The IVR Expert

IVR: Selecting The Right Voice Talent For Your Survey.

Selecting Voice Talent for your IVR survey is a key consideration, as she/he will be representing your company; she/he is your spokesperson. As well, she/he should have experience in recording prompts for IVR surveys, as the pace, pronunciation, and intonation is important to keep the caller engaged. Before you select Voice Talent, ask to listen to a sample, and remember, just because she/he may have broadcast experience that doesn’t necessarily mean they will know how to engage a caller on a survey. Listen to a sample survey recording, first and foremost, you want someone who makes the survey flow, and is easy to understand.

To help you successfully execute your IVR survey project, I have written a guide (which you can download for free):

http://www.datatel-systems.com/whitepapers/IVRSurvey_Request.htm

To Your Success,

Barnard Crespi
CEO
Datatel

Writing your IVR Survey Script

A few simple steps to writing your IVR survey script.

With your paper or web based survey, try to re-write it as if you were the caller hearing your survey over the phone. What would make you stay engaged, and interested in continuing? Remember that your participant will need instructions, what is common sense in a paper based or web survey, may not be in an IVR survey, so provide detailed instructions on how to respond. Here are a few examples of how to format your survey and provide simple yet detailed instructions to the participant.

Here is a brief example on how you can get started.

INTRODUCTION	Thank you for taking the time to complete this survey, it will take no more than a minute and a half of your time - we value your opinion.  This survey -  will be used by “Your Company Name” to improve your customer service experience This survey is designed to ensure your anonymity and all information obtained will be held in strictest confidence.Please listen to the entire question before responding.
Instructions_1	By pressing the numbers on your telephone keypad please rate on a scale of 1 to 5, where 1 is poor and 5 is excellent, your satisfaction with “Your Company Name” on the following aspects of the call. If you'd like to have the question repeated, Press 9 If you'd like to repeat the instructions Press 0
Q1	How easy is it to contact us?
Q3	How well did our representative address your concerns?
Q4	Was our representative (or title) professional?
Q5	Was our representative (or title) knowledgeable?

To help you successfully execute your IVR survey project, I have written a guide (which you can download for free):

http://www.datatel-systems.com/whitepapers/IVRSurvey_Request.htm

To Your Success,

Barnard Crespi
CEO
Datatel

www.datatel-systems.com

Getting Started with IVR Surveys

There are undoubtedly many businesses in your vertical that conduct customer or employee surveys. Some use the web, others are paper based, some utilize IVR (Telephone), and many a combination of all three. Most first time users of IVR as a surveying medium begin by taking a copy of an existing paper or web based survey. They think that because the survey is working successfully as either paper based or on the web that it will do well in an IVR environment. This is not always true. Interfacing with a caller is very different than interfacing with a reader; after all we are employing different senses.

The fact is that most paper surveys or web based surveys require significant copy changes before they can be optimized for an IVR environment. The good news is that with this course you should be able to begin the process right away.

You should never loose sight of your objective, which is to collect objective, actionable information. Your survey should be clear, concise, compelling and easy to navigate. This will certainly result in higher completion rates.

To help you successfully execute your IVR survey project, I have written a guide (which you can download for free):

http://www.datatel-systems.com/whitepapers/IVRSurvey_Request.htm

To Your Success,

Barnard Crespi
CEO
Datatel

IVR & Field Employee Safety A Perfect Match

For over 30 years, the Algoma Health Unit (AHU) has provided public health services to citizens of the Algoma district. With offices in Blind River, Elliot Lake, Sault Ste. Marie and Wawa, AHU has a large geographical area in which to provide service coverage. Case managers, public health nurses, family support workers, health practitioners and public health inspectors work in these areas servicing a very broad constituency. Like many health organizations across North America, AHU was facing the need to continuously communicate with staff in the district, and have the ability to respond quickly and efficiently to any situation where there could be a potential public health or staff safety risk.

To address the problem, AHU embarked on a process of redesigning their communication and response processes and policies. This initiative resulted in the revision of policies and procedures and the use of automation for employee tracking, communications and response processes.

The new process required an “off-hours” call center to track and communicate with staff - a manual solution that created operational bottlenecks and increased costs.

After careful review of the manual solution by health unit management, which included consultation with the Health and Safety Committee, a decision was made to evaluate a computerized solution utilizing IVR.

A team, led by Suzanne Irwin, System/Records Manager, examined multiple employee tracking and response requirements. It was important that a staff tracking system did more than just collect data and document safety issues. Immediate alerts, notifications to management and responses to situations where an “out-call” professional may be in a precarious position, were a priority.

While it was clear that moving from a manual/people intensive system to track staff electronically when responding to potential safety situations was crucial, management felt strongly that attention needed to be paid to the work processes surrounding the solutions as well. Working closely with the Health and Safety Committee plus employees, their input ensured that the solution selection, as well as the timing of implementation, would meet the immediate need to track employees with the ability to respond quickly and efficiently to potential risk situations.

