Did you ever call a customer care number of any company to get help regarding some issue, and a pre-recorded professional voice greeted and asked you to pick one of the options from the menu? The software that plays the pre-recorded message and takes input from you is an IVR. When any customer calls your business for a query or to get some business-related information, IVR software greets them and presents them with a menu of options to choose one option from it and captures their choice. When the caller inputs their choice, the software performs further steps based on what the user has selected via their mobile keypad or the voice response. Hence, it will not be wrong to say that the customer is in charge of the IVR and, this is why they feel valued. Based on what they need, the IVR can give them some pre-recorded information or transfer the calls to a support team member if the issue is complex and the caller needs further assistance.
Benefits of Interactive Voice Response Software (IVR)
Opting for IVR software can prove to be a boon for your business in the long run; let’s see how:
Improve your company’s Customer Support
IVR software makes sure that not all calls redirect to the live agents straightaway since more than half of the support calls are unnecessary. Besides, you can record the details about your company that your customers frequently enquire about, such as business hours, office address and, more. Thus the support team can attend more valuable calls; the pre-recorded messages can answer the calls needing such information. Popular IVRs have a self-routing feature that can give a choice to customers to listen to pre-recorded information or talk to a live agent.
Improve Lead Conversion of your business
IVR software helps you get new clients faster and n any easy way than without one since it improves your employee’s efficiency and helps strengthen your relationship with your customers. A sophisticated IVR can handle IVR use cases, the important ones being Multi-level IVR, Automatic rooting, Voicemail tool, and Forward-to-Phone use case. Referring to these use cases, the IVR can solve the customer issues and convert more leads for their business. Let’s take a look at this example; when you redirect your customer’s call to a proficient agent, who already has a list of all the issues he has had in the past, he knows the company values him, and this way, he starts trusting your company. And if your support team is not available at the moment, he will still have an option for self-service or to leave his query as a voice message that can be addressed by your team later on.
Retain the Customers, optimize the time and earn profits
Being efficient will save your time and cut down costs in the long run. In this fast-paced world, customer support centers need to optimize the average time spent solving the customer’s queries. Any infuriated customer would not like to be left waiting and, there is a greater chance that they may refrain from purchasing any product. This situation can even get worse, and they may leave you and go to one of your competitors who focus on ‘customer-oriented’ service. On average, IVR software can cut down the average call duration by up to 40%. This way support team can assist your customers, resolve their queries and verify their transactions much faster. You can achieve these goals by implementing a real-time live chat feature or automatic routing facility. As you can see, faster query resolving time is the deal-breaker here. Moreover, if you can handle the transactions faster, it will help you raise your companies’ profit and, being unable to do so can make your customer have a second thought. Besides, a satisfied customer is likely to avail of more services in the future, giving a boost to your business. In this roundup, we have put down the list of the best IVR software that can improve the efficiency of support agents and be a blessing for your business.
Aircall
Aircall is a cloud-based platform that assists the sales and customer support teams in streamlining and managing customer interactions. It helps its users set up a clear communication channel with their customers effortlessly in more than 100+ countries. It is designed for small and medium scale businesses to incorporate the IVR functionalities within the client relationship management (CRM) and the helpdesk software so that it is possible to manage the after-sales calls. Aircall houses tons of innovative features including, voicemail, queueing, recording, shared call inbox facility, contact management, instant messaging, conferencing calling, software pairing, call recording, automated emails, assigning, tagging, and adding comments. It is also possible to group the employees based on their location, duties, expertise. This feature helps develop business strategies and improve team efficiency and communication skills. You also get phone numbers that can set up calls from any location and even access the live feed during the calls. Aircall can skilfully integrate with several third-party software like Salesforce, Zendesk, Pipedrive, and Slack are the popular ones. Aircall’s flexible voice solution package charges start at $30 per user per month for the essentials package and $50 per user per month for the professional package billed annually. It is also possible to take a live demo and try the software for free before purchasing it.
CloudTalk
CloudTalk is an excellent choice to help increase your business’ sales and improve the skills of your support teams. It is an intuitive and user-friendly IVR tool. It can significantly enhance the customer experience and the teams’ performance of startups, scaleup companies, Small and Medium Enterprises, and other eCommerce companies. To help reach its goal, CloudTalk provides more than 50 advanced calling features such as call queuing, internal calls, phone number tags, personalized messages, greetings, call masking, 3-way calling, and more. CloudTalk can seamlessly integrate with third-party business tools like CRM, Helpdesk, and other eCommerce platforms, including Zendesk, Freshdesk, Salesforce, Pipedrive, Hubspot, Intercom, etc. and others. This user-centered software facilitates the companies to provide much-needed help to their customers and increase their profit considerably. The features of CloudTalk are as follows:
The call recording feature helps monitor the employee’s performance Preview the customer’s details before answering the call and make the call more personalized. Integration facility to CRM, and other helpdesk software such as Pipedrive, Helpscount, and Shopify Real-Time monitoring or the sales and support teams. Supports custom fields to acquire the relevant data from the user to fulfill the demands of an individual customer Supports call routing through Automated Call Distribution (ACD), IVR menu, and Skills-based Routing. Option to tag the clients and identify them through the tags later
Cloudtalk offers three premium packages- Starter, Essential and Expert that cost USD 25 per user per month, USD 30 per user per month, and USD 50 per user per month, respectively. You can sign-up for a 14-day free trial and test the software before purchasing one of the above plans.
