What makes a successful IVR system?

What is IVR?

IVR stands for Interactive Voice Response, referring to a menu and routing system for automated telephone calls.

IVR provides customers the ability to provide information to a company without having to speak to an agent, and can be used to collect additional information from the consumer, allowing companies to choose which representative they should transfer the call to in the event of a call routing scenario.

Customers typically provide this information into the IVR system using voice recognition software, DTMF tones, or by selecting assigned telephone buttons in response to an offered menu.

What is the use of IVR?

When calling a company, customers will almost always be greeted by IVR, which supplies essential information that they must be aware of before the call takes place.  For example, data protection regulations are often delivered to customers through the use of IVR.

IVR places control of customer service directly in the hands of the customer, and provides the caller with the ability to select their preferred mode of communication. This may involve picking the option to talk to an agent or, alternatively, bypassing this choice and inputting information themselves through the IVR option menus. Callers are able to make payments, change passwords, and update account information without having to discuss any of these activities with an agent when choosing this option.

Finding the right voice for your IVR

When it comes to finding the right voice for IVR, there is no “one voice fits all” option. While trying to get the optimal sound for your system, industry and intention are both important factors to carefully consider.

For example, the customer support department of a company is frequently contacted with complaints; therefore, a soothing tone of voice is beneficial. A soothing tone however, would not necessarily work for outbound sales calls, as this would require a much more confident and convincing tone.

It is also possible that using a variety voices may work best for a company IVR system. Providing callers with the option to have IVR in the language of their choosing is a fantastic opportunity that can serve all potential customers, especially if your business operates on a worldwide scale.

The most essential piece of guidance regarding the ideal voice for IVR is to keep it as simple as possible. 71% of individuals would rather listen to the genuine sound of a person’s voice as opposed to the imitation sound of a computerised voice. Great care must be taken with how the messages are written and the voice used, otherwise callers can get frustrated and view it as a hindrance rather than a help.

What is required from IVR prompts?

When writing voice prompts, you need to make sure that at each stage of the process you pause and check to make sure that the points listed below are met:

Keep it professional: Practically every business that uses IVR messaging does so with a voice that conveys a sense of professionalism and at least some degree of authority.

Keep it clear: If customers are unable to understand what is being said, they will hang up because they will become frustrated. Another possibility is that they will become confused and select the incorrect menu option.

Keep it concise: If the IVR script is too difficult to understand or too long, callers will become frustrated and hang up. This can result in missed calls and lost business opportunities.

Keep it consistent: Inconsistency is one of the most significant challenges that businesses may face. Confusion and poor quality of service can result from a variety of factors, including different tones, misplaced music and varied recording rates.

Keep it steady: The majority of people type much more slowly than we speak, despite the fact that humans can talk up to 175 words per minute. When instructions are given quickly over the phone, it might be difficult to keep up with them all.

In need of an IVR recording? We’re here to help!

Here at Matinée Multilingual, we have been delivering multilingual IVR voice prompts for phone systems across the world for over 30 years, sourcing our IVR voice artists on the quality of their language skills and their clear diction. We also look for voice artists with warm and friendly tones to make the experience more meaningful for customers.

It goes without saying that, with our impressive roster of voice talent covering 80+ languages including French, Italian, Spanish and German, we’ll be able to help find the perfect voice to bring your IVR messaging system to life. So, why not get in touch with us today and find out how we can help you?

Call us on +44 (0) 118 958 4934

Or email project@matinee.co.uk