The agency appreciated that with the selected IVR solution there was continuous, open, two-way channel of communication with staff. Information was tracked in real-time, thus eliminating the need for dedicated human resources’ personnel to manually monitor, and all that was required was the standard issue, field employee mobile phone.

Today, when staff are leaving on a visit request, all they do is pick-up their mobile phone, and in less than 60 seconds they provide key information though a self-service IVR Telephone portal. When they have completed the visit, the practitioner will simply call-in and sign-out, with the option to set the parameters for the next visit. In the event a practitioner forgets to sign-out, the IVR will place an automated reminder call, with the option to postpone the sign-out time. In the event that an employee fails to respond to the reminder call, then the IVR will automatically issue alerts to the field safety coordinators on call.

 

Program Directors and coordinators can monitor who is in the field and where. Safety officers can review the logs on an historical or real-time basis and assess the effectiveness of safety policies, subsequently making improvements where required, based on “objective” data.

After the IVR solution was implemented, AHU reduced administrative costs associated with Employee Safety Tracking and Response processes by over 80%. “Our IVR solution allows us to manage by exception, eliminate the need for a dispatcher, and eliminate the need for after-hours call center support by 95% - resulting in significant operational savings.” reported AHU. “With access to field employee information 24/7 over the web or via telephone, Program Directors and safety coordinators can make decisions in real time.”

The IVR solution’s Embedded Audit Trail and management reporting allows AHU to focus on strategy, ensure compliance, and execute their safety policy.

In addition AHU chose a Software-as-Service Model, which provides AHU operations expertise with no overhead. With no need for additional infrastructure, AHU’s IVR implementation and deployment took days not months.

IVR does work, does deliver on its promises, and there is a balance between efficiency, user satisfaction and return on investment. The management of Field Employee Safety and Health Care is just one of many applications Where IVR Does Really Work.

You can access the complete series at: http://www.datatel-systems.com/Articles/WhereIVRReallyDoesWork

To Your Success,

Barnard Crespi
CEO
Datatel Inc/Datatel Communications Inc
http://www.datatel-systems.com

Where does IVR really work? In Facilities Management

Where does IVR really work? In Facilities Management

Large tenants depend on and demand quick response and resolution to, facility problems to run their business. That means when they have a problem, they need the right technician to show up on time.

Tenants don’t expect a call center agent to resolve the issue over the telephone, as there is often a physical problem, that requires an expert to fix a water leak, an electrical problem, an HVAC problem, or something that needs to be repaired quickly and a technician needs to be dispatched immediately.

So how does IVR provide a win-win solution for commercial tenants and outsourced facility management providers?

Many facility management service providers have already deployed IVR applications, which allow tenants to report problems, and management to dispatch repair technicians who, in turn, log-in and log-out from the job. But how does this really work, in day-to-day operations? Here is a real-life example:

It is 7:00 a.m. and the manager at store #326 of a national women’s apparel chain, shows up to prep for the day. On her arrival, she tries to boot up her cash registers, realizes that the electrical outlets powering the cash registers are not operational; she follows procedure, and resets the breaker, however that does not resolve the problem.

Now this becomes a major problem, as the doors will open in 2 ½ hours with no cash registers and this will cost the company $1000’s per hour if the problem is not resolved before opening.

The World Without IVR: Based on company procedure, a call is placed to the facility management outsourcing vendor, and to the regional VP of the retail chain. It is 7:00 a.m. so the facility management vendor is routing calls to an after hours outsourced answering service, who will call a company manager, who will then contact a contractor, who dispatches a technician to the job site. On arrival, the contractor will call the facility management vendor to request authorization to proceed. All this requires various people being involved for a single after business hours dispatch. This particular retailer has over 50 after hours facility maintenance requests in any given day, throughout its 700 + outlets.

Today the picture looks very different as reporting and dispatching takes minutes. The facility management outsourcing provider has implemented a fully automated IVR system which automates three key functions.

(a) Tenant Trouble Reporting: Tenants can report a facility related issue 24/7 by simply calling in to a national toll-free IVR #. They identify themselves by providing a tenant ID, and enter a problem code (each tenant has a reporting code card). The IVR transmits this information in real-time to the facility management provider’s web enabled software. Alerts get issued, and calls get placed to the corresponding technician, technicians accept the work order by providing a telephone input, and proceed to the job location.

(b) Technician/Contractor Sign-in: The technician/contractor arrives at the site, calls into the toll-free # and logs-in to the job, providing job relevant information. The technician then receives authorization to proceed.

(c) Technician/Contractor Sign-out: The technician/contractor completes the task, calls into the toll-free # and updates the status of the work order.

