IVR software is the piece of technology that automates the initial interaction with customers. The IVR solution will greet the caller with a prerecorded message and then announces several menu options for the customer to choose from. For example:

"Press 1 to speak with Pathology

Press 2 to leave a message with your doctor

Press 3 to schedule an appointment

Press 4 to hear our operating hours

Press 5 to speak with a receptionist."

The customer interacts with the IVR software through using their touch-tone keypad or voice commands to select the most relevant menu option. The IVR phone system captures the customer's response and routes the call according to the pre-set criteria.

Alternatively, the best IVR systems have automation capabilities where the IVR could ask the customer to input personalised information such as a reference number or support ticket. The IVR can then automatically pull information from a CRM or anoother web-based tool to serve the customer without the intervention of an agent.

Interactive voice response software streamlines the caller experience by utilising the dial pad to identify the customer's enquiry and route the caller to the right destination - whether this is a customer service representative or the appropriate department.

The primary benefits of the best IVR systems include:

Increase First Call Resolution (FCR) rate - callers are always routed to the agent or department that is most capable to resolve the customer's query. The agent who receives the call will be less likely to transfer the call to another agent who is better equipped to help the customer, which helps reduce Average Handle Time (AHT).

Reduce operational costs - IVR solutions can replace a receptionist or a staff member who answers calls and forwards the call to a certain team member. Based on the IVR system provider, these solutions are often affordable, and efficient, enabling businesses to benefit from a measurable ROI.

Disaster Recovery - during an unprecedented event that impacts your customer service operations, IVR technology becomes essential to maintain business continuity. SCAPE's Intelligent IVR solution enables businesses to handle customer calls throughout emergencies by directing callers to self service options, ensuring customers retrieve the information they need.

SCAPE's IVR system works seamlessly with business tools that are web-based through native integrations or API's. Integrations include CRM systems, payment gateways, help desk solutions and connection options for a company's bespoke software.

Regardless of your business size, IVR software is designed for organisations of all sizes to manage inbound calls, apply intelligent routing and provide automated phone support.

What sets SCAPE's IVR software apart from other market offerings, is it is entirely customisable and controllable. Managers have complete autonomy across the customer journey, enabling them to create IVR menus and update existing workflows as business requirements evolve, without needing to invest in time and money for third-party companies to complete these tasks.

SCAPE's easy-to-use IVR system empowers managers with key features to orchestrate a seamless customer journey. Leveraging the flexibility to personalise greeting messages, create menus and design self service options, ensures you're able to create IVR interactions that align with your brand.

For managers who find creating or updating IVR workflows daunting, IPscape offers extensive technical expertise. The IPscape Professional Services team is ready to guide you through the process or even complete the IVR setup for your business.

SCAPE's AI-powered multi-lingual Virtual Agents are available in 78 different languages, with 148 neural voices to choose from. Supervisors can choose from these diverse options to use across their interactive voice response system to deliver phone support and enhance customer interactions, regardless of the caller's geographical location.

SCAPE's IVR software is included within the license price. There are no additional costs to implement, maintain or optimise your IVR system. Further, if you are currently using contact centre software that requires you to fork out costs for a third-party vendor to update any menu item or workflow object within the IVR, you will achieve significant cost savings through using SCAPE.

IVR systems often handle sensitive customer data such as phone numbers, credit card digits or PINs. SCAPE safeguards personal information with encryption protocols that adheres to the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth). Additionally, IPscape maintains a robust cyber security framework with the application securely hosted on Microsoft Azure, operating in ISO 27001:2013, IRAP & SOC 2 Type 2 certified environments.

IVR systems are designed for any industry. Here are some common industry use cases:

Healthcare - Patients engage with some healthcare providers 24/7, making it crucial to use a robust IVR system. IVR technology that is integrated with a patient management system enables patients to book appointments and make prescription refill requests themselves, alleviating manual work from patient care teams and improving operational efficiency.

Education - universities, vocational education & training (VETs) and online learning providers leverage an IVR solution to efficiently route students to the appropriate department. By integrating the IVR to their student management system, educational institutions can extend self service experiences, enabling students to interact with Virtual Agents for information on their courses or degree and access exam results.

Financial Services - Banks, insurers and loan providers utilise an IVR system to manage high call volumes and deflect calls from live agents though automating routine queries. Customers interact with the IVR using self service options to retrieve their account balance, check their claim status, renew their insurance policy and more.

The common challenges that often arise when implementing IVR software is due to the extensive setup process, which can be time consuming and complex. When migrating from one IVR provider to another, it is common to encounter issues such as re-mapping or consolidating routing workflows.

To ensure a seamless deployment, it is crucial to perform internal functional tests beforehand. This will help your business validate the IVR process is user-friendly, easy to navigate and voice calls are routed to the correct destination.

The SCAPE Cloud Contact Centre platform is powered by unparalleled capacity and stability. With burst capacity, enterprise grade voice quality and self-service functionality, SCAPE's IVR software scales according to call volume, enabling businesses to efficiently handle an unlimited number of customer calls.

Striking a balance between effective service delivery and adhering to budget limitations is achievable with SCAPE's IVR solution. By empowering customers to self-serve, the IVR solution reduces the workload on customer service teams and alleviates the need for a human call operator through its automatic call distribution functionality.

Through leveraging analytics tools, managers can uncover spikes in queries that frontline staff have handled. To effectively manage this, you can easily make optimisations to the IVR solution to reduce operational costs by automating responses to new commonly asked questions, ensuring the customer experience remains at the forefront of your operations.

IVR solutions enhance customer satisfaction by providing 24/7 support through self-service options, allowing customers to resolve their queries quickly and conveniently.

SCAPE's IVR system features skills-based routing, enabling managers to direct callers to the most qualified agents, which can increase first-call resolution (FCR) rate. Additionally, businesses can offer customers the option to schedule a call-back, allowing them to hang up the phone while keeping their place in the virtual queue.

During the implementation process, IPscape provides users with dedicated one-on-one training to ensure they are set up for success. Users will learn everything from the basics to the complex multi-level structures of IVR solutions.

Depending on the level of complexity, an IVR system can take between a couple of hours to a few days to create, test and deploy.