Interactive Voice Response software, aka IVR, is an automated business call management software interface that serves as a conduit between your callers and your company. For example, have you ever called a company’s customer service number for assistance with an issue, and a pre-recorded professional voice welcomed you and requested you to call one of the options from a menu? An IVR is software that plays the pre-recorded message and collects your feedback.
When a customer calls your company with a question or to get business-related information, IVR software welcomes them. It offers them a menu of options from which they may choose and records their selection. When the caller enters their choice, the software takes further steps based on what the user has picked through their mobile keypad or voice answer. As a result, it is correct to state that the customer controls the IVR, which is why they feel appreciated. However, if the issue is complicated and the caller requires more help, the IVR may provide them with pre-recorded material or transfer the call to a support team member.
Interactive Voice Response Software (IVR) Benefits
Choosing IVR software may be beneficial to your business in the long term; here’s how:
Improve Company’s Customer Support
Because more than half of all support calls are unnecessary, IVR software ensures that not all calls are automatically routed to live agents. Furthermore, you may enter information about your company that your customers commonly ask about, such as business hours, office location, etc. As a result, the support team can respond to more important calls, while pre-recorded messages may answer calls requiring such information. Popular IVRs have a self-routing function that allows customers to listen to pre-recorded information or speak with a live agent.
Improve Lead Conversion Of Business
IVR software helps you obtain new clients quicker and easier than you would without it since it increases staff efficiency and helps enhance your interaction with your customers. A complex IVR can handle IVR use cases such as Multi-level IVR, Automatic rooting, Voicemail tool, and Forward-to-Phone. Using these use cases, the IVR can resolve customer concerns and convert more leads for their business.
Consider this example: when you redirect your customer’s call to a knowledgeable agent who already has a list of all his troubles, he understands the company appreciates him and begins to trust your company. In addition, if your support team is not accessible at the time, he will have the option of self-service or leaving a voice message that will be answered by your team later.
Retain Customers, Optimize The Time And Earn Profits
Being efficient will cut you save time and money in the long term. In today’s fast-paced environment, customer service centers must optimize the average time spent answering customers’ questions. Any irritated customer does not want to be kept waiting and is more likely to stop purchasing anything. This scenario may worsen, and they may leave you in favor of one of your rivals who focuses on ‘customer-oriented’ service. IVR software may cut typical call length by up to 40% on average. This allows your support team to help your customers resolve their questions and verify their transactions more quickly.
These objectives may be met by creating a real-time live chat function or an automated routing capability. As you can see, quicker query resolution time is the deciding factor here. If you can handle transactions quickly, you will be able to increase your company’s profit, while being unable to do so may cause your customer to make. A pleased customer is more likely to use your services again, which will help your business. In this roundup, we have compiled a list of the top IVR software that may improve the efficiency of support workers while also benefiting your business.
9 Best IVR Software You Can Use
IVR Software you can use in 2022.
1. CloudTalk
CloudTalk is an amazing choice for increasing your company’s sales and improving the abilities of your support staff. It is a simple and easy-to-use IVR tool. It has the potential to greatly improve the customer experience and team performance of startups, scaleups, SMEs, and other eCommerce businesses. CloudTalk offers over 50 sophisticated calling features to assist it in achieving its aim, including call queuing, internal calls, phone number tagging, customized messages, greetings, call masking, 3-way calling, and more. In addition, CloudTalk can integrate with third-party business tools such as CRM, Helpdesk, and other eCommerce platforms such as Zendesk, Freshdesk, Salesforce, Pipedrive, Hubspot, Intercom, and others. This user-centered software enables businesses to give their customers much-needed assistance while significantly increasing their profit.
Features
1 – The call recording function aids in monitoring the employee’s performance.
2 – Before answering the call, preview the customer’s information to customize the call.
3 – CRM and other helpdesk software integration, such as Pipedrive, Helpscount, and Shopify.
4 – Monitoring of the sales and support teams in real-time.
5 – Supports custom fields to collect relevant data from the user to fulfill a specific customer’s demands.
6 – Call routing via Automated Call Distribution (ACD), IVR menu, and Skills-based Routing is supported.
7 – Option to tag clients and subsequently identify them using the tags.
Cloudtalk provides three premium packages: Starter, Essential, and Expert, which cost USD 25 per user monthly, USD 30 per user monthly, and USD 50 per user monthly, respectively. Before purchasing one of the plans mentioned above, sign up for a 14-day free trial and try the software.
2. Aircall
Aircall is a cloud-based platform that helps sales and customer support teams streamline and manage customer interactions. It enables its users to easily establish a clear communication channel with their customers in over 100 countries. It is intended for small and medium-sized businesses to add IVR functionality into client relationship management (CRM) and helpdesk software to handle after-sales calls.
