Introduction to IVR

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Introduction to IVR

• Steven R. Brown
• VP, Client Services

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Syllabus

• Introduction
• Who is Angel.com?
• What is IVR?
• Uses of IVR
• Why IVR?
• Increased Customer Satisfaction
• Decreased Agent Costs
• Big-Business Feel
• Weighing the Options
• Hosted vs. On-Premises
• Speech Recognition vs. Touch-Tone
• Automation vs. Live Agents
• VoIP vs. PSTN
• Web Self Service vs. Phone Self Service
• Personalized IVR
• Using Data to Personalize the Caller Experience
• Organizing an Effective Team
• Measuring Success of Voice Automation
• Customer Successes with IVR

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Who is Angel.com?

• Hosted IVR and call center solutions provider
• Founded in 1999 subsidiary of MicroStrategy,
  Inc. (NASDAQ MSTR)
• Over 1,600 customers in 20 different industries
• Over 10,000 applications deployed more than any
  other IVR/call center solutions provider
• Presenter Steven R. Brown
• VP, Client Services Dean of IVR University
• brown_at_angel.com, 703-269-1090
• In 6 years with Angel.com, Steve has worked with
  hundreds of businesses large and small to
  implement effective IVR and VCC applications.

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What is IVR?

• IVR Interactive Voice Response
• General term for any computerized, automated
  telephone system.
• Historically used to refer to touch-tone systems,
  IVR has evolved to include both touch-tone and
  speech-recognition based systems.
• Caller Input
• Touch-Tone, a.k.a., DTMF (Dual-Tone
  Multi-Frequency)
• Speech Recognition, a.k.a., ASR (Automated Speech
  Recognition)
• System Response
• TTS (Text-to-Speech) Digitized voice typically
  used to play back dynamic information to callers.
• Recorded Audio (e.g., .wav files) Pre-recorded
  sound files for play back of static information
  or, when stitched together, can be used to play
  back dynamic information.
• Objective
• The goal of a good IVR application is to connect
  callers with the information they are seeking as
  quickly and as efficiently as possible, which may
  mean either a fully automated response to the
  callers inquiry, or connecting the caller to the
  most appropriate live agent.

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Uses of IVR

• Common Uses
• Call routing to live agents
• Phone survey (internal external)
• Account information
• Transaction/payment
• Store/Branch locator
• Unique Uses
• Benefits information and enrollment
• Marketing messaging using celebrity spokesperson
• Phone-in field test results
• Appointment scheduling and reminder
• Food ordering

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Why IVR?

• Increased Customer Satisfaction
• Decreased or no wait times
• Retrieval of information is faster and can happen
  round-the-clock
• Connection to appropriate agent, no
  multi-transfers
• High-quality, consistent service
• Increased Business Efficiencies
• Fewer agents (or none) required many queries can
  be answered in an automated fashion
• Agents handle fewer routine, low-value calls and
  have more time to address customer issues of
  higher business value
• Cost per interaction is drastically lower with
  IVR than a live agent
• Automatically scaleable to meet peak demands in
  usage

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Weighing the Options
There are a number of options to consider when
designing and implementing an IVR system

• Hosted vs. On-Premise
• Speech Recognition vs. Touch-Tone
• Automation vs. Live Agents
• VoIP vs. PSTN
• Web Self Service vs. Phone Self Service

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Hosted vs. On-Premise

• Hosted
• Benefits
• Minimize capital expense and development expense
• Leverage outsourcers expertise in speech,
  telephony, and data center operations
• Technology upgrades are taken care of by provider
• Planning for peak capacity handled by provider
• Tradeoffs
• May not be well-suited for very high-volume
  applications
• Control of call infrastructure handed over to
  provider (but not necessarily application
  development or business logic)

