We’ve all been stuck on the phone trying to get information from an automated telephone system in a battle against the machine that sometimes seems to be designed specifically to prevent us from finding what we’re looking for. While that almost certainly wasn’t the intent of the automated phone system, poor execution can leave a multitude of customers with a bad taste in their mouth.

A well designed IVR (Interactive Voice Response) phone system can be a valuable resource, but a poorly designed system will only reflect poorly on your organization’s communication and customer service. With that being said, here are a few pointers to help make sure you are designing a good call flow for your automated IVR system:

• Outline the Call Flow for Your IVR
  A flow chart or an outline is the perfect place to start. You really need to take the time to plan out how someone is going to interact with your phone system long before you start creating the actual IVR in your software. Taking the time to plan it all through at the beginning will help you keep the big picture in mind and to avoid creating a long trail of prompts.

• Think Like Your Customers
  Always keep your customers in mind. Why will they be calling the system? Put the options for the most frequently used items at the beginning so they can be accessed quickly and easily. At every step along the way think about how the message will come across from a customer’s point of view.

• Keep It Simple
  Don’t try to do everything. Less is more. With an automated phone system you want to keep the number of key presses to minimum. Trying to do too many things just gives the callers more places that they can get lost along the way. Really think about what options should be available and who is calling in. For example, if you need to offer different services to customers and vendors it might be better to have two different systems rather thane on that does everything, keeping each line simplified and tailored to its purpose instead of trying to do everything on one line.

• Keep Menu Prompts Clear and Concise
  The longer your message, the harder it is going to be for a caller to remember everything that is being said and what they need to do to interact with the system. Be sure to use the same language as your customers, avoiding industry slang and terminology callers might not be familiar with.

• Offer Universal Commands
  Options like pressing the star key (*) to return to the main menu at any point during a call, or an option to repeat a prompt will make it much easier for callers to navigate the IVR system.

• Give the Option to Talk to Someone or Leave a Voice Message
  The goal of an IVR system may be in part to reduce the number of calls that your staff needs to handle, but there will be times when the system does not fulfill a customer’s needs. You need to offer these callers the alternative to either talk to a live person or leave a message for someone to call them back.

• Test, Test, Test, and Test Some More
  Test the call flow every step along the way test the flow. Think of as many possible scenarios as you can and go through the process yourself. Get other people to try it out, too. Never think of your system as being completely done. You need to monitor how well it is working, and make sure that you are offering the right options at the right time. Get feedback from your staff and customers. Designing a good IVR call system should be an ongoing process.

These are just a few of the tips to help you get started on the right foot when you are implementing an interactive voice response system. Taking the time to thoroughly plan out a new IVR call flow, before you even start working with an application like IVM interactive voice response software, can make a significant difference in the final result and is well worth the time and effort.

Predictive dialer can be termed as smart auto-dialer.  Auto dialer dial out telephone number and handover or transfer the call to human agent in a call center.  Once the dialed number answers, the call agent or telemarketer starts speaking as per the outbound call center function.

Now there can be many situations where the process as described above may not go as expected. For example,

1. The dialed number may be busy. In that case, call agent will hear busy tone and disconnects wasting precious time of the call agent who is paid by the hour.

2. The dialed number simply does no reply. Poor call agent will listen the dialed number ringing and listening it over! Wasting precious time as well as patience.Though now a days, the dialed number may play a hit number of the season thanks to CRBT ( Caller Ring Back Tone), but that is not why a call agent is employed.

3. The dialed number turns out to be a FAX or a voice mail! Another miss!

4. The dialed number simply choose to disconnect the call. Yes, if the dialed number is a mobile number, they can disconnect a call and it was not possible for land line number though! Another miss by call agent!

5. What if auto-dialer dials out a number successfully, but no call agent to take to call ? This time the cursing will come from the dialed number.

6. With NDNC ( National Do Not Call) registry in place in almost every country ( even in India) in the world by now, one can not dial out to any telephone number! What happens if the dialed number is listed NDNC ? Hefty fine as well as few curse from the dialed number.

Predictive dialer tries to solve all the above problems! This obviously will increase call time by call agents or tele-marketer in a call center manifold! This will increase efficiency as well as profitability of the call center.

So, predictive dialer is the smart auto-dialer which can increase agent talk time thereby increasing productivity as well as efficiency. It allows higher utilization of resources in call center and higher profit.

Now, how about an IVR system for smart auto dialing job ? have a look at the call flow attached below :-

IVR as Smart Auto Dialer or Predictive dialer

I am pretty sure this ( outbound IVR) can replace traditional predictive dialer or auto dialer which will be much cheaper, feature rich as well as scalable.

Few enhancements:-
1. Once call is connected, it can announce to the caller in the sweetest voice possible, what is the call is about and ask if s/he is interested to know more and then transfer the call to telemarketer or call agent. I am sure it will screen dialed person and increase conversion ratio!
2. Outbound IVR as predictive dialer can also get feedback.

Finally, I would say, it is time for you to switch to outbound IVR from your predictive dialer. Or, if you were a call center owner and wanted to have a predictive dialer, re-think and seriously evaluate outbound IVR. you may contact me.

After more searches and after getting comments about more CTI Companies,

[With the price hike in Dialogic, many of my clients have been asking me about alternatives. I have also started searching for some alternatives of Dialogic. I will be building a list and comparative article on them. Kindly send me any company.]

Here is another company I am looking at

PIKA Technologies

About the Company

PIKA Technologies’ reliable media processing building blocks connect computer systems to TDM and IP networks. Brand name companies design groundbreaking IVR, call center, custom PC/IP PBX, fax and logging solutions using PIKA Technologies’ components.

With two decades of experience in this industry, we are recognized for earning strong relationships with our customers around the world by delivering direct, expert technical support. Headquartered in Ottawa, ON, Canada, our company has ranked in The Branham300, an authoritative ranking of successful Canadian high tech firms, for six consecutive years.

Expertise on demand

We are made up of employees who possess experience across a range professional expertise, whether that be engineering, technical support, operations, etc.. Each employee is ready and willing to help our customers be successful. “Our employees are our greatest asset,” explains Jim Pinard, Co-founder and President. “It is because of our reliable and knowledgeable people that we are able to earn a reputation for delivering technical expertise when it is needed.”

Quality commitment

We are committed to quality leadership and continuous improvement within all aspects of our design, product development, manufacturing and customer care activities. Our focus is to meet or exceed the expectations of all our customers, in a cost effective and competitive manner. We believe quality is the responsibility of every individual, function and position.