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Interactive Voice Response
This section of our technical library presents information and documentation relating to IVR and interactive voice response software as well as automatic call answering solutions.
Business phone systems and toll free answering systems (generally 800 numbers and their equivalent) are very popular for service and sales organizations, allowing customers and prospects to call your organization anywhere in the country.
Our PACER and Wizard IVR development software adds another dimension to our call center phone system solutions. An Interactive Voice Response (IVR) processes inbound phone calls, plays recorded messages including information extracted from databases and the internet, and potentially routes calls to either in-house service agents or transfers the caller to an outside extension.
7 Tips to Deploy a Successful IVR System
Chris Bajorek,
Alex Pournelle
1997 article
To achieve success the first time out with your IVR solution, heed these pieces of advice.
- 1.Don't skimp on the platform. Choose industrial-grade PC platforms that are robust enough for network servers. Anything less can result in crashes, premature failures, or worse. Before you shop, do your homework because IVR systems have a wide range of platform needs. For example, a 4-line IVR system can get by with a 486-based platform, while a 24-line system requires a Pentium.
- 2. Be aware of PBX integration requirements. You cannot just hook up an IVR behind a PBX and expect it to properly transfer calls. In many cases, IVRs must be trained to the target PBX environment.
- 3. Provide paths to a live company representative. Be sure rotary phone callers are quickly connected to a live person. Avoid trapping callers in "IVR jail" without opportunities to get to a representative quickly.
- 4. Do load testing. Before placing your system online, generate call traffic on multiple lines and verify correct operation. Make sure that other server modules in the same box are not negatively affecting performance.
- 5. Don't record the prompts yourself. If you build your IVR, don't record your own speech prompts. Use a company that offers this service--your IVR will sound much more professional.
- 6. Analyze call logs weekly. Be prepared to modify the call flow of your IVR as you discover which menus callers are frequently and infrequently using. Be on the lookout for early hang-ups because they indicate caller frustration.
- 7. Be ready to scale up quickly. Your IVR needs to be scalable and allow quick upgrading to handle more lines. Be prepared for a flood of calls that exceed your best estimates.
Wizard Simplifies Development
DSC provides IVR software including our IVR wizard development tool for creating interactive voice response applications.
Our IVR software lets you increase IVR development productivity by providing a visual development environment. IVR applications can be defined in minutes using this sophisticated, yet easy to use development tool.
DSC also has available a comprehensive IVR software library known as our IVR Wizard Software Development Kit. This optional package is available for programmers and systems adminstrators who wish to manage IVR programs fromLinux IVR, Unix, or Windows IVR operating environments.
Data collected by your phone ACD (Automatic Call Distribution) or IVR (Interactive Voice Response) systems can be passed to your existing PC, Unix or Web applications through our phone software.
The PACER predictive dialer can automatically call your customers and pass only connected calls to your agents. With our computer telephony software, your telephone and computer work together to provide cost-saving benefits.
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