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Hosted vs. On-Premise

• Total Cost of Ownership for On-Premise
  Deployments
• (Redundant) Servers
• (Redundant) Networks
• (Redundant) Storage
• VoiceXML Platform
• Speech Recognition Licenses
• Text-to-Speech Licenses
• Maintenance Fees
• T1s Phone charges
• Data Center(s)
• Maintenance Staff
• Professional Services
• Technology Replacement (Obsolete)
• Multi-Vendor Selection Process

• On-Premise
• Benefits
• Lower telco cost at very high call volumes
• Full control of infrastructure
• Tradeoffs
• Upfront capital expense
• Application development is cumbersome
• Requires dedicated operations personnel and
  facilities
• Serving peak capacity can result in inefficient
  use of resources in off-peak

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Speech Rec. vs. Touch-Tone
Speech Recognition The ability to navigate an IVR
menu tree through voice instead of the keypad

• Benefits
• Speech is a necessity when needing a large number
  of options (states, musical groups, stocks, U.S.
  Senators)
• Capture Name and Address, Alphanumerics
• Can be more convenient for callers, such as
  callers who are driving
• Has the wow factor for engaging customers more
  directly than touch-tone
• Increases automation rates over touch-tone
• Tradeoffs
• Application development can be more complex
  (error handling)
• May not work well for sensitive information (CC,
  PIN, Account s)

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Speech Rec. vs. Touch-Tone
Touch-Tone Navigating an IVR menu tree by
pressing numbers on a keypad

• Benefits
• Works reliably when the number of options is
  limited
• More traditional, so there is no learning curve
• Better for sensitive information
• Easier to develop application
• Tradeoffs
• Lower automation rates than speech recognition
• Difficult to use with a large number of options
• Does not handle alphanumerics, names and
  addresses
• Difficult to use in a hands-free environment
• Perceived as older, less human technology

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Growth of Speech
North American Speech vs. DTMF services revenues

• Spending on services in speech will grow from
  88.7m in 2004 to 230.7m in 2009, in step with
  overall growth of speech sales.
• Spending on services in DTMF will decrease from
  317.5m in 2004 to 229.5m in 2009, in keeping
  with the overall decline in DTMF.

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Automation vs. Live Agents

• Automation
• Benefits
• Per minute costs are much lower
• Provides 247365 access to information for all,
  and ready access for callers without web access
• Often more efficient than talking to an agent,
  esp. for repeat callers
• Offers consistent service quality and easily
  handles repetitive tasks
• Often preferred for personal or sensitive
  information
• Tradeoffs
• Not as personal as a live agent
• Often seen as a barrier by callers
• Cannot automate all services required by callers

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Automation vs. Live Agents

• Live Agents
• Benefits
• Seen as more customer-friendly callers like
  talking to agents
• More traditional, so frustration levels can be
  decreased
• Agents can handle tasks not possible through
  automation
• Tradeoffs
• Costs are much higher when including salaries,
  benefits, office space, etc.
• Agents perform repetitive tasks, leading to
  higher turnover
• Not consistent callers experience differs by
  agent
• Waiting on hold for a routine task is inefficient
  for callers
• Bottom Line Automate straightforward tasks and
  transactions (see Personalized IVR), but
  always provide option for live agent.

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VoIP vs. PSTN

• VoIP Voice over Internet Protocol
• Benefits
• Through associated protocol, SIP (Session
  Initiation Protocol), data can be passed along
  with the call
• Can carry phone calls into the IVR and transfer
  calls out of the IVR to live agents
• Typically less expensive than PSTN
• Tradeoffs
• Call quality can be diminished depending on the
  bandwidth available through the end-to-end
  connection over the IP network issues can
  include delays, static and echoing

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VoIP vs. PSTN

• PSTN Public Switched Telephone Network
• Benefits
• Consistent high audio quality
• Typically already in place at most facilities
• Not affected by power outages
• Traditional technology that all agents know
• Tradeoffs
• Difficult to pass additional information along
  with the call
• Typically more expensive than VoIP

