There are few parameters or features of IVR which are important and are common to almost any type of IVR application. These parameters play very important role in making the voice application more user friendly. These parameters are used at many stages in IVR software or in any call flow. I hope, knowing these would help people who are looking to develop an IVR or looking to purchase IVR software.

These are very small parameters, but they may play crucial role in reducing call abandon rate in IVR. Some of them are :-

1. Allowing or not allowing caller to press a key while IVR plays the menu options

IVR may be configured to accept or to reject any key press while caller is listening the menu options. Allowing to press key during playing of menu allows caller to ‘cut through‘ the IVR menus and reach his desired IVR stage or menu quickly. But it may also increase chances of wrong key press, specially when some menus options are changed. Many regular caller may not like to hear known menus again and again.

2. Duration to allow a caller to press any key or voice command

Waiting time for callers key press or voice command may become crucial. During wait period, IVR does not play anything and become silent, so if this wait period is too long, caller may think the IVR is not responding, so disconnect the call.

3. How many times to play a same menu and number of attempts to choose correct menu options

Naturally, people make mistakes while pressing key or may make mistakes intentionally. So, it is important to decide the number of attempts one may try for each and every menu options. This kind of parameter may be required even while accepting some valid input from caller, for example mobile number, customer ID, complaint ticket etc. If this is not defined, then some caller may occupy some channel of the IVR unnecessarily.

4. Confirming menu menu selection of digit (s) pressed or voice command spoken

It is an important decision to make. Should IVR confirm every menu choice made by caller or not! Even in any software, when some one tries to do some important task, it pops up an confirmation window, similarly, IVR also ask confirmation for menu choice! But it may also irritate IVR caller. When using ASR ( Automatic Speech Recognition), confirming every option may become a necessity rather than a choice.

5. Inter-digit pause while expecting more than one DTMF keys as input from caller.

While caller enters multiple digits as input to the IVR, for example, credit card number, phone number, ID number, the duration of pause in between two consecutive DTMF digits or key press is important. Very long inter digit pause may result caller disconnect.

6. Using # ( hash) or star (*) keys to terminate

Deciding to use # or * keys to end entry of multiple digit is a good option. But these keys may also confuse some people who do not know about # or * keys as many of them do not use these keys. In India, many land line phones do not have # key. But with penetration of mobile phones, one may expect people to know about these keys.

These parameters are quite common and many developers use some configuration files or provide user friendly forms to configure.

It may not be easy to define a successful IVR ( Interactive voice response) System. In single line, one IVR system could be termed successful when it has lowest abandon rate by both genuine new and old callers. When an IVR system is designed to perform some specific task for a caller, if the caller completes those tasks using the IVR easily at the shortest time possible, then the IVR will have very less abandonment rate and the IVR could be termed successful IVR.

For example, if one IVR system retrieves outstanding bill for telephone number, the caller should be able to hear his/her outstanding bill at the shortest possible time, without failure with having to choose minimum options, either using DTMF/Key-press or voice command. If the caller disconnects the call before he hears his outstanding bill amount, then it would be ‘abandon of IVR call’. But if the caller listens to his outstanding bill amount, and then disconnects the call, it is ‘successful IVR call’.

So, apart from technical challenge (developing the IVR software, integrating with PBX/ IP-PBX etc.), the major consideration for IVR or any voice application for matter, remains making the most user-friendly IVR call flow or Voice User Interface (VUI) design. So, success of IVR will depend on majorly on the VUI design! The callers who are the users of IVR system, will care little about the technology involved for developing the IVR system and will care about only the information they want. If they do not find it easy to get the information they want, IVR system is useless for them. ( One may check #ivr #ivrs trending in twitter.com to find how people hate about IVRS, everywhere in the world!)

There are two types of caller, new caller and old or regular callers to any IVR system. One of the most common complaint by regular caller is the change of menu options! In any customer care IVR system, normally, regular caller outnumber new callers, if call flow is changed, suddenly, there is no longer any old or regular caller for the IVR as everybody becomes new caller. Everybody will have to listen to all menu options as long as the prompts play! This increases not only abandon calls, but also increase time spent on the IVR system by callers! Normally, IVR system should aim to complete its ‘task’ at the shortest time, to server more caller with fixed number of lines.

Recently, I have experienced increase in demand from IVR users who wanted to have options to change the call flow using some visual tools, I always wanted to discourage them! Though visual tool is an excellent way for developing IVR application, it should not be used to keep changing the call flow quickly or just for the sake of changing it and just because one has a easy visual tool to change it! Else the very purpose of installing IVR system would be defeated and one will own a failed IVR system with high call abandon rate!

Designing IVR call flow is very important for success of an IVR deployment, and sticking to the same call flow is also equally important. Call flow should be changed only when it is a must, other wise IVR call flow should not be changed. One is sure to see spike in abandoned calls when call flow is changed.

Speech recognition in IVRS has become more of a necessity after mobile phones have arrived. POTS ( Plain Old Telephone ) System have telephone instrument with proper keypad along with head-set. Procedure of calling is suitable for pressing DTMF based interaction with IVR System!

You normally lift the headset with left hand, dial pressing keys on telephone instrument using your right hand. So, when IVR is connected and you are listening to the voices by IVR System as well as pressing keys! While in a mobile phone, the tiny instrument itself is head-set, so when you are listening to IVR instructions, it is almost impossible to press keys without removing from your ear and looking at keys! The one solution is to use ear-phone or blue-tooth powered wireless headset!

Most probably, this has given prompted IVR developers as well as CTI vendors to come out with speech recognition for IVR Input. Though, speech recognition has evolved a lot, still speech recognition can not claim to perform 100%. This happens mainly because of pronunciation, accents of language from one region to another.

There are many speech recognition engines available. Nuance, Loquendo, Microsoft, Spinvox etc. are few companies which provide speech recognition engines on various technologies.

IVR with speech recognition capabilities are supposed to more advanced and suitable for mobile user, but it is actually very difficult to predict if the IVR application and speech engine will be able to recognise speech command properly. But IVR with Speech Recognition has been on the rise and every IVR Company now a days provide speech recognition. CTI vendors too support speech recognition in their hardware.

But still many people like me, will prefer to use DTMF for giving command to IVR as it sounds more technical. Most probably some people will take time get used to the idea of commanding some invisible machines by speaking!