Freshdesk
Freshdesk, formerly known as Freshworks, is a simple yet robust cloud-based IVR software that lends a helping hand to small and medium businesses to interact with their customers in a budget-friendly way possible. Popular in more than 90 countries, the interface is user-friendly and enables SMEs to configure their virtual call center with just a few clicks; without spending a penny on any phone hardware. Freshdesk can integrate with multiple CRM and helpdesk tools via the API; thereby, enabling the support teams to work coherently without affecting the workflow. Freshdesk allows the support team to connect with the customers via their desktops, laptops, and even their phone, both Android and iOS. This way, the team can operate remotely but are closely connected. Its thorough reports and analytics tool helps the supervisors get insights into the customer’s queries and the performance of their staff members in real-time.
Some of the unique features of Freshdesk are as follows:
Play a customized tune for customers put on hold Quality and Performance report generation module Ability to configure an automated attended to take up calls in case the employees are not available Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) number that is accessible from any place
This modern and trustworthy IVR software offers four premium plans starting at USD 13 to meet the demands of different levels of business. You can sign-up for a 21-day free trial before purchasing any of these plans.
JustCall
Justcall is one of the fastest yet effortless IVR systems that are the backbone of the customer support department for your business. It does not have strict hardware requirements; a fast internet connection with this software is all you need. JustCall is highly customizable and, you as a business can set up an intuitive IVR software that captures inputs as digits from your customers. Besides, it is also possible to forward calls directly to the concerned department. Setting up this IVR is pretty straightforward; either port your existing phone number or get a new one and set up your customer support for more than 70 countries. You can also integrate JustCall with your business’s CRM and Helpdesk and further strengthen your support department.
Some of the notable features are as follows:
Set up multi-level IVR facility to automate the calls that helps boost the workflow and forward calls to the specialized teams Native integration with 100+ CRMs & helpdesk software such as Zendesk, Zoho-CRM, Hubspot, Salesforce, Slack, and more Call tracking and recording facility Make and receive calls from desktop, mobile as well as the web app
JustCall offers three premium versions, Standard for USD 25 per user per month, Premium USD 50 per user per month and, an Enterprise plan that is customizable according to your need.
Twilio
Twilio is a powerful customer engagement platform, paving the way for a better communication medium for businesses. It leverages channel APIs, deployable serverless tools, along with fully-programmable solutions to embed the phones, VoIP, and messaging facility into your business’s web, desktop, and mobile app. Twilio uses the universally supported cloud API to eliminate the need for complex telecommunication tools while setting up a highly sophisticated communication structure. The most impressive feature of Twilio is its capability to scale itself concerning your business’s needs. Twilio asks you to pay from only what you need; no long-term commitment and, you can upgrade your premium plan as your business scales up. Twilio boasts of improving the customer engagement experience for more than 220,000 businesses worldwide and, more than 10 million developers use it to build up their customer support platforms. Twilio is trusted in more than 180+ countries and, the most commonly used application scenarios include text marketing, Interactive Voice Response Systems (IVRs), escalations, and contact centers. The high points of Twilio are as follows:
Allows integration of cloud communications feature into the business app Supports high-speed API calls thereby, allowing faster communications Several communication mediums are supported, such as SMS, voice, video, and more. Possible to integrate the live chat feature into the business application Supports live streaming on multiple platforms simultaneously
Twilio follows the pay-as-you-go pricing module and, hence it makes sure you don’t find yourself trapped in commitments. It offers more than fifteen pricing scenarios that you can customize according to your needs.
Zendesk
Zendesk is the online customer portal built with the sole purpose of enhancing the overall customer experience of the businesses. It offers powerful and customizable products for customer service and engagement that can fulfill the demands of any business. Zendesk is constantly strengthening the communication channel of companies by assisting customers in more than 60 languages. The dynamic interface includes all the tools required for customer communication including, web widgets, ticket response templates, and the customer’s complaint history. Automated support tools can skillfully assist the customers as soon as they need help. Zendesk also includes live chat analytics that provides insights regarding the customer’s satisfaction and the efficiency of your support teams.
The key benefits of Zendesk are as follows:
Provides fastest customer support and easy to deploy Improves the customer interactions across several communication channels such as web, email, chat, and social media platforms Robust reporting and advanced analytics with more than 20 pre-defined dashboards and reports Can integrate with other business software such as Salesforce, Google Apps, WordPress, and more
Zendesk’s Support Only plans start at USD 19 per agent per month and, the Suite Team plans will cost you USD 49 per agent per month. It is also possible to sign up for a free trial before purchasing a plan that suits your needs.
