{"id":11399,"date":"2023-04-03T10:00:35","date_gmt":"2023-04-03T09:00:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.contactbabel.com\/?p=11399"},"modified":"2023-03-28T10:07:27","modified_gmt":"2023-03-28T09:07:27","slug":"what-are-the-potential-merits-of-visual-ivr-and-routing-menus-for-contact-centers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.contactbabel.com\/staging\/?p=11399","title":{"rendered":"What are the potential merits of visual IVR and routing menus for contact centers?"},"content":{"rendered":"

When it comes to call center telecommunications, many interactions with a customer begin with interactive voice response (IVR).\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

This begins with an initial welcome and instructions on how to proceed through the routing menu. This announcement is generally less than 15 seconds in length. That said, our recent <\/span>US call center research<\/span><\/a> has suggested that this depends on the size of the contact center at hand, the number of departments, and the skill-sets and offerings of the business.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

After, customers can choose how to proceed with either speech recognition or, most commonly, either audio-only dual tone multi frequency (DTMF) or visual menu routing.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

How user-friendly is audio-only DTMF IVR?\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n

From a customer perspective, with audio-only DTMF IVR, there are limitations as to how user-friendly the experience can be.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

This is because there has to be a compromise between functionality and usability. Optimizing functionality increases the segmentation, and thus the number of options available, making the customer interaction longer and inevitably more vexing.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

On the other hand, optimizing usability can limit call centers to a single level of options, which runs the risk of users not being connected to the right agent \u2013 another frustration.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

For this reason, 72% of large contact centers and 68% of service respondents display three or more routing menu levels \u2013 whereas 49% of small contact centers and 100% of sales respondents opt for one or two levels.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Similarly, larger contact centers offer more IVR options, with 54% of large (200+ seat) contact centers providing more than seven.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

This is another area where frustration might arise, as users will have to listen to a significant amount of options. However, this is where visual channels can go a long way towards alleviating such pain points.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Advantages of visual IVR<\/b><\/p>\n

Some studies have shown that a caller can navigate a visual IVR menu between four and five times quicker than a DTMF IVR menu. In addition to this, visual IVR offers businesses the opportunity to better assist their customers, improving overall customer satisfaction.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Some of the key benefits of visual IVR for businesses and customers are as follows.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

For businesses\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n