There’s a good chance that as a small business owner, your organization already uses cloud communication in some capacity for applications like phone systems, contact center software, file sharing and storage, and CRM solutions, the majority of businesses use cloud technology in comparison to on premise-based communication solutions, cloud-based systems have several benefits, such as lower costs, less maintenance, and higher security standards. One of the first things to think about if you’re thinking about moving business communication to the cloud is a cloud IVR system. However, what is cloud IVR, what benefits does it provide for small businesses, and which provider is best for you? In this post, we’ll talk about all of that and more.
Describe Cloud IVR
IVR stands for interactive voice response where customers can interact with automated voice prompts to make payments, reach the appropriate agents, and more using this technology. Surely our readers have experienced a few scenarios in real life for instance, messages like “Press 2 to connect to the billing department” and “Briefly state the reason for your call” are read aloud on prerecorded call menus and customers have the option of responding verbally or by dialing numbers on their phone.
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In technical terms, it is a call managing solution that is used for routing customer calls to the appropriate department based on their inquiries using the keypad tones.
IVR Features
While on-premise IVR systems provide the bare minimum, access to advanced features frequently necessitates costly upgrades, ongoing API expansions, and in-house development staff, contrarily, cloud IVR solutions offer a wide range of features as part of their base packages and let you add on even more features for a reasonable price with a few quick clicks.
The following are useful cloud IVR features:
- Support for omnichannel like Chatbots, SMS messaging, online payment portals, etc.
- Call menus in multiple languages
- graphical IVR
- CRM and call center software integration
- Tokenization and PCI compliance for preventing fraud
- Call logging
- Authentication of Callers
- contemporary call path design
- Agent ring formations
- automated callbacks
- Machine learning and AI
- Outside IVR
- reporting and analytics
This modernized technology helps in streamlining business communications thereby increasing the productivity of the business reducing manual efforts, saving time, and many more. Check out the below for more clarity:
Simple to install and manage
Your hosted IVR system will be initially configured by your needs by cloud telephony providers and without installing any software or hardware, you can make changes based on your requirements. For instance, all you have to do to set up your hosted IVR service is sign in to your live dashboard, add the departments by your company’s requirements, and you’re done.
To automate calls for your company
Call automation now allows for the automatic routing of customer calls to the appropriate departments. Three main advantages will result from this:
- Customers will be able to connect with any of your agents regardless of the time because it will save both your agents and customers valuable time.
- Calls can be transferred to other agents who are available at that moment, so customers do not have to wait in line.
- Making the customer calling experience fantastic will help to build a positive brand image.
Create a customized greeting.
With Hosted IVR, you can use our default greetings, record your own, upload a pre-recorded greeting, or type a message and have it converted to an audio file and guarantee that your customers have a fantastic first impression by using these options.
Lower the rate of transfer errors
IVR will route calls to the appropriate departments with no loss of speed or connectivity because of its zero-error rate. There wouldn’t be a call holding procedure like there is in a PBX system and without any human intervention, the entire process runs without a mistake thus creating the ideal customer calling experience.
Direct the caller to an automated message
Add common inquiries to your IVR panel, such as “What are your business hours?” and “Where are you located?” so that customers do not need to speak with an agent each time they have a question. Use the DTMF keypad tones to direct them to the main menu if they still have questions and after that, if an agent isn’t available, they can either leave a voicemail or connect with one of the ones who are. Your agents will be able to spend more time assisting callers with more urgent issues thanks to this new feature, which will streamline the support procedure.
Use a hosted IVR panel to analyze your call data.
Your company can track the number of missed or received customer calls in real time by implementing a virtual receptionist. Hosted IVR will retrieve all user information for its IVR live panel and enables companies to retrieve customer information through API integration or in various file formats and also it will provide information on the number of customer calls that agents answered or missed, call recordings, customer calling regions, etc.
Improving lead conversion
Companies can create an audio-based questionnaire using a hosted IVR service that contains inquiries that can gauge the caliber of the prospect leads. Furthermore, by using specifically defined metrics, these leads can be divided based on their quality. For instance, run a brief survey campaign for its clients via hosted IVR; following the survey, clients responded to a short questionnaire using DTMF keypad tones and answered questions like:
- How well-versed in this product are you?