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Web vs. Phone Self Service

• Web and Phone self service are complementary
  channels for providing self service to customers,
  partners, and employees
• Web and Phone can (and should) use the same
  backend database(s) to power the interaction with
  visitors and callers
• The telephone extends the reach of Web
  applications, providing on-the-go, convenient
  access without duplicating infrastructure

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Personalized IVR

• Personalized IVR
• Uses customer profile data to power the IVR
  interaction
• Engages in one-to-one dialog with caller
• Two-way benefit
• Reduced cost to company through efficient
  automation of call
• Increased customer satisfaction through quick
  answers to common questions
• Better tracking and monitoring of customers

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Personalized IVR
Example

• Impersonal IVR
• Thank you for calling ACME, a leading provider
  of services to consumers. Listen closely to the
  following options as our menu items have recently
  changed. Please select from one of the following
  four options. Press 1 if you are new to our
  service and would like to sign up, or if you have
  questions about service availability in your
  area press 2 if you have recently signed up for
  ACME service and are inquiring about your service
  transfer press 3 if you are an existing ACME
  customer and have a question about billing,
  support, or some other inquiry. Or to reach a
  live agent, press 0.

• Personalized IVR
• ACME, the no gotcha services company. In case
  youre calling about your service transfer, I see
  that were still processing it. Your transfer
  request is scheduled to be completed on April
  20th. Is there anything else I can help you with
  today?

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Personalized IVR

• ACME, the no gotcha services companyIf youre
  new to our service, just say learn more
• Learn more
• Ill transfer you to someone who can tell you
  more about us, but first, let me check for ACME
  service availability in your area. Are you
  calling from the phone number where our service
  will be used?
• Yes
• Just a moment while I checkGreat, ACME service
  is available! Do you have high-speed Internet
  access?
• Yes
• Excellent. We look forward to having you as a
  ACME customer. Ill transfer you now.

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Personalized IVR

• Keys to Offering Personalized IVR
• Uniquely identify callers (Caller ID, Account
  Number, Phone Number)
• Lookup caller profile in customer database
• Identify different bins that callers fall into,
  and create customized call flows for each bin
• Optimize for the frequent caller experience
• Technical Requirements
• Web-based transactional CRM system
• Integrated customer data

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Organizing an Effective Team

• Business Roles
• Business Project Manager
• Maintains budget, schedule, and project timeline.
• Call Center Manager
• Manages call center agents, introduces and trains
  agents on new technology.

• Technical Roles
• Technical Architect
• Defines technical interfaces between systems.
• Programmer
• Writes code to link IVR with backend CRM/database
  systems.
• VUI Designer
• Writes prompts, designs call flow, where the
  science meets the art.

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Measuring Success

• Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) for IVR
• Automation Rate (Caller Self-Service)
• Abandon Rate
• Call Duration
• Zero-out
• Tools for Measuring Success
• Wizard of Oz testing
• Data capture and reporting in IVR
• Call recording

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Family Dollar

• Company Low-price retailer with 5,000 locations
  and annual sales in excess of 5B.
• Challenge For 38,000 employees, automate
  internal HR processes such as the paper-based
  process for the 4 Firsts new hire program.
• Solution Speech-based IVR for new badge
  ordering, and real-time feedback through
  phone-based survey. Application built by HR
  manager using point-and-click Angel.com Site
  Builder.
• Results Feedback from the field regarding our
  new Angel.com application has been positive. Many
  of our employees do not have Internet access.
  Therefore, an IVR-based phone application will
  help us provide and collect information more
  efficiently. Michael Lariosa, HRIS Manager

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Charlotte County Schools

• Organization Florida public school system that
  houses over 20,000 students.
• Challenge Measure satisfaction of parents and
  identify areas of improvement. Streamline the
  survey and reporting process and accommodate
  students/parents without Internet access.
• Solution Outbound IVR survey distributed to
  students/parents with complete back-end results
  reporting system.
• Results The school system saved time and money,
  while providing everyone with a convenient
  opportunity to participate. An impressive 38 of
  those who answered the call completed the survey.

