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June 29, 2009
Irritating IVR: Five Rings to Reach JC Penney?
By Amy Tierney, TMCnet Web Editor
Like most people, I’m not a big fan of waiting. Especially when it comes to automated phone calls. With the advent of interactive voice response, or “IVR” technology, phone calls should be a breeze. But sometimes, I feel like I’m still in the Dark Ages.
For the most part, such solutions, which accept a combination of voice telephone input and touch-tone keypad selections and offers responses via voice, fax, callback or e-mail, reduce upfront capital expenditures. The technology usually is a big time saver. It makes callers’ lives easier and increases productivity for companies to handle other matters…usually.
While I’m a big supporter of the technology, I do have one question. Why does it take more than one ring to connect a call?
When I called JC Penney to inquire about a catalog item (this was for work purposes, of course), the phone rang five times before the IVR system picked. What’s the delay? I thought I misdialed, but I finally heard, “Thank you for calling JCPenney.com.” Maybe it was a fluke, but that company lost my business. I want something that will get me through the system faster.
Even my bank is no better. It still took a lengthy ring to reach the customer service system. And in my book, one ring is too long. Why don’t these call centers just pick up automatically? Are these systems supposed to mimic person-to-person calls?
Then there’s the call many unfortunate people have to make for unemployment benefits. Those in Connecticut who choose to do it by phone will likely have a longer wait. If you’re lucky enough to get through the automated system, it will still take at least two rings.
I’ll admit I wait at least two rings before I answer most of my calls. Typically, my answering machine will screen most of them if I’m too lazy to pick-up. But when it comes to call centers that use inbound IVR solutions, there’s shouldn’t be a wait. Period.
There’s seems to be a reason for the delay. Analysts tell TMCnet that inbound IVR solutions are more complex than outbound IVR. So, it’s no wonder that outbound IVR is on the rise. Datamonitor predicts in a new report that the market for hosted outbound IVR will grow from $370 million this year to $1.02 billion to 2014 at a compound annual growth rate of 23 percent.
Outbound IVR applications are typically cheaper and less complex than inbound IVR applications. But Datamonitor predicts in the near future, outbound IVR will be closely tied together with inbound IVR. My hope is that won’t include any more delays.
For those of you who get frustrated and just want to chat with a live human being, here’s a little help from WhatIs.com. The online information technology site offers visitors a cheat sheet to bypass a number of companies’ IVR systems.
Don’t forget to check out TMCnet’s White Paper Library, which provides a selection of in-depth information on relevant topics affecting the IP Communications industry. The library offers white papers, case studies and other documents which are free to registered users.
Amy Tierney is a Web editor for TMCnet, covering unified communications, telepresence, IP communications industry trends and mobile technologies. To read more of Amy's articles, please visit her columnist page.
Edited by Michael Dinan
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