IVR in your call centre: What it is, its benefits, and how you can maximise them

IVR is an essential piece of technology for call centres. With the range of benefits it brings for both agents and employees, it’s little wonder why this tool has become so popular.

But what is IVR, and how can it help your business?

This guide outlines the key benefits of IVR, including how call centre IVR platforms can improve customer satisfaction, boost agent productivity, and cut operational costs.

We’ll also share some best practices to help you get started and ensure you get the most out of your system.

Let’s dive in.

IVR meaning: Unpacking the acronym

IVR systems are increasingly common in both call centres and regular businesses because they’re a simple way to improve the customer experience—but what is the definition of IVR?

IVR stands for Interactive Voice Response, and uses automated menus to provide immediate, efficient answers and routing to your callers. It’s usually a part of telephony software and handles inbound calls by offering a range of options to solve the caller’s query (or redirecting them to the appropriate person or department) via keypad prompts or speech recognition.

How does IVR work in a call centre?

Interactive Voice Response systems allow your callers to self-serve, get the answers they need, and even complete simple tasks. This means they can access the information they’re looking for without having to wait for an agent to pick up their call, and gives them more time to focus on more high-value tasks.

How it works: When customers call you, a prerecorded message will give them a set of options to choose from. The IVR will then register their response and direct them to the relevant menu to go through additional options or speak to the appropriate representative.

This can be done in one of two ways. Either the caller can press numbers on their phone’s keypad or, with some IVR call centre solutions, can speak to the IVR via voice recognition technology.

For example, if someone is calling to find out your opening times, they might press 2 on their keypad to hear an automated message with your business’s operating hours.

If their query can’t be handled automatically, call centre IVR tools can also be programmed to direct the caller to the most suitable agent or team. Let’s say the caller needs to speak to someone with particular language capabilities—IVR call centre software can put them through to an agent who speaks their language.

How IVRs can help your call centre

By using IVR, call centre and contact centre teams can boost productivity, improve the customer experience, and provide 24/7 support.

These advantages benefit both your customers and your agents, making the process smoother for everyone involved. Here are six key benefits of IVR for call centres:

1. Higher first contact resolution rates

Every call centre manager understands the importance of high first contact or first call resolution rates. Solving problems quickly ensures your teams can keep customer satisfaction levels high and reduces customer churn.

Implementing IVR in a call centre can streamline the calling process and increase first contact resolution rate because callers either get the information they need instantly or get connected to the agent or team who’s best suited to handle their query.

2. Automated call routing

IVR systems are also helpful because now you no longer need a receptionist whose entire day is devoted to transferring calls to the right person or department.

Even when an IVR can’t resolve the call on its own, it can route the call to the most suitable agent.

The best call centre IVR systems are simple to set up and adjust, allowing you to easily customise your call routing settings with a few clicks.

Whether you want to route callers by area, queue wait time, or priority level, you can design a call flow that meets your needs and addresses the common questions people call about.

3. Self-service and 24/7 customer support

More and more customers prefer to solve their query themselves without having to contact a representative. In fact, a recent Capterra study of 1,003 UK consumers found that 45% of them think they’re bothering customer services when they get in touch.

Offering self-service options with IVR call centre software gives customers the power to deal with their issues on their own.

Essentially, call centre IVR lets you expand your service without burdening your teams or dramatically increasing operating costs—and is particularly useful in an emergency, at peak call times, or when they need information outside of your business’ operating hours.

4. Improved customer satisfaction

Interactive Voice Response systems are all about helping your customers solve their problems quickly and easily. A good IVR solution will be straightforward for your callers to navigate and give them the answers they’re looking for as fast as possible.

And when almost 50% of people don’t care if they talk to a human or Ai as long as their question gets answered, it’s clear that high-quality call centre IVR tools are part of the future of customer service.

To measure success, you can measure customer satisfaction rates before and after implementing IVR with CSAT surveys.

