You had a traffic accident, you need to contact your insurance company to resolve what happened quickly, you call and the first thing you hear is: “Hello, welcome to your trusted insurer. If you call us from Bogotá dial 1, if you call us from Medellín dial 2, if you call us from Barranquilla dial 3, if you call us from another part of the country dial 4...” And so you are faced with a series of options that seem endless, and somewhat confusing, when what you really need is to talk to an advisor who can tell you what to do to report your accident.
This is just one of the many situations that currently arise as a result of the use of IVRs, a technology that was initially a wonderful solution to many problems, but which today is becoming an obstacle to having satisfying and empathetic customer experiences. Let's learn why and how artificial intelligence (AI) is a great substitute.
Let's review the IVR
Interactive Voice Response (IVR) is a system designed to interact with users through voice commands and keyboard tones on phones. It was founded in 1960 and was created to address challenges related to managing large volumes of calls in customer service centers. If you want to know more about the evolution of these technologies, click here Where we come from and where are we going: the evolution of technologies in customer service
The IVR emerged as a solution for channeling the flow of incoming calls, offering users the ability to perform certain actions by selecting pre-recorded options. Before its implementation, companies often encountered situations where lines were busy, or customers were left on hold without knowing if someone would answer their call. The IVR, by automatically answering calls and providing predefined options, allowed for a more structured and efficient management of telephone interactions.
In essence, the IVR provided a way to automatically classify and direct calls, making it easier for companies to deal with a significant volume of inquiries in a more orderly manner. Although it was a revolutionary solution at the time, with the advance of time and changing customer expectations, the need to evolve beyond the limitations that traditional IVR systems present today has become evident.
How AI becomes the evolution of IVRs
What's the problem with IVRs? Pre-recorded messages and limited, endless options that result in customer frustration. The time wasted listening to options and the time human agents waste retransferring calls have led to a dilemma that companies are just beginning to understand.
A virtual assistant with AI not only reduces all these problems, but it also listens, understands, responds, resolves on the first contact and transfers calls that are of high difficulty to human agents so that they can focus on them. The time savings are obvious: no more retransfers, no more virtual rows. AI IVR is the answer to 21st century consumer demand: immediate, efficient and empathetic care, regardless of the channel.
Other benefits of the IA IVR include:
- More natural conversations: Unlike traditional IVRs, which can sometimes result in rigid and limited interactions, AI-based systems better understand natural language, facilitating a friendlier and smoother user experience.
- Advanced customization: by taking into account customer history, preferences and context, replacing IVR with AI makes it possible to provide specific answers and options for each user, improving customer satisfaction.
- Less friction in the interaction: users can express their requests more naturally, without being limited by predefined commands. Not only does this improve the customer experience, but it also streamlines the process of resolving problems or inquiries.
- Increased operational efficiency: allows companies to assign human resources to tasks that require a more personal touch, while routine interactions are managed in an automated manner.
- Integration with other systems: this guarantees a consistent and personalized experience across all channels of interaction.
El VIA IVR is the evolution of a rudimentary system. By understanding and remembering, it creates personalized interactions; the VIA IVR knows the customer's history and is even able to recommend actions to the human assistant.
In a world awash with technological advances, holding on to obsolete systems is an expensive choice; it's time to change the chip and provide a modern, empathetic and frustration-free experience.
