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Best Practices for the IVR
The document outlines best practices for implementing and optimizing Interactive Voice Response (IVR) systems in organizations, highlighting the importance of setting clear goals, defining ROI analysis, and measuring performance. It emphasizes proactive IVR strategies to enhance customer experience, maximize automation, and improve efficiency, specifically in industries such as healthcare, financial services, and travel. Additionally, it provides guidelines on optimizing outbound campaigns, ensuring timely and relevant communication, and balancing the use of IVR with live-agent support.
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Best Practices for the IVR
- 1. Best Practices forthe IVR Orange Business Services Haytham SAWALHY haytham.sawalhy@orange-ftgroup.com 23rd February 2011, Singapore
- 2. Agenda 1. IVR investment plan a. set clear goals b. define ROI analysis c. measure IVR performance 2. IVR best practices a. focus : proactive IVR b. do’s and don’ts c. tips ! 3. benefits of hosted IVR 2 Best Practices Self-service France Telecom Group restricted
- 3. IVR investment plan 3 Best Practices Self-service France Telecom Group restricted
- 4. set clear goalsfor IVR investment new IVR or upgrade of existing IVR unmet potential of IVR • limited strictly to routing logic but, can be valuable for distributed contact centre environment maximize cost savings • self-service tasks cost pennies compared to dollars with agent-assisted tasks provide great customer experience • well-designed IVR offers fast access to the right information when completing regular transactions and spend less time on hold differentiate with a unique, positive brand experience • combined with a positive experience in other interaction channels with the product or service, can add up to brand preference in the customer’s mind 4 Best Practices Self-service France Telecom Group restricted
- 5. define ROI analysis new IVR or upgrade of existing IVR the challenge following an economic slowdown come up with a plan slowdown, • improve customer service? • retain customers ? • minimize costs (telco, agents, infrastructure, …)? ROI analysis is critical to minimize risk in implementing new or upgrading IVR system • maximise automation of agent’s tasks and business processes • increase customer satisfaction and loyalty Orange customer experience • 75% completion rate in IVR for one of largest bank in Europe 5 Best Practices Self-service France Telecom Group restricted
- 6. measure IVR performance some common IVR indicators call completion rate - the one metric that matters navigation in IVR application category of the calls Time and purpose of calls First Call Resolution (FCR) 6 Best Practices Self-service France Telecom Group restricted
- 7. IVR best practices 7 Best Practices Self-service France Telecom Group restricted
- 8. focus: proactive IVR key benefits maximize customer reach outbound IVR can be deployed shortly compared to live agents needing training and scheduling. automate campaign process in order to reduce pressure on live agentsagents reserve agent’s time for complex interactions information is delivered rapidly without relying on agents or staff calling chains maximize IVR port usage inbound and outbound activities to achieve close to 100% occupancy of IVR ports flexibility communicate with customers during out of office hours or when agents are unavailable real- real-time & time to market the enterprise is immediately made aware of notification delivery 8 Best Practices Self-service France Telecom Group restricted
- 9. healthcare industry drivers • cost containment • valuable staff time for doctors and nurses • quality of care and patient safety • time sensitivity to reach patients • over certain age do not respond to text or emails applications • Patient registration and welcome calls for admin staff • appointment scheduling and reminders • prescription refill • reminders for medicine doses and vaccination • disease outbreak alerts 9 Best Practices Self-service France Telecom Group restricted
- 10. financial services drivers • economy and sub-prime lending crisis • improving customer relations • management of contact center costs • incidents of fraud on the rise • collections agencies under cost pressure from creditors • outbound technology viewed as competitive advantage applications • fraud services • debt collections and customer reminders • overdraft notifications • credit card payments 10 Best Practices Self-service France Telecom Group restricted
- 11. travel & tourismindustry drivers • improving customer experience • need to send time dependent information • automating processes applications • flight cancellations • confirmation of bookings • check-in and upgrade requests • reminders of flight times 11 Best Practices Self-service France Telecom Group restricted
- 12. emergency notification drivers • increased awareness of natural disasters • terrorist threats • business continuity • standardization processes • competitive advantage • legal liabilities and compliance applications • alert of issues • Interactive messages to track staff location • IT failure notifications • parent contact for schools and universities 12 Best Practices Self-service France Telecom Group restricted
- 13. fundamental difference betweenplacing an outbound and receiving a call from customer receiving customer call placing an outbound call Customer is prepared for the Lack of context significantly conversation impacts the attitude of the person receiving the call Customer is already operating in the context of the task he would Willingness to participate in like to complete conversation Less tolerant of inefficiencies Prone to abandon a call that does not benefit them compared to initiation of call to Toll-free customer service line 13 Best Practices Self-service France Telecom Group restricted
- 14. in order to reduce customer frustration Increase engagement drive better task completion rates with outbound campaigns your IVR application should be timely relevant action- action-oriented efficient 14 Best Practices Self-service France Telecom Group restricted
- 15. timely: reach outwhen it’s best for the customer use a combination of business processes and the customer’s historical behavior across all contact channels to determine the best time to call timely outbound are determined by two factors • calling when information or action for the call is most beneficial to the customer • calling when the customer is most likely to answer 15 Best Practices Self-service France Telecom Group restricted