Dialpad’s contact centre solution, Dialpad Support, incorporates both IVR functionality and a CSAT feature. Not only can you create a survey in just a few clicks, you can also leverage the Ai CSAT feature to accurately predict CSAT scores for up to 100% of your customer calls:

5. Reduced burden on agents

Having an automated system like an IVR in a call centre saves agents a huge amount of time. Instead of dealing with tedious, routine tasks and questions, your workforce can focus on higher value tasks that require skilled, human attention.

For example, some Ai-powered IVR systems can even collect the caller’s personal details and reason for the call so the customer doesn’t have to repeat themselves to the live agent.

6. Lower operational costs

An IVR solution effectively acts as a virtual receptionist, answering questions and guiding callers to the correct call centre agent. This significantly reduces operating costs by eliminating the need to hire more employees, and increases efficiency and productivity across your workforce.

IVR call centre software is very affordable, and solutions like RingCentral’s RingAgent are even embedded into existing phone systems and contact centre platforms.

The dos and don’ts of implementing your IVR solutions

Follow these best practices to make sure you maximise the value of your IVR call centre software:

Do: Set up customised and personalised messages and prompts

While customers may be happy to use automated tools, it’s still important to offer a customer-centric experience.

Good call centre IVR technology lets you record customised greetings, messages, and prompts for your callers. This offers a more personalised experience and is an opportunity to provide callers with key information that’ll help them route themselves to the right place.

Don’t: Overcomplicate your menus

Make your IVR menu as efficient as possible so customers can quickly get the help they need. Having too many menus and too many options can confuse customers, and ultimately defeats the purpose of having an IVR system in the first place.

Make sure your menus and call flows make sense, and test the system out beforehand to ensure the options are relevant and easy for your callers to navigate.

Do: Give customers a callback option

Some IVRs offer advanced call queue capabilities, helping agents organise and distribute inbound calls to reduce customer wait time and improve efficiency. But if you’re looking to make things easy and convenient for your customers, consider giving them a callback option. This means customers don’t have to wait around for the next available agent, and also helps reduce the call volume for your team.

Callers who spend less time on hold are even more likely to report higher satisfaction levels and CSAT scores:

Don’t: Keep queue lengths and wait times to yourself

Being on hold is never fun, especially when you have no idea when or if someone will answer your call.

While it might sound basic, it’s important to be upfront and transparent about wait times. This gives the caller the power to decide what is best for them—whether that’s calling back another time, choosing to receive a callback later, or waiting to speak to an agent—and reduces abandoned calls.

Do: Make it quick and easy to reach a live agent

In some scenarios, talking to a human is the only solution. But if it takes too long to navigate your IVR system, your customers will get frustrated and you may end up losing customers.

To avoid this, make sure your IVR call centre software provides clear and easy instructions, and set up your call flow correctly so your caller is routed to the most appropriate team or agent.

Don’t: Forget about callers who speak different languages

One of the great features of the best call centre IVR platforms is their multilingual capabilities. According to a report by Rest of World, native English speakers make up just under five percent of the global population, so it’s likely you’ll have customers who speak other languages.

Some IVR systems can support multiple languages, empowering you to customise the menu options for individual users, teams, or contact centres. Providing these localisation options will improve the customer experience and boost customer satisfaction rates.

Do: Integrate IVR with your CRM & other communication channels

Integrating call centre IVR tools with your existing platforms saves time, boosts productivity, and helps your agents provide omnichannel customer service.

One of the main benefits of integrating all your support communication channels, like voice calls, digital messaging, and live chat, is that it allows for a better customer experience because callers don’t have to keep repeating the same information over and over again when they get transferred to a different agent. It also means your workforce can combine the power of IVR with other apps to collaborate more effectively and manage tasks more efficiently.

Boost first call resolution and customer satisfaction with call centre IVR

IVR technology is a cornerstone of modern call centres, offering a huge range of benefits for customers and agents alike. By leveraging IVR call centre solutions effectively, businesses can enhance efficiency, improve customer satisfaction, and streamline operations.

But the success of IVR systems is dependent on thoughtful implementation and optimisation: Adhering to the best practices outlined above will ensure your team can provide a seamless customer experience.

Learn more about how businesses and contact centres are using Dialpad Support’s IVR feature.