In a world where machines try to rule over man, interactive voice response
systems (IVRS) attempts to replace human intervention for customers who want to
talk to customer care on a range of issues. But this replacement can only be
limited as IVRS cannot completely replace human intervention.
According to DMG Consulting LLC, the leading provider of contact center and
real-time analytics research, DMG estimates that worldwide IVR revenue reached
$1.87 bn at the end of 2007 and is expected to reach $2.4 bn by 2010, despite
the ongoing global recession.
Kiran Kumar, SVP, global delivery, ValueLabs, says, “The recent slowdown in
IVRS growth in the US has been offset by expansion in international sales,
particularly in Brazil, India, Saudi Arabia, Eastern Europe and the Pacific
Rim.” Once the enterprise-spending freeze caused by the economic meltdown is
lifted, DMG expects increased investment in the IVR market.
In India, with the costs of communication coming down rapidly, IVRS
installations have been rapidly growing. But enterprises in India should adopt a
cautious approach before going for IVRS.
The Boon
In a large enterprise scenario, for example in a typical banking
institution, there is a need to divert monotonous calls such as balance enquiry
and statement request to IVRS while leaving call center manpower for intelligent
jobs such as complaint management, churn management etc. Since monotonous calls
are in high volumes, usage of IVR helps organizations to streamline their
operations while delivering excellent customer service.
Kiran Kumar, SVP, global delivery, ValueLabs says, “The IVR solutions are
particularly useful when a caller has a simple question. In such cases, it's
better to get a quick answer from a computerized operator than to hold for
fifteen minutes before talking to a human being.” He adds, “Another advantage is
that IVRS being automated there is 100% productivity and no manpower loss.”
Enterprises should primarily consider this factor before making any decision
on whether to go for an IVRS installation or not otherwise, it will
unnecessarily incur cost. Vijay Shekhar Sharma, MD, One97 Communications, says,
“IVR has been a key tool for positive customer engagement. It facilitates an
automated repetitive process that is one of the main causes of huge reduction in
manpower. There is tremendous scope of growth for this service and we could keep
upgrading the present IVR standards to meet the latest technological innovation
to avoid the need of any alternate solution in the future.”
An enterprise should see whether there is any requirement for handling
multiple customers at a given point of time due to a large customer base. If the
enterprise has this requirement, it can go for IVRS as the interface is
automated and does not require human interaction over the telephone; and the
automated attendant is available in multiple languages too. Also, since the
latest cutting edge technologies available in the market can be easily adapted
to the existing IVRS, enterprises may opt for it.
Flexible systems can be configured to add new service areas. It helps to
improve customer service and client retention rates visibly. Devasia Kurian, MD,
astTECS Communications says, “Scalability of the IVRS technology makes it
possible for updating with new technologies for better services and efficiency
of an enterprises business process.”
In the cost of customer services through human desk is huge, those
enterprises should go for automated attendant; this drastically reduces cost of
customer service while ensuring a consistent level of quality even during peak
traffic, improving business efficiency. Kiran Kumar, SVP, global delivery,
ValueLabs, says, “The major advantage of IVR for any organization is to save
time and money. Answering phone calls takes a lot of time, and not every phone
call deserves the attention of a trained employee.” He further adds, “If a large
company is able to reduce even a few seconds from the average length of each
phone call with a live operator, it can save them hundreds of thousands or even
millions of dollars a year in a very large organization.”
 |
 |
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| “Scalability of the IVRS
technology makes it possible for updating with new technologies for better
services and efficiency of an enterprises business process”
Devasia Kurian,
MD, astTECS Communications, says |
“Since IVR works for 24 hours,
the company can use it as a sales order line”
Rajesh Kumar B,
MD, Fomax Information Technologies |
“In a biometric scenario, even
illiterates can interact with IVRS as IVRS can recognize the particular
person through his or her voice rather than the content”
Vinay Agrrawal,
VP, operations, Unicel Technologies |
Apart from cost reduction, human resource inefficiencies also can be
alleviated by IVRS solutions. Rajesh Kumar B, MD, Fomax Information Technologies
says, “Since IVR works for 24 hours, the company can use it as a sales order
line. Also, the increase in customer satisfaction promotes repeat business with
existing customers thus generating more revenue without much expenditure. Many
clients often realize a full return on investment within a year of
implementation.”
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