IVR

SpeechStorm, which sells phone self-service products for contact centers, has extended its IVVO phone self-service suite with the launch of a new range of Visual IVR applications, designed to open a new revenue stream and customer service enhancement channel for businesses.

 

Through a video call on a 3G mobile phone, callers gain a visual representation of business transactions such as transferring money or checking in for a flight, and leisure transactions like booking cinema tickets and checking sports scores.

 

One advantage the SpeechStormers play up is how the product dramatically reduces the time spent listening to voice-based menu options, as IVVO enables the user to complete the transaction much quicker and more intuitively.

 

In November, TMC’s Susan Campbell reported that SpeechStorm (News - Alert) announced its plans to launch a new suite of Visual IVR applications which will be combined with the already familiar voice-based IVR. This new suite is expected to add a visual experience for callers.

 

Visual IVR, using video as the delivery channel, offers businesses significant new potential to generate and drive additional revenue and provide innovative customer services improvements, explains Daniel Hong, lead analyst, Customer Interaction Technologies at Datamonitor. “The continued growth and adoption of the 3G network in Europe and the Middle East paves the way for this new channel.”

 

The company points out that IVVO Visual IVR benefits for the caller include a visual, intuitive interface, service not subject to IP/HTTP latency problems between device and server and no downloads it’s delivered as part of a transient video call, so no data is downloaded to the phone which, in turn, improves security as no footprint is left behind when call ends.

 

According to Campbell, “When visualization is added to traditional IVR, it reduces the time people spend listening to full menu options before making a choice. It also puts a visual element to the business transaction itself, including transferring money or checking in for a flight. Such an approach ensures that the user can complete the transaction much quicker and more intuitively.”

Oliver Lennon, CEO of SpeechStorm and a guy who’s never called “John,” notes that visual IVR is “gaining increasing acceptance in Europe and the Middle East with the growth and proliferation of the 3G network.”