IVR

Automated teller machines are very much akin to IVR, both DTMF and speech recognition, in that they perform essential, simple but increasingly complex tasks once and often are still performed by individuals, though at anytime, anywhere with minimal or no queues. Both ATMs and IVR systems have their limitations, occasional malfunctions and there are many transactions and customers who prefer to have tasks that they can provide taken care by staff.

 

Yet of the two it appears that ATMs have gained the greatest amount of acceptance, reports Dena Skrbina, Senior Director of Solutions Marketing in Nuance's Enterprise Division, even though both technologies have been around for the same amount of time i.e. nearly 40 years.

 

For banks, ATMs were simply a means to reduce personnel costs, she explains. But the need to obtain funds outside of normal banking hours and longer lines at the teller window lead to the eventual adoption of, and even later "a love affair with" the ATM. 

 

Technology advancements have made it possible to tailor the ATM experience for each customer based on previous interactions, Skrbina points out. At most ATMs today, repeat customers are automatically greeted in their preferred language and offered their customary cash withdrawal. An ATM can even know about a customer's recent financial transactions and offer overdraft protection or a loan application right on the spot.

 

In Europe, financial institutes are using ATMs for advertising, for example giving customers the option to donate a portion of their withdrawal to a charity of their choice. Third-party advertisements and upsells on ATMs are becoming common abroad and will inevitability reach the U.S. 

 

"In fact, the American Bankers Association reports that half of the U.S. adult population use ATMs every month, with 40 percent visiting ten or more times each month," reports Skrbina. "And why not? ATMs are convenient, easy to use, and provide a much-desired service. What's more, ATM self-service has succeeded in becoming a multifaceted service and marketing channel, widely accepted and in most cases highly valued by today's consumers. And, phone self-service should be taking notice."

 

Akin to ATMs IVRs were used mainly for inquiry services such as getting a bank account balance, she points out. Like the ATMs of the same era, IVRs were mainly focused on reducing operational costs.

 

IVR adoption grew only out of consumers' necessity to transact after-hours and a desire not to squander time holding for an agent. The IVR became an "annoying convenience" and a generally accepted consumer tool. Research shows that the phone is still the most heavily used customer service channel. With consumers rating automated telephone customer service (touchtone or speech recognition) higher than live agents for straightforward interactions, delivering great phone-based experiences is imperative.

 

Here's the rub: Skrbina says although technologies have evolved, "most IVRs still lag behind the progression of the ATM experience. And having been conditioned by the ATM experience, consumers are expecting an increasingly high level of sophistication from phone self-service." 

 

It doesn't have to be that way with IVRs. With a focus on user design and ease of use, phone self-service can surely be as convenient and relevant as an ATM, she points out. Like the ATM, repeat IVR users could be greeted automatically in their preferred language and offered their customary choices upfront. The IVR can know about recent account activity as well as web transactions, and offer an appropriate insurance package or suggest the right home equity loan. IVRs can provide proactive notifications and reminders for billing due dates and prescription refills. And, like the ATM, the phone self-service interface can be natural, intuitive and easy to interact with.

 

Advancements in speech recognition have made it possible to provide an automated phone service that is conversational, allowing the user to express their request in a natural way. Current text-to-speech technology no longer sounds robotic or stilted as in previous decades. With current speech technologies, today's IVR can truly blend the ease of conversation with the efficiency of automation.

 

The proliferation of mobile phones adds yet another dimension to consumer expectations for voice/phone self-service, says Skrbina. For most consumers, the mobile phone has becoming their central communication device- not just for voice calling, but also for web browsing, text messaging, e-mail, entertainment and social networking. Users are acquiring more sophisticated phones and becoming proficient with mobile technology.

 

For example, texting was once strictly an activity for the younger generation. Today it has become trendy with adults over 45. One study shows that 60 percent of adults over 45 say they're just as likely to use SMS as they are to make voice calls.  

 

Here's how these multiple automated mobile-delivered channels can work, outlines the Nuance (News - Alert) executive. While driving to a lunch appointment, a consumer wants learn if an overdue payment was received. He dials his bank and says "Was my payment received?" While dining at a restaurant, that same man might prefer to press the corresponding touchtone menu choices, or even want to send a text message "Was my payment received?" And just before bedtime, he may prefer to use a mobile application to view the answer from his mobile phone screen. A growing number of today's consumers expect that any self- service task can be accessed in any mode at any time.

 

"In light of the mobile evolution, today's phone self-service not only needs to be convenient and personalized like the ATM, but also needs to be accessible anywhere using the mode that suits the mobile user at any point in time - via voice, touch tone or using a mobile application," Skrbina points out.

 

So, where is phone self-service heading? Initially, consumers will expect a wide-scale deployment of natural language understanding for voice interactions, she says. With the explosion of web and voice search, conversational phone self-service is becoming a must. Similar to the web, users must be able to express their request in their own words. IVR interactions must use high-quality, conversational text-to-speech. While maintaining simplicity, IVRs must deliver secure access to consumer information, protecting callers' identity using biometric voiceprints.

 

IVRs today must consider the mobile phone, touch screen and text messaging as extensions of the automated experience. The phone provides an even more suitable venue for marketing and sales, allowing businesses to make compelling and relevant offers to consumers. In the future, IVRs will become location aware, meaning they can know if the user is in a moving car or happens to be standing two blocks from their bank branch. The IVR will use location information to provide only the appropriate options, interaction modes and the most relevant marketing offers.

 

"Today both the IVR and the ATM are widely accepted and known for convenience. ATMs, however, are exceptionally immobile, accessible only by those willing to travel the blocks or miles to the nearest machine," says Skrbina. "With explosive trends towards the convenience of anywhere access, there's no doubt mobile phone will become the preferred choice for a wider array of tasks. Your phone might someday even become your own personal ATM, a pocket version of the clunky old machine on the street corner. Imagine dialing the bank from the comfort of your home and speaking "I'd like to withdraw fifty dollars from savings and post it on my mobile cash card" or using your mobile phone to take a picture of a check and depositing that check image into your savings account.  

 

"Step aside ATM. IVR just might be taking over."