The IVR Expert

IVR As A Service: What You Should Know Before Making an IVR Vendor Selection – Part I

Making a vendor selection is no easy task, especially if you want to get it right the first time.  So the more information you have, the better your chances of success.

This outline is an introduction to IVR vendor selection from a down-to-earth business perspective.  It will help you identify the outsourcing model that is best for your business.

In today’s IVR marketplace, IVR vendors deliver their services in different ways; from a complete self service model where you need to do all the legwork to a white glove service model where your projects are planned, developed, and implemented for you.  Which one is best for your business will depend on how much energy, effort, and time you can afford to divert from your core business, to your IVR project.  The good news is that there’s a model out there for almost every business.

Whether your project involves a ivr survey, account inquiry system, sales lead generation, call center self-service, product order and fulfillment, credit card transactions, or field employee reporting, there is a vendor model that’s right for you.

It is important to understand three key factors which will help you make the right decision.  The three (3) main reasons why an organization might decide to outsource its IVR operations versus taking it on in-house are as follows:

(a) Lower Cost
(b) Flexible Technology
(c) Higher Levels of Expertise

(a) - Cost:  An outsourced IVR application can be far less expensive to implement than IVR done in-house.  An IVR System will probably take less time to implement if you choose the hosted model and you will typically only pay for what you use or commit to using.  Service providers usually adjust to your requirements, rather than you having to plan for growth.

(b) - Flexible Technology:  In today’s environment of rapidly changing business demands, technology must be flexible enough to adjust quickly and cost effectively.  The outsourced IVR approach protects you from having to continuously adapt to these changes, as the responsibility is shifted to the service provider, protecting you from technological obsolescence.  

(c) - Higher Levels of Expertise/Surpport: If you don’t have the time and /or  resources to keep your IVR application running current and glitch-free, a provider who offers Managed IVR outsourcing is worth looking into. There are various levels of IVR services available – some provide higher levels of expertise and support than others.  Hosted service providers have an expertise that is difficult or almost impossible to maintain in-house, that is, having the experience of deploying 100’s, if not 1000’s, of applications, and knowing what works, what doesn’t work, and what works best.

Which IVR Service model is best for your business?

You will probably agree that the best model for any business, regardless of size, industry, budget, or application, is the model that will get the closest to guaranteeing a successful execution.  Let’s face it, IT projects are seldom completed on time, and most often exceed budget.  However it doesn’t need to be that way.

* You have some decisions to make:  Do-it-yourself, or delegate the responsibility to an expert?
If you feel confident that you have the expertise and resources to plan, develop, maintain, manage, support, and refine an IVR strategy on your own, you may want to look at Self-Service SaaS models.

* If you want to focus on your business and leave the IVR solution to the experts (those who have done it repeatedly - hundreds, if not thousands of times), and want to ensure that your applications are hosted, monitored, maintained, and supported to ensure the best performance, then you want to look at a Full Service Managed SaaS model.

The model you choose depends on the level of expertise and support you would like to shift to your IVR service provider.

You can download a complimentary guide which can help you through the IVR vendor selection process at: http://www.datatel-systems.com/IVR-GUIDE

Barnard Crespi

IVR – Text-to-Speech or the Real Deal?

At some point during your IVR application planning and development, you will be faced with the decision to either implement Text-to-Speech (TTS) or use the recording of a live person - or possibly both – to deliver the desired information to the end user.  Although TTS has come a long way from its electronic-sounding origins, most end users would agree that it still does not meet expected sound quality expectations, in that it doesn’t sound like a live person.  There are more than a dozen TTS vendors in the marketplace, some of which have mastered the synthesis of human voice better than others.  I’m of the opinion that a recording by a live person is the best method to deliver an optimal customer experience when replacing a live interaction with IVR.  My rule of thumb is to use a live person to record the body of the IVR application, while sticking to TTS for database driven content.  TTS can work very well to read back dates, currency amounts, or short bits of information which can change dynamically, or even for reading names from a database.  Ultimately, you want your IVR application to deliver the most natural-sounding experience.  Only through user testing will you find the right balance between the use of files recorded by a live person and TTS.

IVR Survey Response Rates: How to get it right!

This is not the first time that I have posted about this topic; however, companies continue to scramble because they don't get this part right..  If you don't get this right, your response rate will tank...

When it comes to response rates to an IVR survey, it has little to do with the technology and everything to do with how you communicate the value to your would be participants.

 

If you want higher response rates, then communicate the value to the participant. Not the value that their responses have to you, but what you intend on doing with the information which will benefit them.