Voicemail, contact management, queueing, recording, shared call inbox facility, instant messaging, conference calling, software pairing, call recording, automatic emailing, assigning, tagging, and adding comments are just a few the revolutionary features offered by Aircall. Employees may also be grouped based on location, task, and expertise. This feature aids in the development of business strategies as well as the efficiency and communication abilities of teams.
You also receive phone numbers that allow you to set calls from any location and even access the live broadcast while on the phone. Aircall can expertly integrate with various third-party software, including Salesforce, Zendesk, Pipedrive, and Slack. Aircall’s flexible voice solution package rates begin at $30 per user per month for the basics package and $50 per user monthly for the professional package invoiced yearly. In addition, it is possible to take a live demo and trial the software for free before purchasing it.
3. JustCall
Justcall is one of the most efficient but simple IVR systems for your business’s customer support department. It has no severe hardware requirements; you only need a fast internet connection to use this software. JustCall is very flexible, and as a business, you may set up an intuitive IVR software that captures your customers’ input as numbers. Furthermore, calls may be sent straight to the appropriate department. Setting up this IVR is simple; either transfer your current phone number or obtain a new one and set up customer support for over 70 countries. You may also integrate JustCall with your company’s CRM and Helpdesk to boost your support team.
Features
1 – Implement a multi-level IVR system to automate calls, improving workflow and routing calls to specialist teams.
2 – Native interface with over 100 CRMs and helpdesk software, including Zendesk, Zoho-CRM, Hubspot, Salesforce, Slack, and others.
3 – The ability to track and call phone calls.
4 – Make and receive app calls from the desktop, mobile, and web apps.
JustCall provides three premium versions: Standard ($25 per user per month), Premium ($50 per user monthly), and an Enterprise package configurable based on your needs.
4. Freshdesk
Freshdesk, previously known as Freshworks, is a simple but sophisticated cloud-based IVR software that assists small and medium-sized businesses in interacting with their customers in the most cost-effective manner possible. The user-friendly interface, popular in over 90 countries, allows SMEs to configure their virtual call center with only a few clicks and without spending a penny on phone hardware.
Freshdesk can integrate with numerous CRM and helpdesk tools through the API, allowing support teams to collaborate without disrupting the workflow. Freshdesk enables the support team to communicate with customers from their desktops, laptops, and even their smartphones (Android and iOS). As a result, the team may perform remotely while remaining closely linked. In addition, its detailed reports and analytics tool provide managers with real-time insights into customer inquiries and employee performance.
Features
1 – Play a personalized song for customers who are on hold.
2 – Quality and Performance Reporting Module
3 – The ability to configure an automated attendant to accept calls when employees are unavailable.
4 – A Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) number that may be reached from anywhere.
This contemporary and reliable IVR software offers four premium plans beginning at USD 13 to fulfill the demands of various business levels. Before purchasing any of these plans, sign up for a 21-day free trial.
5. Twilio
Twilio is a strong customer engagement platform that paves the way for a better business communication medium. It uses channel APIs, deployable serverless tools, and fully-programmable solutions to integrate phones, VoIP, and messaging into your web, desktop, and mobile apps. Twilio eliminates the requirement for difficult telecommunication tools while setting a highly advanced communication structure using the universally accepted cloud API.
Twilio’s most striking feature is its ability to grow to meet the demands of your business. It requires you to pay only for what you need; there is no long-term commitment, and you may upgrade your premium plan as your business grows. Twilio claims to have improved the customer interaction experience for over 220,000 businesses globally, and over 10 million developers use it to build customer support platforms. Twilio is trusted in over 180 countries, and the most popular app scenarios include SMS marketing, Interactive Voice Response Systems (IVRs), escalation, and contact centers.
Features
1 – Enables the incorporation of cloud communications capability into the business app.
2 – Allows for speedier communications by supporting high-speed API calls.
3 – SMS, voice, video, and other communication modalities are supported.
4 – Integrating the live chat function into the business app is possible.
5 – Allows for simultaneous live broadcasting across many platforms.
Twilio adheres to the pay-as-you-go pricing module, ensuring that obligations do not bind you. It offers over fifteen price possibilities that you can customize to your requirements.
6. Five9
Five9 is a cloud-based full call center solution that helps over 2000 companies worldwide. It offers numerous tools, including inbound and outbound call management, progressive dialer, predictive dialer, social customer service, automated call distribution (ACD), and others, using AI’s power. Using high-cost automated tools minimizes live agents’ time while providing a better customer experience and lowering total service costs. Five9, which manages over five billion minutes of calls every year, equips call centers with the power of AI. It is continually aiming to assist its customers in providing a better customer experience to its customers.
