Everyone hates being put on hold. It slows everything down, for you and for the customer. And it just leaves them feeling agitated.
Of course, when you're taking calls, that's an inevitability. Eventually, you're going to get hit with an unexpectedly high call volume or some other issue and end up swamped.
It happens, but it's definitely something to be avoided. Especially in these current times, with more and more business being done over a long distance, including over phones.
This is why you should seriously consider upgrading your system to IVR systems.
With that change, you can drastically reduce wait times and call volume, and improve things for both yourself and your customers.
Table of Contents
2. IVR Is Great for Small Businesses
3. IVR Is Great for Working From Home
What Is IVR?
IVR systems, or interactive voice response systems, is a method of handling calls that involves using previously recorded messages to interact with customers over the phone.
If you've ever called a pharmacy, for example, and gone through a phone menu about your prescription status, you've dealt with an IVR system before.
There are a lot of benefits to using a IVR system for your business, but the most obvious is that it saves you and the customers time.
If your customers are automatically greeted by an IVR when they call, they can immediately start working towards finding a solution to their problem.
You can easily program the system to handle common problems and queries, and potentially solve the customer's problem without ever having to transfer them to an actual person.
And in the event that you do, you've bought plenty of time to clear the line without putting the customer on hold, meaning their wait times are much shorter.
This is good for everyone involved. It mitigates frustration on the customer's end, relieves stress on your end, and smooths out the process overall.
Then there's the fact that, since it's an automated computer system, an IVR system can handle multiple calls simultaneously. These calls would otherwise go to people at a call center, where there likely aren't enough operators to handle them all without waiting.
They even give you more flexibility in the structure of your call center as well.
iPlum IVR systems allow you to route incoming calls to any number on your system, and easily assign extensions to any combination of phones as needed.
In the modern workplace, flexibility is a key factor, and IVR systems offer that in spades.
IVR Is Great for Small Businesses
IVR is already in widespread use among larger businesses, like banks, telecommunications companies, and the aforementioned pharmacies.
But the benefits of IVR systems are not limited to large companies. Smaller businesses can also get a lot out of implementing the system.
IVR systems are highly customizable, allowing you to record whatever messages and options your particular business requires.
It allows you to easily field common questions, reducing the time spent on the phone in the first place, which is an unexpected cost, but one that can quickly add up.
IVR can route callers to exactly where they need to be, without requiring a person to step in and do that.
In fact, an IVR can even stand in when workers are unavailable entirely. This is invaluable, especially in the current climate, with COVID-19 drastically changing the working landscape and systems making the arduous change to work from home.
Speaking of which...
IVR Is Great for Working From Home
With businesses settling into the new reality of working from home, keeping things well-staffed and running efficiently is a top priority.
IVR systems can greatly help in that regard. IVR can easily be set up to work with phone systems from home, including preexisting landline phones and even mobile phones.
This is a huge benefit in the work from home era, as ordinarily, using an employee's mobile phone or your own personal one for fielding calls can be a huge expense, and even a security risk.
Many personal phones, which are now having to fill the role of a call center, have limited plans that may be charged extra, or otherwise negatively impacted by long call times and high call volume.
By implementing an IVR system, you can bypass many of these issues, seamlessly integrating personal phones into a larger answering network - one that reduces call volume and duration, and improves both personal and company security.
Through an IVR system, you can also easily implement the phones of all of your employees into the system. By creating sub-accounts for all employees, you can easily link their devices to an iPlum number and have them connected to the IVR system in no time.
And because you can easily port existing numbers into an iPlum IVR system, this can be done at very little cost to you.
Set Up an IVR System Today
IVR systems are a great tool for businesses, regardless of size or your exact market.
By allowing you to automate responses, they reduce the volume and duration of calls, cut back on wait times, and improve the experience for both customers and employees.
And because it's easy to integrate your phone systems from home into an IVR system, they are an invaluable tool in the increasingly at-home work environment of today.
If that sounds like it would benefit your business, then let us set you up an IVR system today. It's an easy process, whether you're setting one up for the first time or integrating it into an existing phone system.
Check out our FAQ for answers to any other questions you may have, and let's get to work on setting up an IVR system that will save you time and money.