 

If you are targeting your existing clients via mail, make sure your invitation to participate in the survey is not diluted in a package containing all different sorts of information. If the response rate is important to you, then use addressed mail, and do not include anything else with the invitation. The Survey should be the only focus, and your potential participant should not be distracted by anything else.

 

Consider the invitation a sales letter, your job is to get your client to participate.

 

You can get all my tips on this topic by downloading  “The Complete Guide To Successfully Executing Your IVR Survey Project” , go to:

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

 

Barnard Crespi

 

IVR - A Savior in a Time of Economic Uncertainty

In a time of economic uncertainty, when managers are being asked to do more with less, and when cost cutting has become the norm, the ability for IVR (Interactive Voice Response) to assist in accomplishing these objectives has never been more obvious.

Managers are being forced to make difficult choices between high-touch experience delivered by a live agent and low-cost automation delivered by IVR.  It is well known that to process a call using a human agent can cost 5-10 times what it costs to answer a similar call using IVR.  In the past, managers have chosen to deliver an enhanced customer experience over a much lower-cost automated option.

So when it comes time to slash costs, IVR can play a key role.  On the other hand it’s very important not to upset the balance between automation and customer experience.  The answer is not to shift every human interaction to an automated interaction, or to use IVR to make it more difficult for customers to speak to a higher-cost live agent.

I would suggest that you start by taking inventory of all your customer interactions.  Not only the obvious ones.  Your inventory will allow you to prioritize by value contribution, revenue contribution, and cost of each interaction, and pinpoint where IVR can assist you to cut cost, and not significantly upset the balance.

Recently, I received a call from the director of marketing at a company in the health care sector, needing to cut costs by finding an alternative to live agents handling their ‘Diabetes testing kit’ sampling program.  As a sampling program, there was no linked revenue to the call, and the value to the caller was mostly in receiving delivery of the kit on time, which was advertised to over 2.5 million people.  Although this was a highly successful program, based on response, fell under the cuts to the marketing budget. The company recognized that the calls could be handled using IVR, however as an untested alternative they wanted to run a short term pilot to measure the impact to the success of the program.

To minimize the risk the company opted for an “outsourced” IVR approach, which provided financial flexibility by not having to make a long term commitment.  In addition, with reduction in the IT budget, outsourcing the implementation and hosting was a perfect match, allowing the company to control costs, and provide commitment flexibility.

Perhaps when the economy recovers, this company and many others alike will move back the high touch approach of live agents, however as hard economic times call for tough measures, IVR is playing a key role and helping managers accomplish their objectives.

Datatel offers a free guide which helps companies through the IVR vendor selection process, and can be downloaded at: http://www.datatel-systems.com/IVR-GUIDE

Company Web Site: www.datatel-systems.com

Datatel Announces Easy to Deploy IVR Time and Attendance Services For Companies in Canada.

Toronto, ON, Canada. October 28, 2008 – DATATEL INC. a Leader in IVR (Interactive Voice Response) Hosted and Managed Services announced today that it has launched a new IVR Time and Attendance gateway  to its portfolio of ready to implement IVR Hosted Services.

Datatel provides hosted services that help businesses and organizations automate a wide range of telephone interactions with customers and employees, using interactive voice response (IVR).

If you are looking for a simple way to collect Time & Attendance information from your field workforce using the telephone without extensive development or buying a pre-built enterprise workforce management software, you can use Datatel’s IVR T & A Gateway.

This new gateway is specifically designed to help organizations who have already implemented proprietary in-house time and attendance applications, to collect information from their field workforce, with minimal investment, using the telephone.

“Most workforce management software vendors provide telephone IVR access to time and attendance; however, companies who have developed their applications in-house are limited by the capabilities they have built. They can seldom afford, and therefore do not include telephone based time and attendance” said Barnard Crespi, CEO at Datatel.  

“In the current economic atmosphere, companies are cutting back on large capital expenditures; this is why this service makes so much sense. It provides you with what you need to ensure you can collect time and attendance information from your field employees.  There is nothing fancy about it, its straight forward, and it works.” said Mr. Crespi

With a significant Canadian infrastructure and professional services footprint, Datatel can service clients anywhere in Canada, plus provide IVR solutions tailored to regional needs.

As a hosted solution, customers avoid the risk and expense of large capital investments in custom development and software. By avoiding the time commitment of dedicating development resources, hardware purchases and configuration, customers enjoy rapid solution deployment, and lower costs.