It is equipped with advanced tools such as four distinct smart diallers, which enable your support team to avoid unanswered calls and busy signals, saving them significant time. In addition, the routing system may automatically route calls to the appropriate agents. Five9 also retrieves information on the caller and his prior troubles. This helps the call agents to know what to do next. It also encourages callers to self-serve to improve the customer experience across all communication channels such as phone, chat, mobile, email, social, and more. Furthermore, dynamic dashboards maintain track of real-time and historical metrics and reports.
Features
1 – Straightforward to configure up and no software needs.
2 – Low maintenance expenses and no expensive equipment needed.
3 – Call routing and intelligent diallers
4 – It is easy to integrate with other software.
5 – Dashboards with real-time performance reporting.
Five9 cost varies significantly depending on many criteria, like the number of agents and product variants. You must contact them directly to get a personalized pricing quotation for your business.
7. Nuance
Nuance Conversational IVR assists in the management of conversational inbound telephone inquiries. It anticipates the requirements of customers and even welcomes them with unique greetings. It also encourages customers to begin self-service, allowing them to get the necessary information. Another noteworthy feature that drew my attention was the ability of this IVR software to swiftly modify the conversation style based on the context of the conversations. It is also feasible to configure Nuance to handle first-time inquiries based on the knowledge base, freeing up the support team to handle more complicated customer concerns.
Features
1 – Nuance encourages customers to use self-service, allowing call operators to handle more important calls.
2 – Automated query handling and self-services assist in lowering personnel recruiting and training expenses.
3 – With Nuance Mix, it’s possible to customize the software, decreasing development time.
4 – IVR and biometric authentication features are supported to assist verify your customers’ identities and eliminate fraudulent calls.
5 – Lower the total cost of ownership by increasing containment and promoting automation via self-service features.
6 – Integrate the Nuance IVR with your business software seamlessly to save unnecessary effort.
Nuance offers customized IVR plans based on your company’s requirements. However, you must contact them to get estimates.
8. MyOperator
MyOperator is an effective web-based call center management software that helps administrate both inbound and outbound calls. It, trusted by over 6000 businesses globally, offers various innovative features that are difficult to find elsewhere.
Features
1 – Have a toll-free number for your company to promote your brand’s image and allow customers to contact you for free.
2 – Interactive Voice Response welcomes your customers with a customized greeting and may route calls to calling agents anywhere in the nation.
3 – Access the automatic reports on your remote team members to keep track of their performance.
4 – Track and listen in on real-time conversations between the user and the agent from anywhere.
5 – Missed call management features allow you to notice missed calls so you can return them on time and increase your number of prospective buyers.
6 – Track all inbound and outgoing calls to improve support staff efficiency.
7 – Using MyOperator’s app, you can handle inbound and outgoing calls from your Android or Apple smartphone.
MyOperator offers a three-day trial period for its IVR system. After that, the software’s premium version costs USD 33 per month. You may use a toll-free number to keep your brand voice or a mobile number to simplify call management.
9. NICE inContact CXone
NICE inContact CXone is an amazing cloud-based IVR platform that helps a business in managing communication with its customers through various communication channels like inbound and outbound voice calls, email, social media, voicemail, chat, and many more. This call center software offers numerous sophisticated features, such as omnichannel routing, workforce optimization, automated call distribution (ACD), and an interactive voice response (IVR) software. In addition, NICE inContact is a full call center package that includes many tools for handling inbound support queries and maximizing leads while decreasing client retention costs.
NICE inContact CXone provides various features that may assist optimize your company’s workforce and customer engagement tools. These include solutions for e-learning, recruiting, and workforce management. The automatic dialler tool designed specifically for mixed call centers is one of the amazing features of this IVR. It can handle various tasks, including call mixing, suppression, message lay-down, and auto-dialing. Furthermore, it is simple to integrate with popular CRM software, such as Salesforce and Oracle Service Cloud.
Features
1 – Simplified working and partial and total automation capabilities aid workflow organization.
2 – Encourages customers to serve themselves, keeping them pleased while saving them money.
3 – Identify repetitive requests and send them to automated tools while directing difficult situations to your support personnel.
NICE inContact CXone provides a free trial of their IVR software. However, if you’re interested in purchasing their software to simplify your customer support operation, you must contact them to seek a price.
The Bottom Line:
Your company’s support staff needs interactive voice response software to handle customer engagement via different channels. Choose the one that best fulfills your needs while remaining within your budget.
