Global customer service technology provider Jacada has released Visual IVR Plus, a solution aimed at reducing caller frustration and in-bound call time by offering users a menu-driven interface across mobile and Web channels.
Visual IVR Plus uses existing IVR scripts with a menu-driven interface, which can reduce customer frustration by allowing callers to skip long menu trees. A customer can touch their way through a Visual IVR system using a graphical interface designed for a more interactive customer experience than traditional voice prompt IVR systems can offer.
“IVR has played a very important role in the last twenty years, but what we see is what we call zeroing out; people want to speak with someone,” says co-CEO Jacada Guy Yair. “Every day across the globe, hundreds of thousands of people suffer from what I call IVR pain. What’s happening, on the enterprise side is that they are investing millions of dollars in improving their IVR, but most people are trying to avoid them.”
Jacada Visual IVR Plus uses existing IVR investments by reading existing Voice XML scripts or other proprietary protocols. Changes can be made to the script that are immediately and automatically reflected on a mobile device or Web interface.
“What we’re doing with Visual IVR is looking at what are customers are doing 30 seconds before they interact with an IVR,” Yair says. “There are different types of what we call multitouch points. Customers might come from a contact page, or they’re navigating a mobile app, or they might be coming from a Google search. We provide options to speak to an agent by routing you directly to the right queue.”
Yair believes that one of the challenges that enterprises face today is mapping the customer journey and dealing with it across touchpoints.
“The customer journey with multimodal is what that we’re dealing with,” Yair says. “Visual IVR is dealing with all the touch points that a customer can face directly with the call center. Looking ahead, our belief at Jacada is that any interactions with customers are visual. I think that companies that adopt that approach will differentiate themselves and get some points on [providing better] customer experience.”