What happens, if there is a problem that can’t be handled by IVR automation? The customer or technician can always contact an after hours manager on call, something else that the IVR can handle through scheduled on-call routing functionality. This only has to happen 2-3 times in any given day to reduce labor related costs and accelerate the workflow exponentially, which ultimately increases customer satisfaction, and adds to the facility management service provider’s bottom line.

What happens, if a Technician/Contractor doesn’t call in on time? The IVR has the capability of initiating an outbound call to the technician, to determine their status. What happens if they don’t answer? - The IVR System can notify a manager.

In most cases, facility management service providers have in-house software that handle the tenants reporting, work order tracking, scheduling and tracking. Current IVR technology is flexible enough to allow service providers integration into a 3rd party or home-grown facility management software by capitalizing on their existing investment in web technology.

So IVR does work, delivers on its promises, and provides a balance between efficiency, user satisfaction and return on investment. Facility management is just one of many applications "Where IVR Does Really Work."

You can access the complete series at: http://www.datatel-systems.com/Articles/WhereIVRReallyDoesWork

To Your Success,

Barnard Crespi
CEO
Datatel Inc/Datatel Communications Inc
http://www.datatel-systems.com

Where IVR Really Does Work

Where IVR Really Does Work

For the past few years, IVR (Interactive Voice Response) has been getting a really bad wrap for mediocre implementation results, as organizations push the technology to the limit, on unfulfilled promises from vendors, and, in efforts to cut costs from handling calls from customers.

However prior to this trend, IVR was perceived an exceptional technology; it played a role where there was a balance between efficiency, customer satisfaction and return on investment. I’m sure many recall the days, when the way to get to the right place meant remembering to press 1…, 4, 3 and you were where you wanted to be. It wasn’t all that bad, customers were happy, business managed their costs, and the technology did its job as advertised.

Most of the attention, has been focused on IVR’s application in call centers, however IVR plays a significant role in other industry applications, providing both businesses and callers with significant benefits, a positive experience, and return on investment.

Where IVR Really Does Work” is an ongoing review of IVR applications across a multitude of industries and disciplines. Where IVR brings significant value to callers, organizations and businesses alike. Where there is a demonstrable balance between efficiency, user satisfaction and return on investment. You can access the complete series at:

http://www.datatel-systems.com/Articles/WhereIVRReallyDoesWork

To Your Success,Barnard L. Crespi
Datatel Inc/Datatel Communications Inc

Your IVR Survey Project - How you can to get more people to participate

If you are running a survey using IVR, or planning on doing so, here are a few things you can be doing to increase the number of people who want to participate in your IVR survey?”What I have found is, that organizations who experience the highest completion rates are those who can effectively incorporate and answer the following questions to potential participants in both the “Invitation to participate” (this would be your printed material/or what an agent tells the caller) and “The Survey Introduction” (when they call in).

a) Why am I doing this?
b) How long is this going to take from my busy day?
c) What are you using this information for?
d) Are my responses confidential?
e) What is there in it for me? – I am not encouraging reward based participation, although this might work, however, I am saying that providing an incentive, or a valid reason, to the caller, may encourage them to participate and stay engaged.

You may use your own creativity to engage the caller; as long as you can answer these questions you will increase your chances of higher response rate.

You can download the complete guide for FREE at:

http://www.datatel-systems.com/whitepapers/IVRSurvey_Request.htm

To Your Success,
Barnard Crespi
Datatel

IVR For Lead Generation: Advanced Tips, Increasing your response rates.

What response rates Can you expect from running your IVR lead generation initiative?

Your response rate will vary depending on your product or service, your unique sales proposition and the type / quality of the list. IVR allows you to turn the calls into leads that you can follow-up on.

Based on a cross-section of the organizations that we work with, you can anticipate response rates of 1% ~ 3% and in some cases even higher.

For example, we have recently worked with a client that was obtaining a 10% response rate from his voice mail drops, initially with 1.5% conversion rate. Eventually, through the utilization of some unique IVR features, the client was able to generate even higher conversion rates 2.7%.

Using Inbound or Outbound IVR - What is the Difference?

In IVR lead generation, there are two approaches,
· Inbound calling, where a prospect is invited through print, or other media to call into your toll-free #.
· Outbound, where prospects are called and invited to take action.

Example 1 (Inbound) Responding to your Mail-Out Campaign:

“Thank you for calling LoanDirect, the safe and secure way to apply for a hassle-free, no obligation loan. We will now provide you with a short and confidential questionnaire so you can apply for your financing. If you have any questions at all, please visit our web site at LoanDirect.com and click on FAQ, for frequently asked questions. You’ll find that most of your questions are answered there.”

Please press 1 to proceed

* You can also add an option to transfer the call to a sales person during regular business hours.