Nuance
Nuance Conversational IVR helps manage conversational inbound telephone queries. Nuance can anticipate the customers’ needs and even greets them with personalized messages. It also motivates the customers to initiate self-service, thereby providing the customers the answers they need. Another impressive feature that caught my eye was that this IVR software could quickly change the conversation style based on the context of the conversations. It is also possible to configure Nuance to handle the first-time queries based on the knowledge base; this way, the support team will be free to resolve more complex issues of the customers. Here are the potential benefits of choosing Nuance as your IVR software:
Nuance motivates the customers to take up self-service; this way, call agents can deal with more valuable calls Automated query handling and self-services help reduce hiring and training costs of employees Thanks to Nuance Mix, it is possible to customize the software easily thereby, reducing the development time Supports IVR and biometric authentication features to help verify your customers’ identity and reduce scam calls Reduce the Cost of Ownership by improving containment rate and encouraging automation by self-service features Seamlessly integrate the Nuance IVR with your business software and cut down any extra workload
Nuance provides customized IVR plans based on your company’s needs. You need to contact them to get your quotes.
Five9
Five9 is a cloud-based complete solution for a call center that helps more than 2000 companies across the globe. Leveraging the power of AI, it offers several tools such as inbound and outbound call management, predictive dialer, progressive dialer, social customer service, automatic call distribution (ACD), and others. Using the top-grade automated tools decreases the load of the live agents and delivers an elevated customer-oriented experience, and reduces the overall service cost at the same time. Managing calls with more than five billion minutes annually, Five9 empowers the call centers with the potential of AI. It is constantly striving to help its customers provide a better customer experience to their customers. Equipped with sophisticated tools such as four different smart diallers, it helps your support team steer clear of unanswered calls and busy signals; this helps save their time considerably.
The routing mechanism can automatically redirect the calls to the intended agents. Five9 also pulls out the information related to the callers and his previous issues. That helps the call agents to know the next step to take. It also encourages self-service among the callers to amplify the customer experience on all the communication channels like phone, chat, mobile, email, social and more. Besides, the dynamic dashboards keep track of the real-time and past analytics and reports. The key benefits of using this IVR software are:
Easy to configure and no rigid software requirements Negligible maintenance costs and no costly equipment required Call routing and smart diallers Easy to integrate with other software Real-time performance reporting in the dashboards
Five9 pricing varies greatly, based on different factors such as the number of agents and product varieties. To get a custom price quote for your business, you will have to contact them personally.
NICE inContact CXone
NICE inContact CXone is an excellent cloud-based IVR platform that helps a business manage communication with its customers on several communication mediums such as inbound and outbound voice calls, email, voicemail, chat, social media, and many others. This call center software offers many advanced features like omnichannel routing, workforce optimization, automatic call distribution (ACD), and interactive voice response (IVR) software. NICE inContact is a complete call center package comprising several tools for processing inbound support requests and helping maximize the business’s leads, and minimizing the cost of client retention at the same time. Apart from having customer interaction tools, NICE inContact CXone also has several features that can help optimize your company’s workforce. These include e-learning, hiring, and workforce management solutions.
One of the impressive features of this IVR is the automated dialler tool made particularly for blended call centers. It can perform multifaceted functions, such as call blending, message lay-down dialing, call suppression, and auto dialing. Moreover, It can easily integrate with CRM software currently in demand, such as Salesforce and Oracle Service Cloud. The benefits of NICE inContact CXone software are as follows:
Simplified working and partial and complete automation capabilities help organize the workflow. Motivates the customers to serve themselves; this keeps them satisfied and saves you bucks simultaneously. Detect the repeated queries to route them to automated tools and redirect the complex issues to your support agents.
NICE inContact CXone offers a free trial of their IVR software. If you are interested in purchasing their software to streamline your customer support department, you will have to contact them to request a quote.
MyOperator
MyOperator is efficient web-based call center management software that helps manage both inbound and outbound calls. Trusted by more than 6000 brands worldwide, MyOperator offers several advanced features you are unlikely to find anywhere else.
Get a toll-free number for your company that helps boost your brand’s image and let the customers reach out to you without spending a penny. Interactive Voice Response greets your customers with a personalized message and can redirect the calls you the calling agents present in any location within the country. Access the automated reports about your team members working remotely to keep tabs on their performance Track and listen to the conversations between the customer and the agent from virtually anywhere in real-time Missed call management features help you see the calls you’ve missed so you can call them back in time and increase your potential buyers. Track all the inbound and outbound calls and improve the efficiency of the support staff. Can easily manage the inbound and outbound calls from your Android and Apple smartphone using MyOperator’s app.
MyOperator offers you three days trial period for their IVR system. The premium version of the software costs USD 33, payable monthly. You can either go for the toll-free number for maintaining your brand voice or opt for a mobile number that facilitates easier call management.
Conclusion 📞
Interactive Voice Response software is essential for the support department of your company to manage customer interaction and multiple channels. Choose the one that serves your purpose and fits into your budget. You may also be interested in call tracking software for marketing and sales and how to get a virtual phone number for your business. Interested in getting a virtual assistant? Take a look at virtual assistants for your business from these platforms.
