Bridgetti Lim Banda [
CIO Forum / EA Forum Social Network Co-ordinator, Co-ordinator Black Economic Empowerment (BEE) network
IVR's - (interactive voice recognition): I have an absolute dislike for using IVR's when calling corporate organisations. Do you agree/disagree?
It is impersonal and belittling to expect clients to listen to a long list of things they may not even be interested in with no "out" or option to speak to an operator without speaking to a machine. I've resorted to saying absolutely nothing to then hear "sorry I did not understand what you said, please say it exactly the way I am saying it, now please say ....." Then, to add insult to injury "I'm sorry I did not understand what you were trying to say, let's see, perhaps you can assist me by using your key pad, press 1 for ....", then we go back to the same old merry-go-round of "please say....". Am I the only one who absolutely dislikes IVR's? Bring back the good old efficient receptionists and recognise that they are the first line of contact with your organisation and reward them accordingly.
This is so rare now that I make a point of commending a really good receptionist. In fact, when I get to speak to the person I was calling I would always say how nice it was to be routed via an efficient and friendly receptionist.
Here's another thought, just how much time do we waste listening to these ultra long IVR's only to put the phone down in frustration. And if you have a good secretary who does this for you, thank her or him!
Good Answers (12)
Colm C
Manager, Customer Service at Sulake
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Like most others here, I don't particularly like the IVR based systems that work of voice recognition. Too often they fail, and don't provide a good impression.
Call me old fashioned, but IVR's based on a simple "press 1 for..", "press 2 for..." option tree to direct calls to the relevant person/queue/team/department etc are fine by me. It's a sensible and legitimate use of technology.
However, some organisations lose the run of themselves and add layers upon layers upon layers and menus upon menus. Nothing tires people more, and gives the impression (most often well founded) that the company simply does not want to talk to you.
To make it worse, some then try to pre-empt the callers issue and send people into loops or disconnect because they feel their pre-recorded, pre-defined "solution" paths will have solved the customer issues. This, to me, is the worst sin of all in terms of IVR's. Companies that use it demonstrate a distinct lack of respect for/understanding of their customers.
Ray C
Senior Software Engineer at Independent Health
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I don't mind them as long as they are implemented correctly and for the right reasons, ,which I sadly say that almost no one does.
If a company uses them to hide form its customers (you companies know who you are out there) then it becomes obvious very quickly that why they are used and that tends to tick off customers very fast. If you are putting in an IVR for the sole purpose of lowering your cost of personnel then its the wrong reason. If the first (or only) reason to implement one starts with the facts of how many people can be let go resulting in a cost savings of 'X' then don't bother.
Also, with regards to the infamous speech recognition, come on. If you are only taking numbers in form the caller or maybe asking a list of yes or no questions then why really bother?
Ajay M
Senior Manager - Branch Head
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For me, shooting an e-mail would work better for two main reasons : -
(1) I can have a written record of my complaint/grievance/feedback/suggestion which makes it easier for future references and to follow up in case I don't get a response or for that matter a satisfactory response the first time. Thus, I can save time and energy (on thinking and typing) by either forwarding the same mail to the "higher authorities" in an organisation, or even sending them a reminder if I have already tried to contact them earlier. This is made very convenient all thanks to a dedicated 24*7 high-powered (54 Mbps) broadband wifi service network at my home and office.
One can even track down top management contact information on the net and directly shoot them e-mails to, hopefully, get faster and more appropriate responses.
(2) E-mailing would generally help me avoid, firstly, waiting in a queue for my call to be answered/picked up, secondly, avoid being put on hold after my call is answered and having to listen to unmelodious tunes, and thirdly, the discomfort of having to be kicked around like a football between concerned officers and/or various departments while having to repeat the 'same old story' over and over again to their entire staff at that organisation until I get my solution, and that too, all this at my cost (phone bills) and time !
The problem is not with the technology, but perhaps poor planning in developing a logical, fool-proof and brief set of instructions. The trend in customer service is "self-service" not only because it enables a company to reduce expenses, but also self service is growing as a customer preference. In that light, companies that understand their customers will offer multiple channels and methods for customers to engage with them for assistance. Web Self Service (a comprehensive knowledge base that allows customers to find their own answers on the Web), Online Chat with a live agent, or E-Mail assistance with short turn-around times are all excellent technology options to offer rather than "IVR Menu" or "Live Voice Call".
