What Is Interactive Voice Response (IVR) & How Does It Work?

Customer satisfaction is one of the indicators of a successful company. 🙌

Most customers prefer phone support for troubleshooting, finding it credible and assuring that their concerns are well-addressed.

In this world of busy people where customers barely have free time, they don’t want to waste too much time on inquiries or troubleshooting.

However, sometimes it is nearly impossible for businesses to handle high call volumes and satisfy the customer simultaneously.

The interactive Voice Response (IVR) system fits well in this condition and helps you handle call volume with delegation and personal touch.

Let’s learn more about the Interactive Voice Response system, how it works, its benefits, the best IVR software for businesses, and many more in this article.

What Is Interactive Voice Response (IVR)?

Interactive Voice Response (IVR) is an automated phone system that utilizes prerecorded messages or text-to-speech technologies to engage callers and give them access to information without speaking with a live person.

IVR helps handle the inbound calls and allows customers to interact directly with the agent before talking to a computer-aided assistant. The system allows customers to receive an automated response with a prerecorded message when they call, offering faster, more effective online customer service.

The IVR system makes it easy for customers to get the information they need without talking to customer service. Furthermore, it reduces the call volume for contact centers, which means faster turnaround times and lower operating costs.

How Does IVR Work?

An Interactive Voice Response works by using VoIP technology and traditional phone systems to route calls to different departments or agents using automated menus. IVR application allows you to get in touch with your customers through prerecorded voice prompts/messages.

IVR system used a Computer Telephony Integration system to transfer calls to the different departments and provide the caller’s information. A dual-tone multi-frequency signal is also used in IVR systems to communicate between phones and computers. The computer uses a telephony card or board to understand DTMF signals.

An IVR system allows you to use prerecorded messages/greetings and other menu options that a customer can navigate through using a phone keypad. A customer can communicate with a computer using a speech recognition system in advanced IVR systems.

What are the benefits of Interactive Voice Response (IVR)

The benefits of Interactive Voice Response (IVR) are:

1. Answers Promptly

An IVR solution can handle countless calls simultaneously and ensures all calls are answered while representatives are busy answering other calls.

IVR system ensures that callers don’t feel ignored and enhances the customer experience. It helps you keep track of different call parameters like average handling time, call containment rate, and many more, which results in better customer retention.

2. Enhance Customer Satisfaction

IVR allows you to record personal messages for each of your customers. When a call arrives, the system recognizes the number and offers personalized prompts.

These personalized prompts enhance customer experience and allow users to complete tasks more efficiently. It provides immediate responses to callers, eliminating wait times and hence enhancing customer satisfaction.

3. 24/7 support

The IVR technology can provide information to customers without interruption whenever they need it, without requiring any human assistance. This lets them access real-time information whenever they are ready, regardless of business hours, weekends, holidays, or geographical restrictions.

4. Cost-effectiveness

Using IVR, you can replace human workforce to answer frequent questions and provide standard information. They not only reduce high call volumes for customer service representatives, but they also reduce the operation costs.

5. Improved security

Voice recognition technology can also be incorporated into IVR systems to verify an individual’s identity, adding an extra layer of security. Encryption is advantageous in protecting sensitive information, including social security numbers, phone numbers, and information about savings and checking accounts.

5 Best Interactive Voice Response (IVR) Software in 2024

There are various interactive voice response software in the market. Let’s take a look at the best interactive voice response software in 2024 with their highlighted feature.

1. KrispCall

KrispCall is one of the best virtual cloud phone systems for your business. It is a new alternative to the traditional telephony system. With KrispCall, you can enjoy the convenience and sophistication of VoIP cloud telephony on the go. Expand your business internationally and connect easily with customers and clients.

With the Interactive Voice Response (IVR) features of KrispCall, you can easily transfer your customer’s call to the right departments.

KrispCall offers you the cloud phone system with a wide range of features like campaign calls, a smart dialer, Intelligent call routing, Predictive dialer, auto attendants, and many more to boost productivity and improve customer service.

Getting a number from KrispCall is easy, and calling is secure and affordable. You can buy virtual numbers from more than 100+ countries with 24/7 human support.

💰 KrispCall’s Pricing

2. RingCentral

Ringcentral is a cloud-based business phone system targeted at small businesses. This can include a multi-level IVR system with an auto-attendant. It allows you to use your smartphone as a softphone instead of being limited to office phones.

An IVR system with multi-level capabilities allows customers to select system extensions, voicemails, or external phone numbers from an automated phone menu. The IVR menus are also flexible, and you can create different ones depending on the office location.

You can even have a separate IVR number for your company’s specific menus that is independent of the mainline number. A visual editor is used to configure IVR menus, and up to 200 different menus can be enabled at once.

💰 RingCentral’s Pricing

3. Twilio

Twilio is a communicative platform that allows businesses to create online and mobile applications for communication features like voice, video, and messaging. Using Twilio’s pre-built infrastructure and distributed software, you can create custom solutions relatively easily using its APIs and web SDKs.

Through Twilio, you can program the voice capabilities of your platform using SIP. The IVR can be customized to meet the needs of an organization and is compatible with PCI-compliant self-service, automated voice assistants, and more.

Twilio’s omnichannel functionality enhances the customer experience with its voice command capability in several languages. Due to Twilio’s flexibility, any developer can easily customize and adapt it.

💰 Twilio’s Pricing

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4. Five9

Five9 offers exclusive IVR features that make it an industry-level cloud contact center. With Five9, you can also use auto-dialer mode for inbound calls.

Communications can occur across several channels through the platform, including phone, social media, video, and more. The IVR features of Five9 can also be turned off so customers can speak directly with an agent.

A drag-and-drop feature can be used to configure the software platform, making it easy to install. Call-back options are included in the IVR feature, helping to identify customer needs and personalize the customer experience.

Customer experience can be optimized through the use of call analytics provided by Five9. In addition to real-time reports, previous records can also be used to generate reports.

💰 Five9 Pricing

5. Zendesk

Zendesk is a cloud-based support platform that provides IVR capabilities and features for call centers support. With Zendesk, customers can reach the right agent or department with the multi-level IVR system, which records messages for faster key customer support.

Zendesk’s interactive voice response system deflects incoming calls from a live calls to a text messages. Besides creating custom IVR greetings, Zendesk also allows organizations to supply at least one option-specific IVR greeting for each IVR menu.

IVR menu options can be customized to meet the needs of businesses, improving their business output and increasing customer satisfaction. Zendesk’s Interactive Voice Response software offers a grouping option that can be used to forward calls to one or more groups of agents.

💰 Zendesk’s Pricing

Conclusion

To compete in the marketplace, every business must understand its customers and satisfy their needs. You can use an IVR solution for better customer service, lowering your service costs, and maximizing return on investment.

With Interactive Voice Response software, businesses are able to provide enhanced customer service while effectively managing their business processes. A successful business requires high levels of customer satisfaction, which IVR systems help increase.

We recommend you try KrispCall, one of those cloud-based virtual phone systems that offer you Interactive voice response plus other multi-level features like a virtual receptionist, smart dialer, intelligent call routing, and many more.

Book a free KrispCall demo!

Arun Chaudhary

Arun is SEO Analyst at KrispCall. He has written in extensively in the field of cloud telephony and call center solutions.