What Is Self-Service IVR?

Self-service Interactive Voice Response (IVR) is a speech recognition, artificial intelligence telephony system that helps identify, segment, and route callers to the correct agents.

Benefits & Advantages of Self-Service IVR

Today’s customers are always looking for instant assistance and gratification. Self-service IVR enables that, as your customers can solve their own problems, without the need for an agent. Customers are greeted by an IVR message when they call and asked to make a selection from a series of self-help prompts. Lower your call abandonment rates too when customers utilize this intuitive service, instead of them hanging up. If the solution is not there, they can also select to route to a relevant agent.

Self-service IVR saves you money, as customers searching for simple information can find it without speaking to live operators. This helps reduce call volumes. IVR technology enables more efficient call routing than humans who may accidentally misdirect calls. This leads to improved customer service.

Self-service IVR systems help enhance your corporate image, as you can make your business appear larger than its actual size, if you configure your IVR prompts into many departments. You can also create greetings tailored for your target audience for added professionalism. If you’re not keen on using your own voice, IVR has a selection of pre-recorded messages to choose from. Calls are also prioritized better, as customers provide feedback on the importance of calls.

Types of Companies That Can Use Self-Service IVR

Survey companies use self-service IVR, as callers are sometimes more comfortable responding to sensitive issues via voice prompts, as opposed to discussing it with a human. Research, pharmaceutical companies, call centers, and banks also use self-service IVR. Advanced Self-Service IVR Features Self-service IVR uses an advanced speech recognition feature based on an internal Natural Language Understanding (NLU) system.