In short, the answer is very little! They are both a variation of customer service solutions which feature speech.
An Interactive Voice Response (IVR) is an automated call management system which allows companies to do away with receptionists. Years ago, receptionists played a key role in businesses by redirecting calls to particular experts and departments.
IVR’s basically became a modern version of these;
IVR provides a platform for both small and large businesses to solve problems on their own. An IVR consists of pre-recorded messages, giving a variation of options to callers in an attempt to narrow down the purpose of the call, ensure correct call redirection and to ultimately answer any queries as effectively and efficiently as possible. However, long waiting times between call direction, confusing instruction, long menu call outs and unavailability of knowledgeable agents can hinder the communication between a business and their clients, resulting in friction and company churning.
Voice Bots use artificial intelligence (AI) to replicate a human operator through machine learning and natural language processing. They are able to recognize certain buzzwords i.e. agent, billing etc when a caller is talking, they can then direct the call to the right department or person. Voice Bots are on duty 24 hours a day, independently dealing with various tasks. The use of Voice Bots can increase a contact centers’ capacity.
Trends come and go, and as technology evolves, people are always drawn to the new shiny service. IVR, Voice Bots and Voice Assistant, all have the same motive, but each have their own individual execution. Think about the different brands of cars available today, each have the same end goal - to drive, but each brand/model offers slightly different perks i.e. self parking, heated seats, automatic drive etc which could be the deciding factor in whether a potential customer goes with option A or option B. This concept applies to IVR and VoiceBots, each having the same end goal, but Voice Bots are more technically advanced handling more complex queries, whereas IVRs tend to be simplistic, less interactive and user friendly. An IVR would be the equivalent of a ‘Chevy Spark’ getting the job done, may have a few bumps along the way, but still be effective. In comparison to a VoiceBot or ‘Tesla’ with all the newest bells and whistles, it still carries out the same primary function but the process of getting to the end point is smoother, more comfortable, and technically advanced.
Luckily for you, at Klearcom we can test both! Whether you are advancing with the times or sticking with tradition, Klearcom can test end-to-end customer call paths from customer to agent in local markets, using a single test. We don’t stop testing where the conversation begins. Using our Artificial Intelligence (AI) platform we can identify customer impacting issues, we provide instant results meaning you can pinpoint and alert every issue as soon as possible reducing the implications an outage can have on your company and overall customer experience.
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