Yes, it would be great to get the perfect live-agent or receptionist every time you call for service but the reality is we don't like hold times, we don't always get the perfect person on the other end, and we probably don't want to pay the resulting prices for products and services if a business were to offer that to all customers.
(And by the way - I hate IVRs as well so I always opt for Web Self Service on a company's Web Site first)
Any business interested in expanding their self-service options should give us a call at SafeHarbor Technology (www.SafeHarbor.com) or InMail me via LinkedIn!
I agree. If I as a client is so important, give me a person that can think and answer my questions with information, not more questions!
Mari L also suggests this expert on this topic:
Some help is on the way. IVVR (Interactive Voice and Video Response) will combine voice, graphics, and video in agent interactions. So.. instead of having to listen to a long list of prompts, a Web page with a menu will appear on your cell phone. Yes, this works best with mobile devices and companies will need to adopt SIP technology. SIP just makes it easier for agents to push HTML and video over the IP connection to your device. My guess is that iPhone will be the tipping point for IVVR applications.
Regards,
Andy Green
www.avayablog.com
Links:
IVR's will never be as kind as receptionists. But kindness has its price, although each method has its own advantages and drawbacks. Still, I am convinced that in particular cases one can also be satisfied with an IVR.
I'm not talking about a standard IVR now that works in the traditional way we all know; a 50 menu item structure in a reactive system that locks down the user in a given structure. No, I mean next generation IVR's that provide smart dialog management by means of multiple word spotting and dialogue recognition without menu structure, an all-time active response to user input and minimization of confirmation questions.
Image you like to book a flight. You tell the IVR "i'd like to book a flight from washington to new york". Subsequently, the IVR asks which airport in New York and you answer 'Newark'. The IVR did not recognise any form of time or date and asks 'when do you like to depart'. You mention date and time and always get feedback and interactive response.
This pro-active, adaptive and flexible IVR may very well help your organisation to create a better information system for your customers, a higher level of customer self service combined with ease-of-use, speed of answer and efficiency levels and lead to high acceptance and usage. Companies enjoy the (business driven) advantages of IVR while offering customer oriented self-service solutions.
Last but not least. I’m not saying that this kind of IVR is an holistic solution for your company and that this is the way your reach customer intimacy. It is an additional, cost efficient and effective option and filter to provide self service solutions for a range of your customers. You should always provide a highly accessible option to bring your customer in contact with your valuable call center agents. Who can in their turn provide unstructured, high-value customer service.
Your contact center will turn from a contact center into a customer advisory board. Fulfilling high value added services. And yes, there is time to provide these services. Time created by a fully featured IVR that – as a receptionist – handles everyday-tasks.
Reactons are more than welcome.
Michael S
Senior Recruitment Officer at Athabasca University
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I LOVE IVR's that are done right. The problem is that too few are. With a proper IVR you are never more than three logical steps away from your solution. Getting a bank balance, transfering funds, paying bills for example at the bank I can do all very easily over an IVR system. IVR's need to be in place for the right reasons to empower people to serve themselves. It's just like pumping your own gas or using the self checkout line at the grocery store or using the bank machine instead of a teller. If you know what you are doing it's faster and easier than getting someone else to do it. If you need more help then you should be able to get to a person to help you.
Shekar K
Contact Centre Technology Expert, Caller Experience Specialist, Self-Service Evangelist and Phone 2.0 Entrepreneur
As a Designer, Promoter and User of IVRs I am familiar with reactions that you represented. What you are referring to are IVR's that are used to replace receptionists, better known as "Auto-Attendants". A bad IVR design is as common as a bad Customer Service experience at lunch. A couple of bad experiences makes you believe that the world is all alike.
Not all IVRs are auto-attendants, and not all IVRs are designed badly. The goal of an IVR should be to empower the caller, not to cut costs or replace human beings. Same reason that you have a self-service checkout at the local grocery store or ATMs at banks. Count the number of times you have used the ATM after bank hours. The analogy holds good to help your caller hopefully achieve his/her goals at times where real humans aren't around to provide that level of service.
From what you are telling me about your experience it seems the following was wrong with the IVR.