About Datatel

Datatel is a leading Canadian provider of Premium IVR (Interactive Voice Response) Hosted and Managed services.

Datatel provides services that help businesses and organizations automate a wide range of telephone interactions with customers and employees. These include IVR Surveys, Order Processing, Lead Generation, Contests, Promotions, Payment Processing, Billing, and 100's of other business applications, in a hosted, managed environment.

For over 15 years we have helped businesses and organizations successfully execute their IVR strategies, by delivering superior know-how, hosting and support services. We have refined a service delivery process that guarantees your successful IVR project execution.

Datatel offers a free guide which helps companies through the IVR vendor selection process, and can be downloaded at: http://www.datatel-systems.com/IVR-GUIDE

Company Web Site: www.datatel-systems.com

Datatel Announces Outbound IVR Services Compliant with the Canada Do Not Call List.

Toronto, ON, Canada. October 20, 2008 – DATATEL INC. a Leader in IVR (Interactive Voice Response) Hosted and Managed Services, announced today that it has launched  a new portfolio of  Outbound IVR Hosted Services, tailored to comply with the Canadian Do Not Call List.

On October 1, 2008, the Canadian Do Not Call List took effect, and the use of IVR for outbound calling to consumers is restricted to specific types of calls. Datatel  provides services that help businesses and organizations automate a wide range of telephone interactions with customers and employees. Datatel has released  an extensive suite of services, which are designed to keep an open channel of communication with customers and employees, and be fully compliant with the DNC.

This new DNC friendly suite of IVR services, allows organizations to initiate automated calls to consumers and always remain DNC compliant. These include:

• Surveys and Polls
• Appointment Reminder Calls
• Appointment Rescheduling Calls
• Calls related to Payments or Collections
• Public Service Announcements
• Product Recalls

 “We want to help businesses stay connected with their customers and stakeholders while ensuring they are following the DNC guidelines. The best way we can do this, is by only offering only IVR services that are DNC friendly” said Barnard Crespi, CEO at Datatel.

With a significant Canadian infrastructure and professional services footprint, Datatel can service clients anywhere in Canada, and provide IVR solutions tailored to regional needs.

As a hosted solution, customers avoid the risk and expense of large capital investments in custom development and software. By avoiding the time commitment of dedicating development resources, hardware purchases and configuration, customers enjoy rapid solution deployment, and lower costs.

Datatel offers a free guide which helps companies through the IVR vendor selection process, and can be downloaded at: http://www.datatel-systems.com/IVR-GUIDE

About Datatel

Datatel is a leading Canadian provider of Premium IVR (Interactive Voice Response) Hosted and Managed services.

Datatel provides services that help businesses and organizations automate a wide range of telephone interactions with customers and employees. These include IVR Surveys, Order Processing, Lead Generation, Contests, Promotions, Payment Processing, Billing, and 100's of other business applications, in a hosted, managed environment.

 For over 15 years we have helped businesses and organizations successfully execute their IVR strategies, by delivering superior know-how, hosting and support services. We have refined a service delivery process that guarantees your successful IVR project execution.

Company Web Site: www.datatel-systems.com

IVR and the Canadian Do Not Call List

Effective October 1, 2008, Marketers who employ IVR to reach out to their potential customers in Canada must be wary. If you are using IVR to place your calls to Canadian consumers, you better press the “pause” button and read the following: www.LNNTE-DNCL.gc.ca

The CRTC refers to IVR as ADAD (Automatic Dialing and Announcing Devices) – you can reference the specifics at: http://www.crtc.gc.ca/eng/INFO_SHT/t1022.htm

The Canadian DNC is very similar to its US counterpart; however, it comes loaded with a list of rules that apply specifically to the use of IVR to communicate with consumers.

If you are using IVR to automate calling for the following purposes, you are exempt as ADADs are permitted when there is no attempt to sell.

So you can press the “resume” button for:

• Product recall calls
• Appointment reminder calls
• Appointment rescheduling calls
• Calls related to payment or bill collections
• Public service announcements
• Polls and Surveys

Important Notice:

If you are using IVR to communicate with consumers, (who are not in the DNC), even if they are your customers, you must make sure you obtain specific clarification from the CRTC. This refers specifically to a new rule which reads: ADADs may not be used for telemarketing unless the consumer has given express consent to accept an ADAD telemarketing call.  https://www.lnnte-dncl.gc.ca/nrt-ntr-eng#link01

To help you successfully execute your IVRsurvey 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 L. Crespi
CEO
Datatel Inc/Datatel Communications Inc
www.datatel-systems.com

Datatel Announces IVR Services Tailored to the Canadian Market.

