COMPUTERIZED DISPATCH

INTERACTIVE VOICE RESPONSE (IVR) UPDATE

by Don McCurdy

In past articles I discussed the use of IVR, Interactive Voice Response, which has become a catch phrase for a variety of automated call taking software packages.

IVR products vary from the “press 1” and “order a taxi” to attempting to actually get the customer's address via voice recognition software. There are companies in Canada that offer both English and French menus with voice recognition.

It is my opinion that picking the low hanging fruit will result in a higher percentage of usage by the general public. That is, the "press 1" option is a system that I prefer to use. The alternative, listening to the address being repeated back to a computer generated voice, is not a situation  I wish to be involved in. I am not alone in this.

A 2005 study by the Center for Client Retention found that customer frustration in using IVR systems can cost you customers. While saving money is important, losing customers is not an acceptable trade. Over half of the respondents to the survey stated that the manner in which an IVR system was utilized affects their use of the service. The study further found that 54% of potential IVR system buyers would "not be very willing" to purchase an IVR system.

With this information in mind what are we to think? Is IVR a loser? Not exactly.

Complicated versions are not well received, but the simple versions are having some success.  Recently, I had a discussion with Raymond Turner, the president of Texas Taxis. They purchased an IVR system for their three Texas companies and have had success using the system.

Mr. Turner says that approximately 20% of their calls are handled entirely by the IVR system. For a company with thousands of calls a day, 20% is a significant number.

Mr. Turner indicated that the significant issue with IVR is cell phone calls. Since most home phones can be converted to cellular, regardless of prefix, it is getting more difficult to isolate cell phone calls and transfer them to a live operator. “We have become a press 1 society” he said, an idea with which I agree.Why not be able to perform a routine request for a taxicab without the hold

Why not be able to perform a routine request for a taxicab without the hold and usual interrogation?

While Communications Manager for Greater Austin Transportation I had the occasion to observe one of the operators, Dorothy, take a call from a regular customer.  This was an early version of computerized dispatch and had no “screen pops”. Dorothy did not ask the customer a single location related question. “How are the kids? How did your doctor visit go yesterday?” and such, all the while typing in the required information. At the end of the call I asked her, “What was that all that about?”

She told me she knew all of the pickup address. The woman customer had been calling for so long that Dorothy had memorized the customer’s information long ago and asked other questions to pass the time while she typed the pickup location into the computer. It wasn't until over a decade later that the company got screen pops.  

Well, Dorothy has been automated to the next level enabling companies to reduce staffing and cut costs. A wise accountant once told me that whatever we could successfully trim from the communication's budget would fall directly into the bottom line.

If you run a good sized call center, no doubt you have already considered IVR. There are several products available Be selective.

 —dmc

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