If you are working on your first IVR project ,I have published several guides which will help you successfully execute your project (they are FREE)

How To Successfully Execute your IVR Project and Select The Right Vendor for the Job
The Complete Guide To Successfully Implementing Your IVR Survey Project
Using IVR For Lead Generation - How Professionals do it.

To Your Success,
Barnard Crespi
Datatel Inc/Datatel Communications Inc

How to improve your customers experience when calling in to your IVR?

If you really want to make a positive change in the perception your clients have when they call-in to your company’s IVR you have to listen to them carefully. Avoid listening to anecdotal accounts of what is working and what is not working. And stop listening to sales pitches from prospective vendors that read “With this NEW IVR you will be able to increase customer satisfaction, and improve productivity”. I don’t need 15 years experience in the IVR business to know, that IVR and a positive customer experience are not necessarily in the same sentence.  The primary purpose of IVR is to reduce the cost of handling calls, it’s a lot less expensive than a live agent, it work 24/7 - 365 without benefits, or holidays or sick days, or overtime. IVR does not ask for a raise and in fact is you and every company who uses IVR are always finding ways to pay less for it. IVR is not a means of giving a customer a better customer experience; it’s a means of delivering a cheaper customer experience, when the cost of using a live agent is prohibitive.  You may think this is a harsh statement, however after consulting and building 1000’s of IVR applications, in almost all cases it comes down to cost, would you pay the same for IVR as you would for a live agent? Absolutely not.  If we agree on this, now let’s focus on how you can make the IVR experience a more positive one, when the use of a live agent doesn’t fit your budget.

• # 1 is to listen to your client (the caller). Use those same IVR surveys you use to measure customer satisfaction after a call with a live agent, to measure customer satisfaction after an IVR self-service call. And be prepared to hear it as it is.  Don’t expect the same levels of customer satisfaction, you wont. Be prepared to act on the feedback and share with your clients what you will be doing with this information, (Designing a better, more cost-effective IVR service for you, the client). The biggest mistake companies make is to tell their clients that they are providing them with a self-service system, to improve on the levels of service, and improve customer relations,(your clients are no fools). Fact is it doesn’t, we, (in the industry) know this; however, you can come out straight-out and share with the customer how you plan on making these improvements.

• # 2 – be proactive and tell your customers how you will ensure that their feedback is used to improve on their experience while using the “low cost” self-service options. Your customers want to know that you are taking steps to make their experience a more pleasurable one, tell them how you will be doing this; they will respect you and believe what you have to say.

If you are working on your first IVR project ,I have published several guides which will help you successfully execute your project (they are FREE)

• How To Successfully Execute your IVR Project and Select The Right Vendor for the Job
• The Complete Guide To Successfully Implementing Your IVR Survey Project
• Using IVR For Lead Generation - How Professionals do it.

To Your Success,

Barnard Crespi

Datatel Inc/Datatel Communications Inc (IVR)

How can IVR help you make more money out of your traditional media advertising?

Traditional media advertising, which relies on the words of a skillful copywriter, still remains the most predominant and widely used media, targeting consumers worldwide. Yes, those billboards you see while driving down the highway, 12 foot back-lit signs in malls and bus shelter ads, are not leaving us any time soon, and neither is the traditional IVR as we know it today or we did yesterday.

It is becoming harder and harder for traditional media to compete for advertisers’ dollars, new media is no longer "new" it has become mainstream, (the web, digital displays, web casts, pod casts, and who knows what else), will be utilized in the future, as they keep on coming.

However, no mater if it’s new or old media (that works), businesses demand advertising channels that are accountable for results. You have probably have heard this saying, your marketing needs to be as accountable as your stock portfolio.

With the Internet, unique visitors  can be tracked, conversions can be measured and dollars can be accounted for, but how about all that traditional  media, how can it measured to the same standards of accountability - how do you know if someone who is walking by your back-lit sign will do anything about it? This is where another old timer works, and works well, IVR, Interactive Voice Response, has been around for more than 20 years.

Whether the IVR is dressed up as a virtual (audio) tour of the product or service, or you post a toll-free # to quickly connect the consumer - in this your skillful copywriter may play a key roll - to your sales team, you can use IVR to account for more of your dollars spent on traditional media. After all, you are spending money in advertising and marketing to make more money, right? IRV can help you capture more information about the consumer, so you can connect with them over the telephone, or face to face, and make a return on all those dollars you are spending.
If you are working on your first IVR project ,I have published several guides which will help you successfully execute your project (the are FREE)

• The Complete Guide To Successfully Implementing Your IVR Survey Project
• Using IVR For Lead Generation - How Professionals do it.
• How To Successfully Execute your IVR Project and Select The Right Vendor for the Job

To Your Success,

Barnard L. Crespi
Datatel Inc/Datatel Communications