Toronto, ON September 22, 2008 – DATATEL INC. a leader in IVR Hosted and Managed Services, announced today that it will be launching a new portfolio of  IVR hosted services, tailored to Canadian businesses and organizations.  

Datatel provides services that help businesses and organizations automate a wide range of telephone interactions with customers and employees. These include IVR Surveys, Order Processing, Lead Generation, Contests, Promotions, Payment Processing, Billing, and 100's of other business applications, in a hosted, managed environment.

“Until  today if you were a Canadian businesses you had very few IVR vendor options to choose from, and had to work with providers south of the boarder who usually charge premiums for IVR traffic originating in Canada. This Canada focused program will provide Canadian businesses and organizations, with solutions tailored to the realities of the Canadian marketplace.”, said Barnard Crespi, CEO at Datatel.

With a significant Canadian infrastructure and professional services footprint, Datatel can service clients anywhere in Canada, and receive traffic from any Canadian carrier, can link to Canadian payment processing providers, interface with Canadian mobile operators, and provide solutions tailored to regional needs.

As a hosted solution, customers avoid the risk and expense of large capital investments in custom development and software. In addition to cost savings, customers also benefit from having access to the latest technology and dedicated support – without maintenance or obsolescence worries. By avoiding the time commitment of dedicating development resources, hardware purchases and configuration, customers enjoy rapid solution deployment, and lower costs.

Datatel offers a free guide which helps companies through the IVR vendor selection process, and can be downloaded at: http://www.datatel-systems.com/IVR-GUIDE

About Datatel

Datatel is a leading provider of Premium IVR (Interactive Voice Response) Hosted and Managed services.

Datatel provides services that help businesses and organizations automate a wide range of telephone interactions with customers and employees. These include Surveys, Order Processing, Lead Generation, Contests, Promotions, Payment Processing, Billing, and 100's of other business applications, in a hosted, managed environment.

 For over 15 years we have helped businesses and organizations successfully execute their IVR strategies, by delivering superior know-how, hosting and support services. We have refined a service delivery process that guarantees your successful IVR project execution.

Our quality people, people who take responsibility, plus superior service and technology, guarantee that your IVR goals are met, and that you are fully satisfied.

Company Web Site: www.datatel-systems.com

###

Contact
Barnard Crespi
CEO
416-444-9172 x 251

 

 

IVR Surveys - Managing Open Ended Questions

Your survey may require the caller to provide an answer to an open ended question. For example, your survey may ask: “After the tone, please state why you have selected this overall satisfaction rating choice, please complete your answer by pressing the # key.” Your IVR service provider will most likely record the answer as a WAV file, which you can listen to on your PC. However, if you want to database all responses, you will have to transcribe each recording and place it together with the survey responses for that specific record. For this purpose you will need to hire, (or use internal resources), a transcriber who, will listen to each voice recording and type the contents into the database. You must be thinking, this is going to take forever, managing the voice files, searching for the correct survey record on the database, listening to the voice file (s) and typing the content. How am I going to do this for 100”s of records? You are right; it can take significant resources if you don’t have access to the right tools. A limited number of IVR service providers will provide you with a transcription tool, which will allow you to listen to each recording sequentially (already linked to the database record), type and submit content directly to the database. This process can save you 100 of hrs of work, as it involves no administration.

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 Surveys - Advanced Skip Logic

Skip logic is a function of IVR surveys that permits you to skip to a specific question in the survey, based on how a participant answers a previous question. It is very important that you make note of this, as your IVR service provider will want to know this in advance. It impacts the effort involved, and each option will need to be tested. Here is an example of a call center, post call customer satisfaction survey that demonstrates this useful function:

Was your issue or concern resolved on the first call? Press 1 for Yes Press 2 for No If the Issue or Concern has not yet been resolved, Press 3

If  1 Go To Q8 If  2 Go To Q7 If  3 Go To Q11

This is how it follows:

Q7	In total, how many calls were you required to make in order to resolve your issue or concern? Press 1 for 1 call Press 2 for 2 calls Press 3 for 3 calls Press 4 for 4 calls Press 5 for 5 or more calls	If  1 Go To Q8 If  2 Go To Q8 If  3 Go To Q8 If  4 Go To Q8 If  5 Go To Q8
Q8	Using the same 1 to 5 scales, how would you rate your satisfaction with the number of calls required to resolve your issue or concern?
Q11	Would you like to be contacted by a manager? Press 1 for Yes Press 2 for No

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: 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