What are the secrets to optimising an interactive voice system?

Now more than ever, companies have understood the importance of communicating with customers. To meet this essential need, they are opting for a number of strategies. The Interactive Voice Response (IVR) system is one such method. It allows customers to interact with a company via an automated voice menu. For this interaction to be effective and productive, IVR optimisation must be considered. Find out more here.

Understand your objectives and your users

There are several techniques for optimising the effectiveness of a company's interactive voice system. This is precisely what you can find out about the IVR Call Center. However, it's vital to know your objectives and your users well before starting this optimisation process. After this stage, you need to identify the main problems your customers are facing. Once you have done this, define the objectives of your IVR based on these problems.

A well-performed analysis of your target audience will help you tailor the IVR experience to their specific needs. Objective knowledge of your goals and your customer base is therefore essential to the success of your optimisation process.

Simplify your menu structure

Many people don't realise it, but simplicity is the key to an effective IVR. To be successful, companies should avoid complex, cluttered menus that can mislead their customers. Instead, they should opt for a simple, intuitive menu structure. This can be achieved by reducing the number of options at each level.

As a business, take the time to organise your menus in a logical and inspiring way. To achieve this, put the options that are used most frequently first. In this way, you'll reduce the time it takes customers to reach their destination and improve their satisfaction.

Using advanced speech recognition

Speech recognition is an essential element in the process of optimising an interactive voice system. For impeccable results, invest in advanced voice recognition technology. This must be able to easily understand and interpret voice requests accurately. If you opt for a faulty voice recognition system, you risk getting negative results. This could then harm your company's intentions.

Quality voice recognition, on the other hand, will effectively reduce misunderstandings. It will also improve the user experience. Make every effort to regularly test and adjust your system to maintain optimum speech recognition. This is an excellent technique for satisfying your various customers.

Provide self-help options

To further optimise your IVR, include self-help options for common problems. Try offering automatic responses to frequently asked questions. Do the same for self-help features such as password recovery or order tracking. This method will allow you to limit the load on your agents by freeing them from repetitive tasks. It's also a sufficient means of helping to provide fast, highly accurate responses to customers.

Personalise the customer experience

Optimising your IVR should not be limited to technology alone. It must also take into account the personalisation of the customer experience.  To achieve this, use welcoming and engaging voice prompts to create a warm atmosphere right from the start of the interaction.

Don't hesitate to offer specification options either. These can include recognising the customer's telephone number to quickly direct them to the appropriate information or services. This shows your customers that you know them and value their time.