1. Non-Optimized Menu Presentation
2. Non-Comprehensive grammar (hence the I do not understand)
3. Enforced automation and hence no way to speak to a real person
4. Annoying Voice Persona
If the organization you called had the above 4 points of usability in mind while designing the IVR, your experience would have definitely been much better. The worst thing an organization can do is cut off human contact for callers. Proper design is when you give callers the choice of an automated voice or a real human being. While IVRs can never replace human beings, they can provide you and me the ability to transfer funds from one account to another at 01.30 in the morning while waiting for a red-eye flight....
Please feel free to email me if you have any more questions or concerns.
Cheers,
I think the secret is knowing your customer base, what they can tolerate and how to nest use the technology to improve their experience. For example, serving a B2B client base derserves different handling than a consumer based client. Many people confuse IVR's and simple auto attendants with poor prompting choices. The best scenario, being able to access my bank account 24 hoursa a day, transfer money, check deposits...even stop payment or report a stolen card. That's a great use of the technology!
Liz D
Bilingual Voice Over Artist/Actor (English/French) & Owner, Reservoir Road Productions
Best Answers in: Business Development (1), Starting Up (1)
Hi Bridgetti!
Interactive Voice Response systems CAN be frustrating if not structured correctly. I agree...but as one of those voice talents that gets hired to record all those messages, I can tell you that there IS a method to making messages more effective for the company using them AND the person calling that company.
The bottom line in using IVR is that it saves companies a huge amount of money.
About 10 years ago, a study was done (I'm sorry I can't remember the author) that said that it cost a company $4.25 per call to have each call answered by a live person. It only cost the company 25 CENTS to have those calls routed by an IVR system.
That said, when I work with clients, if I am asked for input, I will suggest the following:
- that there be no more than 4 options per menu
- that there ALWAYS be an "opt-out" option ("Press zero for an operator")
IVR is here to stay, but as you have demonstrated, a good IVR system will get the job done with no fuss...a BAD IVR system will reflect all the more badly on the company implementing it.
All the best!
Peace!
Liz de Nesnera
IVR - It is just another way of implementing automated systems over humans and trying to make this world more inhuman, avoiding human interaction and getting a clean cheat from the customer service point of view.
Gone are the days, when we used to hang on to the customer services to get some information. In general, we are using numerous services which provide us telephonic customer service support. We are bound to call them for even little things. Most of these services start with IVR. There is one major element which many of us may not even think about. All these special or toll free customer services numbers are provided by any communication provider and there is a tie up between these two. The organizations which provide such telephonic customer services may receive a part of revenue generated to the telephone companies. In this interest, they intend that the customer spend more time on call when it is chargeable to customers. It starts with some silly options and it takes nearly 25-40 seconds to reach to the actual service menu. It could be language selection, your customer type, or you may just be misdirected to a wrong option if you press an unwanted number. Ultimately, it increases talk time.
Another aspect I mentioned is to avoid human interaction. While talking to the customer service executive, we may be irrated, we may argue, we may ask for so many different things together. To avoid such vigorous interaction with customers, companies deploy all the information on IVR. Most of the callers cannot use the IVR efficiently as the mental impression of an IVR is a dead end story telling, which cannot be paid enough attention. You cannot ask for any interpretation. Almost useless!
As we do not have a wayout of this IVR tradition, all we can do is - utilizing the service wisely and efficiently. Listening to it quietly and acting accordingly is the best option. And yes, you won't have to be irrated by listening to those stubborn and hopeless BPO agents.
The quality of such services is in decline each day!
More Answers (13)
Sometimes hitting zero while the IVR's talking will put you through to a human, but that does not always work.
I have become so used to listening to IVRs that sometimes when receptionist answers the phone (yes, some companies still employ receptionists and phone operators), I have waited and then she had to say "Hello?" again to make me realise I was dealing with an actual human.
Robin C
Cutting-Edge Organizational Development Thought Leader; Expert on "cultures of innovation"
Best Answers in: Organizational Development (7), Change Management (1), Quality Management and Standards (1)
They're annoying as hell. I have very good diction & they almost never work.
A particularly funny, if slightly xenophobic, IVR system is that of a global American financial services organisation's UK operation. If sworn at it will redirect you to the Paris office. Brings a whole new meaning to the phrase "Pardon my French".