- 16. maximize the relevanceof each call display caller ID can be a useful tool in giving your customer the context of the call • people often answer or decline the call based on caller ID • consider what caller ID to display to encourage the behavior you want • a blocked or private number is worst way to introduce your company no upfront delays once customer answers the call • audio must be presented within milliseconds • audio must contain useful information for customer, avoid “please wait…” 16 Best Practices Self-service France Telecom Group restricted
- 17. focus on aspecific action action -> outbound notifications should be closely tied to action • Encouraging action that directly benefits the customer • Or preemptively preventing a frustrating situation consequence -> something of consequence has or will happen to customer or their account, and the call you place is designed to alleviate or reinforce that consequence With interactive • e.g. : when flight cancellation, hear upcoming alternative flights and outbound care, maybe book a seat the airline can turn a negative situation into a use speech-enabled IVR which permits faster, more streamlined positive service interaction than DTMF or touchtone event. • e.g. : “I would like the flight at 5:40 PM” or “sell 50 shares at a limit of $25.00” 17 Best Practices Self-service France Telecom Group restricted
- 18. optimize for efficiency customers dealing with outbound call don’t tolerate the inefficiencies. Here are some recommendations: allow option to reschedule consider allowing customers to request being contacted at a later time or date (schedule a reminder or callback). bear in mind customer context don’t assume a customer has information on hand that is necessary for an outbound call (e.g., account number, recent transactions, prescription IDs). Therefore, provide alternative authentication techniques and leverage customer data as much as possible. focus on the essentials deliver only essential information during a call, focusing on high impact data or situations where there is a high probability of not delivering the info through other channels. take advantage of speech technology use speech-enabled interactions to streamline call flows and let customers respond naturally wherever they are, on whichever phone you reached them on, however, create prompts and dynamic data that sound as smooth and natural as possible to ensure callers retain critical information and don’t have to request repeats. 18 Best Practices Self-service France Telecom Group restricted
- 19. do’s and don’ts:finding the balance between IVR and live-agent support do’ do’s don’ don’ts routine inquiries about balance, inquiries that are fraught with emotion payments, etc… (like fraud) customers can quickly identify and multiple level of verification is required verify themselves use IVR to verify a transaction and complex transaction delivery date use live agent to retain customers customers who are attrition risks use a collection specialist who can late-stage collections develop a payment plan 19 Best Practices Self-service France Telecom Group restricted
- 20. tips ! share with agent customer journey in IVR • Place tags in order to track customer navigation • Transmission of DATA to agent desktop about customer navigation in IVR (duration, menus, …) personalize the interaction when you request the customer to key in his number text-to-speech : check data format and readiness of your database information accuracy same like in order channels outbound : DO NOT CALL List (compliancy with regulations) 20 Best Practices Self-service France Telecom Group restricted
- 21.
- 22. early adopters ofhosted inbound IVR hosted solution particularly suits businesses with fluctuating traffic volumes and those with a need for assistance with complex speech application development and management 22 Best Practices Self-service France Telecom Group restricted
- 23. most common applicationsfor hosted IVR being deployed by the early adopters 23 Best Practices Self-service France Telecom Group restricted
- 24. benefits of HostedIVR what Orange can offer limited business risk for enterprise existing platforms and very limited CAPEX for customer faster deployment than on Orange Management Portal can be premise IVR deployed in 4-6 weeks OPEX financial model Orange usage model: “pay as you grow” SLA commitments 99.99% availability SLA on-demand speech TTS or ASR activation several languages already activated http://www.orange-business.com/en/mnc2/solutions/crm-solutions/index.html 24 Best Practices Self-service France Telecom Group restricted
- 25. thank you This pagefor Orange Business Services: external comms use. User: please delete this note. Orange, the Orange mark and any other Orange product or service names referred to in this material are trade marks of Orange Personal Communications Services Limited. © Orange Personal Communications Services Limited. France Telecom Group restricted.
Editor's Notes
- #7 Call completion rate the one metric that matters Navigation in IVR Application Duration in IVR ? Category of the calls Rerouting of calls If important re-routing, then IVR qualification needs to be improved
- #18 Outbound notifications should be closely tied to action: either encouraging action that directly benefits the customer or preemptively preventing a frustrating situation. Another important concept for this best practice is consequence . In many cases, something of consequence has happened or will happen to the customer or their account, and the call you place is designed to alleviate or reinforce that consequence.
- #19 Customers dealing with outbound call don’t tolerate the inefficiencies ! To improve perception and maximize call completion rate, it is recommended : Consider allowing customers to request being contacted at a later time or date (schedule a reminder or callback). Don’t assume a customer has information on hand that is necessary for an outbound call (e.g., account number, recent transactions, prescription IDs). Therefore, provide alternative authentication techniques and leverage customer data as much as possible. Deliver only essential information during a call, focusing on high impact data or situations where there is a high probability of not delivering the info through other channels. Use speech-enabled interactions to streamline call flows and let customers respond naturally wherever they are, on whichever phone you reached them on. Create prompts and dynamic data that sound as smooth and natural as possible to ensure callers retain critical information and don’t have to request repeats.
- #20 automate activities that do not require a sympathetic ear, are not overly complicated, and where agents do not add value to a transaction.
- #23 Relate to cloud computing buzzzz How to move to the cloud