edition - 2008)”, sponsored by Vicorp (News - Alert), reveals that each call dealt with by a contact center agent costs £2.88 ($4.94), whereas one handled by self-service costs only 43p (74 cents).

 

“This report demonstrates how organizations can benefit from self-service,” says Brendan Treacy, CEO at Vicorp. “The business case for appropriate automation of simple and repetitive tasks is impressive and now that such services are more widely accepted by callers the savings impact is growing.”

 

The report’s author, Steve Morrell, adds that the next step, and one that many leading businesses are looking at, is going to speech rec as it is a far more powerful and flexible application than touchtone IVR.

 

“We believe that this is only the beginning of what telephone self-service can deliver,” says Morrell, “Of course, not all calls are suitable for self-service-- respondents estimate that an average of only 31 percent of inbound calls would suit it- and over-use of this channel can frustrate customers and severely damage a brand. However, for simple and repetitive tasks, such as account balances, meter readings and ticket bookings, self-service works for both customer and business, as there’s never a queue to wait in. This should also mean that if a customer needs to speak to a real person, then it’s more likely that there’ll be someone available to help them.”