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Borland Software

• Company Leader in platform-independent tools for
  optimizing software development processes.
• Challenge Replace existing Aspect system to
  manage queueing and routing calls to support
  agents in geographically dispersed call centers.
• Solution Angel.com Virtual Call Center providing
  up-front IVR plus call queueing and routing to
  Atlanta and California, and soon to Ireland,
  Amsterdam and Singapore.
• Results Borlands call abandonment rate has
  dropped by 67, and their average speed of answer
  has improved by 44 The Angel.com solution
  means changes that used to cost me thousands of
  dollars and weeks to implement can now happen in
  real-time and without incurring any additional
  costs. Gary Janos, Director of Technical
  Support

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Next Steps

• Sign up now for next weeks webinar
  www.angel.com/ivruniversity
• Where you can find more information
• Angel.com IVR Blog http//blogs.angel.com
  Insights and News on the IVR Industry
• Angel.com Monthly Newsletter www.angel.com/newsl
  etter New Technology, Tips Tricks, Industry
  News and more
• IVR University www.ivruniversity.com White
  Papers, Articles and Webinars on IVR Design

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Appendix

• IVR Cheat Sheet for Businesses(Top 10 list of
  best practices in designing an IVR system)
• Top 10 Questions to Ask Your IVR Vendor

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IVR Cheat Sheet for Businesses

• The following is a Top 10 list of best practice
  guidelines to follow for designing a
  customer-friendly IVR system.

• Let callers know what to expect from the system
  immediately. This is a simple rule that applies
  to any customer experience - present a pleasant
  greeting and explain succinctly what the system
  can and will do for the caller.
• Do not hide the option for callers to speak with
  a live agent. No matter how useful your IVR
  system is for customers, there will always be
  times when customers want and need to speak to a
  live agent to resolve their issue.
• Whenever possible, give the caller an approximate
  time for the completion of the request. If
  transferring to a live agent, let the caller know
  the expected hold time and provide options to go
  back into the IVR system.

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IVR Cheat Sheet for Businesses

• Do not make callers repeat information collected
  in the IVR. If you want callers to believe that
  the IVR can help them resolve a problem, respect
  the time they put into the IVR and don't ask for
  the same answers twice.
• Provide callers with an option to navigate the
  system using touch-tone (keypad) or speech
  recognition. Let callers choose the most
  effective option based on their general
  preferences, location or understanding of the
  system.
• Personalize the IVR for each caller by
  integrating with your customer databases and CRM
  systems. If callers know that the system
  recognizes their identity, they will be far more
  likely to stay in the IVR.
• Identify and communicate a few universal commands
  that are recognized at any time during the call.
  Examples include "beginning" to go back to the
  start of the dialogue and "help" to get detailed
  information on the current request for input.

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IVR Cheat Sheet for Businesses

• Keep the interface simple - use closed, short
  prompts, limit the number of menu choices and
  request simple, one-word responses. Callers will
  only use the IVR system if they perceive that it
  is easy to use and useful in resolving their
  issue or information request.
• Always let the caller know what is happening.
  Keep in mind that the IVR dialogue should be
  similar to a conversation between two human
  beings. The system should explain pauses with
  messages such as "Thanks for the information, let
  me look up your account" or "I am trying to find
  the most appropriate person to handle your
  request".
• Provide courteous, smooth error-handling. Generic
  error messages that are not tailored to the
  caller's specific situation will drive callers
  away from the IVR. The system should always take
  the blame for errors.

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Top 10 Questions for Vendors

• How many customers do you support on a daily
  basis?
• How many voice applications have you hosted in
  company history?
• How do we know you are a viable long-term
  partner?
• How is integration with existing applications
  handled?
• What type of analytics tools can your company
  provide?
• Where is my voice application hosted?
• Who are your marquee customers?
• Do you have a team that can build, deploy and
  help me maintain my application?
• Are there any hidden costs, such as licensing
  renewals or maintenance fees?
• How much do you know about IVR best practices?