- If you know something about our product, press 1
- If you are familiar with our product, press 2
- If you are unfamiliar with our product, press 3
- “Are you interested in learning more about this product?
- For “Yes,” press 1, Press 2 to reject.
- “Are you interested in buying this item?
- For “Yes,” press 1, Press 2 to reject.
- Then, based on the leads’ value, they can assign them to their sales team.
Excellent customer experience
Utilize this excellent tool to demonstrate how awesome your company is by adding various hold music and playing it in each queue on your hosted IVR system. Your hosted IVR service can include as many recordings, personalized professional greetings, promotions, and upcoming events as you like. Rediscover your customer calling experience after that if they have a good experience before speaking to an agent, they will have a better impression of your business.
Dialing an extension
- Sometimes the people who call you know exactly who they want to speak to as a result, it enables callers to reach an extension at any time without going through the IVR menus when callers know who they want to speak with, this helpful feature will save them time.
Answer customer calls even after hours of operation
When all your agents are out of the office or working remotely, it is simple to configure business hours so that calls can be forwarded to voicemail or an external number. No matter what time a customer calls, you’ll never miss a call or lose them and when agents aren’t available to take calls, users can leave a voicemail.
Better business efficiency and customer service
By implementing a call automation process at work, hosted IVR systems enable businesses to significantly reduce the amount of time that their callers must wait on hold which significantly improves customer calling experiences with their streamlined call handling procedures.
Use a hosted IVR solution to conduct surveys.
By developing a front-end information gathering system, also known as keypad customer surveys, you can integrate a hosted IVR solution into your strategy and this front-end system directs a customer to the survey that is most appropriate for them using tones produced by the customer’s phone.
Again, menu-driven systems enable quicker service to more customers also phone inquiries can be personalized for the customer by connecting to both internal and external databases.
Customers’ product preferences can be gathered from survey results to improve the customer experience.
Boost your company’s revenue
Improved customer on-call experiences due to hosted IVR will undoubtedly win over customers’ credibility and trust ultimately leading to higher sales revenue as hosted IVR software is being used by even the best businesses to grow their clientele by combining IVR technology with their conventional inbound solution.
Savings in operational costs
Comparing cloud-based IVR to in-house IVR, the cost is significantly lower as IVR platforms lower the average cost per call while also assisting businesses in reducing the costs associated with on-premise cloud hosting. It makes sense that a system that reduces the need for additional calls will save you a lot of money since your small business will need to pay for inbound calls by the minute. If customers can assist themselves, they won’t need to wait for a long time on hold, opening up another opportunity for savings given that many consumers say they won’t wait longer than one minute on hold, it makes sense that long hold times are one of the main causes of high call abandonment ratings.
Improve how the customer feels they were treated.
Effective self-service options are essential because most customers would prefer to handle their support issues themselves as opposed to speaking with an agent. With Cloud IVR, customers can access the product or service knowledge base, pay bills, check account balances, make reservations, and more all without having to speak to a representative.
Interactive Voice Response enhances the client experience by:
- shorter hold times
- allowing more agents to take calls when they’re needed for human interactions
- streamlining the transaction process
- integrating with CRM applications to deliver up-to-date customer data and order history
- sending reminder messages to depart
- Providing callbacks to clients
- An increase in agent output
Who Should Use It?
Although companies in all industries would benefit from using IVR, cloud-based options have specific use cases that might make them a particularly good fit for your business.
- Energy/utility providers offer automated options for customers to pay one-time bills, schedule recurring payments, view account balances, transfer services, and receive outgoing emergency alerts.
- eCommerce stores that use IVR to manage product returns, send out special offers, confirm orders, update shipping information, and remind customers when it’s time to place another order
- Business marketing departments to place outbound calls for offers/campaigns, manage customer reward programs, send automated customer satisfaction surveys, and carry out customer journey research
- To manage room service and other guest requests and services, send wake-up calls, and let callers book, reschedule, or cancel reservations
- appointments with personal service providers such as spas and hair salons to make, confirm, and reschedule.
- Patients can schedule appointments, provide health insurance information, pay/manage medical bills, and request prescription refills at hospitals and small medical practices.
Grab the best opportunity of utilizing this marvelous technology by implementing it in your firms by associating with us right now, get the complete details from Vitelglobal