IVR

IVR solutions both DTMF and speech rec are receiving renewed attention by enterprises to see they can handle more interactions as the economy begins to swing up without adding contact center staff. These tools are being re-examined to make them more customer-friendly so that firms can retain customers; IVRs especially DTMF-based units have had often justifiably bad raps in customer service. There are also new ways to apply IVR such as through customer notifications i.e. outbound IVR and new solutions incorporating video i.e. interactive voice and video response.

 

Nuance has long been on the leading edge in IVR with its speech rec solutions. TMCnet recently interviewed Dena Skrbina, senior director, solutions marketing, enterprise division on IVR trends.

 

TMCnet:          What trends are you seeing in the use of IVR via contact centers and what are the drivers?

 

DS:      Nuance (News - Alert) sees three important trends in contact centers, all with the goal of earning happy, loyal customers and helping enterprises increase revenue and decrease operational spend in the contact center.

 

1.  Self-Service solutions designed to generate customer loyalty

 

Let's face it: IVRs were created to save businesses money.  In the past, systems were too focused on the needs of the business with no consideration for the customer experience.  A well-designed self-service solution empowers the customer and understands their needs.  The result: increased adoption, improved task completion rates, higher satisfaction and in even more savings for the business.  Businesses today know more about their customers than ever before.  Using that customer knowledge, they are executing self-service strategies with a re-inspired focus on increasing loyalty and self-service adoption.

 

2. Relevant proactive notifications

 

Proactive outbound communications that are relevant and informative are quickly becoming an effective and cost efficient method of communication.  There is power in combining these notifications with other contact channels as part of a multichannel customer service solution and cost containment strategy. When the information is relevant and considered valuable by the customer, proactive notifications cut costs, increase customer retention and loyalty, increase revenues and expand business. Being reactive is no longer enough in today's highly competitive and cost conscious business environment. Enterprises are implementing a comprehensive customer contact approach, which combines informed proactive contact with automated and agent-based customer care.

 

3. Cloud-based IVR (hosted, managed service)

 

Cloud-based solutions are rapidly becoming the preferred delivery model, primarily because they save enterprises money, free up resources and allow companies to benefit from the latest and greatest IVR technology using a shared, flexible delivery model.  In a cloud-based model, the entire IVR and speech infrastructure is built, maintained, monitored and operated by a hosting provider.  Using Nuance On Demand customers realize many benefits:

 

*          The ability to cost-effectively handle seasonal spikes or occasional unplanned call volume increases. Customers pay just for the capacity they use, when they need it

 

*          An evergreen technology platform: current Nuance technologies are available on-demand, often months before they are made available via other platforms

 

*          Tools that allow for rapid changes and analysis of the IVR's effectiveness

 

*          Flexible use of additional technologies, often times at no additional cost. Examples include biometrics, multilingual speech recognition and text-to-speech, natural language processing, pre-build dialogue modules, call recording and analytics

 

*          A single platform with support for advanced inbound IVR as well our proactive outbound and handset-based automated customer care

TMCnet:          Discuss DTMF IVR versus speech recognition. What role do you see each of them? Or do you see speech recognition gradually supplanting DTMF? What customer interaction types do you forecast being managed by DTMF? Speech rec?

 

DS:      Consumer expectations, evolving devices and customer needs will drive the role of DTMF and speech recognition within each self-service interaction. Today's consumers have very clear expectations:  handle my customer care issue quickly, effectively, and using the modality that I choose at that moment.  Do not shove me to the web site when I call you and do not force me to push DTMF keys while I am driving.

 

As long as phones have keypads, DTMF will have an existent, yet diminishing role within self-service.   And, speech will continue to be a critical component in the strategy to satisfy customers: especially the growing population of mobile callers.  In addition to device, another important consideration is the task at hand. Speech-based self-service systems handle more complex tasks, such as updating an address, and can simplifying existing tasks to further increase automation. The resulting increase in automation rates mean more satisfied customers and lower costs for the contact center.

 

It is our forecast that customer self-service will reach a point of sophistication where the IVR application will present the appropriate interaction type based on a variety of factors, including not only business rules, but also incorporating device and location-based information.   For example, speech would be the presented interface if the caller were in motion, perhaps he is calling from a moving car.  That same IVR system might offer that same caller a handset-based visual interaction the following day, because the caller is stationary yet still using a mobile phone.  Device, location, and even motion will quickly become important factors when presenting the caller with the right interaction type.

 

TMCnet:          Inbound IVR has been criticized for its lack of customer-friendliness, leading to zero outs and dissatisfied customers. What technologies and best practices methods have you seen and see developing that will encourage more end-customers to stay with the IVR systems?

 

DS:      To adopt self-service, customers must feel empowered and trust that the IVR will handle their request efficiently.  Consumers have been conditioned and actually now have a preference to use certain well-designed self-service solutions, including bank ATMs and airline check-in kiosks.  These solutions quite simply meet the customer's needs - handle my request simply and efficiently.  As a result, adoption has increased and a level of reliance has developed.  Inbound IVR must leverage the same philosophies of these successful self-service solutions:

 

*          A design that is easy for the customer to interact with, regardless of their language preferences or the location

*          Clear instructions and a natural interface

*          Ensure that customers can quickly get to the task they desire

*          Deliver an experience that is suited for that customer, offering only what is relevant

*          Allow callers to speak with an agent when they choose to

*          Does not waste the customer's time. Within the IVR, callers should not have to repeat information after being transferred to an agent

 

TMCnet:          Outbound IVR, chiefly customer notifications is emerging as new interaction tool. Discuss its purposes, benefits, implementation challenges and application deployment best practices. Do you see it supplementing or supplanting other channels and if so which ones and why? Where does it fit in the interaction spectrum?

 

DS:      In today's world of proactive notifications, companies leverage customer account information and business rules to trigger the contact, ensuring that notifications are relevant and meaningful to the customer. Proactive notifications must not only automate the delivery of information, but should also enable the customer to take action based on the delivered information. For example, a payment due notification can offer a customer the opportunity to make a payment in the automated bill pay system or a business rule could trigger that agent intervention is more appropriate.

 

Customers absolutely want control of how companies communicate with them. Systems should enable a customer to opt-in as well as establish preferences for such things as channel (voice, e-mail or SMS), time of contact, frequency of contact and types of notifications.  In addition to protecting and enhancing the customer relationship, opt-in efforts also ensure that regulations are respected relative to customer contact.

 

There is a powerful tie between proactive notifications and a company's inbound customer care operation. Blending customer contact operations into one seamless experience can help further satisfaction as well as reduce costs.

 

TMCnet:          Interactive voice and video response is beginning to appear as a new interaction tool. Outline its purposes, benefits, implementation challenges and deployment best practices. Do you see it being widely adopted and if so why and in which roles? Where does it fit in the customer interaction spectrum?
 

DS:      Most of the IVR advancements to date have been centered on callers using traditional phones in traditional ways.  We are just now experiencing the power that the mobile and VoIP network can bring to self-service.  Consumer adoption of VoIP, the use of smart phones, advancements in mobile networks and device evolution, as well as in emerging technologies will all impact which technologies truly become effective as interaction tools. 

 

Today, Nuance does not see widespread demand for IVVR, but we continually work to drive standards that support various modalities and to provide advanced interaction solutions that serve sophisticated consumers leveraging leading-edge technologies.