IVR has become important for call centers. It acts as a doorway to your company. IVR includes call routing, prompts, voice talent and more and these must be optimized in order to initiate the best customer service possible. IVR is efficient for the company and effective for the customer, if it is installed properly. Read more at - http://www.callcentertimes.com/Home/tabid/37/ctl/NewsArticle/mid/395/CategoryID/1/NewsID/1096/Default.aspx

Earlier, switch operators would talk to customers and connect them to the most appropriate extension within a company. Nowadays, an IVR automates this process and according to a report, 27 % of your customer's calling experience consists of interacting with the IVR. IVR is playing an important part in customer experience, and hence, it should be optimized to keep your customers happy while saving time and money on your support costs.  Read more at: http://it.toolbox.com/blogs/voip-news/your-ivr-should-be-saving-you-time-and-money-69941

According to a recent study by CareerBuilder, it was found that 43% of retailers plan to hire additional workers for the holiday season. Now with the approaching holiday season there is an increase in call volumes. Companies need a way to handle all of these inbound calls. So, many companies are turning to virtual call centers. A virtual call center can help companies cut costs while still providing customer service. To know more, follow: http://www.business2community.com/sales-management/strategy-managing-high-call-volumes-holiday-season-integrated-virtual-call-center-01050802

Interactive Voice Response is important for any call center. But, what is an Interactive Voice response or IVR? It is a technology that makes customer interactions efficient and streamlined. Some IVR’s are complex in design. Some companies don’t use IVR, and others have such a poor design. Richard Manulkin (Connect First), writes in this article some tips on how an IVR design can help in improving customer service.Read more at: http://www.callcentertimes.com/Home/tabid/37/ctl/NewsArticle/mid/395/CategoryID/1/NewsID/861/Default.aspx

In an article written by Ann All, Editor at QuinStreet, explains how smart phones will help to boost the image of IVR systems in the near future. Till date IVRs have been audio based and sometimes it is cumbersome for customers to navigate through different menu options while holding up their phones to their ears. This not only proved difficult but also created a lot of dissent among the customers. IVRs ease of use reflects a lot on a company's image. With smart phones gaining popularity across the world, companies are trying to shift to interactive and visual IVRs. These visual systems not only help in customers navigate through menu options easily but also presents a visual representation of a company's IVR system. Visual IVRs provide a better customer service experience to the consumers of the company.

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In an article written by Zack Martin (Author at SecureID News), we come to know how a Mexican bank has employed voice biometrics for its customers to make phone banking process easy for them. Bank now uses Vocal Password voice biometrics solution which makes the usage of PINs, passwords, and security questions in their automated phone system redundant and obsolete. Introduction of voice biometrics has helped customers of the bank in a great way that now they don't have to remember any PIN's or passwords their voice is now the password for any banking operation they want to do over phone.

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In an article written by Chad Brooks (BusinessNewsDaily Senior Writer), gives us insight into how effective handling of automated phone systems can reflect positively on the image of your company or vice-versa. Businesses need to tread carefully between their own demands and the demands of their consumers to extract the best possible out of their IVR systems. In his article Brooks lists out some important suggestion by a senior corporate executive in the field of IVR's to prevent a IVR system being exposed to failures.

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In an article written by Chad Brooks (BusinessNewsDaily Senior Writer), gives us insight into the problem faced by small businesses in making and attending calls. Small businesses always cannot employ people just for call operating purposes. Chad brooks in his articles suggests some IVR solutions for these small businesses and also asserts them on why to have a running IVR system in their premises as it will not only help in reducing wastage of precious times for employees as well as can also be a boon for them to develop their business.

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In an article written by Chad Brooks (senior writer of BusinessNewsDaily), explains how to choose a right IVR for your organization. IVR system attends to customer's request based on customer's response. It is an automated process and reduces a great deal of human interaction. So, getting a right IVR for your business will increase your customer satisfaction.

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In a blog written by Uttam Pegu (an IVR blogging expert), we come to know about the current pricing scenario of IVR in India. This article also gives us an insight as to how companies can explore more opportunities for revenue generation through their IVR services.

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In a white paper submitted by Pronexus (telephony, speech and database integration company), we come to know about the basics of voice user interface design. This white paper outlines many minute things that one should keep in mind before designing a voice user interface. He also describes what voice user interface is and what the design issues related with it are.

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In a blog written by Irv Shapiro (CEO and head coach ifbyphone), we come to know the basic differences between proactive call optimization and reactive call tracking analytics. In his blog he explains how a VBMA suite has state of art technologies to deal with many impending problems that today's business organizations face with respect to call tracking etc. VBMA is used to route the call to a proper agent. The technology should be easy to use and not complex in its handling.

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In a blog written by Dr Jodie Monger, a pioneer in customer satisfaction research for the contact center industry, explains how problem arises in collecting multiple customer comments from post call IVR survey. He also explains what the problems are and how to solve those problems. 

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Handling phone calls to serve your customers is definitely important for your company. But, have you ever calculated how much it costs you? A research by ContactBabel, shows that for making a live agent call, it costs you £ 3.87 in average!

Interactive Voice Response (IVR) can be effective in reducing this cost. According to the report, it can bring down your operational costs by 6 times. Also, with increasing usage of smartphones, a new type of IVR menus can be provided known as Visual IVR, where a caller can navigate a visual IVR menu between 4 and 5 times faster than a traditional audio IVR menu. The direct impact will be enhanced customer experience.

Read at http://www.callcentrehelper.com/ivr-self-service-costs-6-times-less-than-a-phone-call-59403.htm for more research findings on how IVR can help you reducing your costs.