I also dislike IVR systems. Some people have compiled IVR cheatsheets for major companies. Take a look at these links or search for IVR cheatsheets on google. As a VoIP provider and phone system designer (Asterisk), we have probably been responsible for some of those IVRs you've heard (sorry). In an ideal world, the IVR would be smart enough to read your callerID, look up your name in their CRM system, and only give you options that are relevant.
The other day I was about to travel on United Airlines and called in about two hours before my flight to check if the plane was on time or not. It would have been nice if the system had just told me right away that the flight was on time instead of having their IVR not recognize my confirmation number and then having my call transferred to an operator.
Someone should write a new more intelligent IVR system.
Links:
Mark H
Author, speaker, coach, and "lighthouse" construction executive. Taking organizations where they haven't been.
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Bridgetti:
At my last employer we went to a hybrid system, but did in reverse. All calls initially go to a live person unless the customer/caller elects IVR based on the queue time, doesn't want to interact, etc.
When we made the switch it was kind of funny, a number of people's initial reaction was to hang up thinking they had dialed a wrong number.
We also implemented it at a time when we launched a new product that set the bar for competitive offering (6% interest on a checking account).
As one of my competitors said- "What you guys did was counter-intuitive, you launched a product that you knew would generate calls and then you added a human touch. When we saw the product we new we were in deep doo-doo, when you added live calling we knew we were doomed."
Andrew C
Regional Director of Sales at Achieve Global Singapore
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I think I heard you say You don't like IVR's. Is that right?
Carrie C
Owner, Double C Professional Consulting Services | LION | Aspiring author
Best Answers in: Organizational Development (8), Change Management (2), Ethics (2), Compensation and Benefits (1), Staffing and Recruiting (1), Business Development (1)
Bridgetti,
No, you are not alone - I hate them too! At least give me a choice to either help myself with an IVR, or talk with a live person - without jumping through hoops to get to them!
One of my latest pet peeves has to do with the people that my phone number was previously assigned to. We get calls from collection agencies for these people, and nine times out of ten, it's an automated phone system. So, having gotten tired of these messages, I called the phone number displayed on my caller ID, and quickly got entangled in an IVR nightmare. The worst part was that after all that, I didn't even get through to a live person. And so the collection calls continue....
Regards,
Carrie
Tadd M
Information Services Executive
Best Answers in: Computers and Software (3), Criminal Law (1), Corporate Governance (1)
I think we'd probably get strung up if we proposed such a thing in our company, and it's somewhat common in our industry. The obvious reason for using them is that it can save money. Well, guess what, customers can tell.
The problem isn't with IVR's per se, but with organizations for which use of IVR's are inappropriate or send the wrong message about the value of a customer to the company. If you deal with millions of consumers as your customers, it probably makes sense. If your customers are themselves businesses, it's inappropriate for your phones to be answered by an IVR system. I'd be just as happy to see them disappear altogether, or get *a lot* smarter.
IVR, of course, is a problem for customers.
For company it's cheaper to say about loan % by voice message intead of human. Every employee cost a lot to a company.
In my opimion companies should use IVR systems to help customers to make the rights choice. but IVR should be short and it's good to be able to find operator fast for any extra questions.
It's good to know someone in a company who will help without IVR.
VIP persons has personal managers who also save a lot of time!
I dislike having to "Press 1 for English"...
Jan S
President, Simpson Management Group
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depends - they are a necessary evil -
Maureen P
Owner, Intact Contracts, LLC
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Yes I agree, its sad that the secretary was replaced by the IVR and the mobile device. But that not the only sad change within the corporate environment. Just like everyone knew the secretary was the go to person, everyone also knew the president was the person in charge and accountable-now we have a punch of execs and IVR's.
I feel like we all need to go to the wizard to ask for a brain, a heart and some nerve....
I agree, very frustrating.
The customer completes work the company should, followed a lengthy hold period. The standard prerecorded 'we appreciate you' feels especially hollow. I've also been in a 'loop' situation for more than 15 minutes only find the operating hours had timed out. Additionally with systems where I have been prompted to dial in my member/account number, the operator without fail will not have it on 'their' screen. It's usual for the operator that eventually attends to the query to have very little knowledge. Several occasions I have been advised that I will be called back with an answer - with no callback. My advice is to request to speak with a Manager rather than accept an offer of a callback.
There are some direct to the operator short cuts online, however they vary enormously between systems and organisations. See gethuman.com, they keep a database of IVR shortcuts. I'm sure there will be similar sites for each country.
