IVR solutions, as they grow more complex in their capabilities, are assuming a more prominent role in enterprises. Once merely a front line for call centers, IVR has now evolved into a tool that facilitates not only customer service, but also other processes that are ripe for automation such as workforce management, payment solutions or service order fulfillment. The vast potential of IVR-enabled automation is now prompting more and more enterprises to seek feature-rich IVR solutions that are best delivered via custom IVR application development.
When selecting a professional services team to build your custom IVR application, there are a number of things look for to ensure the quality, reliability and performance of your IVR solution.
1. Vertically integrated. When choosing an IVR vendor, look for a company that develops and owns the IVR technology . IVR vendors that build, own and support their technology, (the core of which is the VoiceXML IVR platform), will provide superior technical expertise in all phases of your application development and deployment. Engineers who designed and built their own VoiceXML platform from the ground up will be better qualified to create custom IVR applications that exhibit faster performance, greater functionality and superior call quality.
2. VoiceXML platform certification. VoiceXML platform certification ensures interoperability of VoiceXML platforms, tools, service providers, and applications
As VoiceXML adoption continues to grow in enterprises and carriers, certification assists customers in choosing from a wide variety of vendors and deployment options to solve their particular business needs The certification program is managed and developed by VoiceXML Forum members and provides impartiality through the use of independent third-party test laboratories.
3. Support for multiple speech technologies. Look for a vendor whose VoiceXML platform supports as many speech technologies as possible.
VoiceXML IVR systems should support outside resources such as speech recognition engines or text-to-speech engines in a modular manner. This is important, because as these technologies are upgraded, application functionality can be improved without modifying VoiceXML code.
4. Clear project management framework to guide each phase of the design, development and deployment process.
Stages of a custom application development project should include:
-Design Phase: Expect complete design specification to be written by your IVR vendor to define the application's functionality, behavior, caller/user interface, and XML-based application programming interface (API) for the database interface.
-Implementation Phase: Expect high-quality voice application development by our experienced IVR software engineers freeing you to focus on business data while your IVR vendor focuses on the call flow.
-QA and Deployment: Expect a thorough and well-managed application test process that exercises your application end-to-end to ensure a smooth transition to production.
5. Support, maintenance and management Although often underestimated, support and maintenance will strongly affect the performance and reliability of your IVR application. Look for a vertically integrated IVR vendor that has a lengthy track record of proven customer satisfaction in the industry.
6. Deployment options: Seek a vendor that offers both on-site IVR and hosted IVR deployments. This will allow you choice in terms of equipment management. For those that prefer to manage their own telco connection or their own IVR servers, an on-site solution will be a better fit. For those that want to outsource all aspects of the their IVR solution, including telco connectivity, infrastructure and the IVR application, hosted IVR will be the right choice.
Create rewards for those that refer others to you. A reward could be anything from a formal affiliate program, where you pay cash for referrals, as I do, to coupons for discounts on your services, products, or programs, or a basket of gourmet food or homemade cookies. For some service professionals, paying affiliate fees may be unethical or illegal in some fields, like the medical or legal fields, but for many service professionals it’s perfectly acceptable, understood and appreciated. Just make sure to be very open about the fact that you give referral fees so that your clients know about it and understand why you do it. Two things to set your mind at rest about paying for referrals: 1.The people that you associate with will never send you referrals just for the 10 percent or so that you’re paying for each referral. People only refer to you when they truly believe in what you have to offer. So, paying for referrals does not trump being wonderful at what you do. You must still go above and beyond to add value to the lives of the people you serve; and
2.You will not lose money by paying for referrals. You’ll make money by paying for referrals. Let’s run the numbers. Say you charge $500 per month for your services and you currently have 10 regular clients. You’re currently earning $5,000 per month. Now, let’s say that each one of your ten clients refers one more client to you at $500 per month. That’s another 10 clients for another $5,000 per month. If you give a referral fee of only 10 percent you’ll be paying each referee $50 per referral for a total of $500 in referral fees. Would you spend $500 to make $5,000 for a profit of $4,500 and a new monthly income of $9,500, almost double what you were making? I assume you would. I would. And think about what this means if you are currently making $30,000 or $40,000 per month. You do the math. There is a very positive energy that is created around money when you do this. Money is a currency that needs to be exchanged. When you freely pass it back and forth, I believe that you increase your resonance around it and subsequently become more comfortable talking about it and accumulating it. I offer affiliate commission on all of my products and programs to create this kind of positive, reciprocal, free-flowing electrified currency around money. I wouldn’t have it any other way. Resources box: Get more clients with Michael Port, expert marketing coach for small business owners and professional service providers. For FREE small business resources, networking opportunities, articles, advice and coaching on professional services marketing go to: http://www.MichaelPort.com and http://www.BookYourselfSolid.com
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Matt Ervin has sinced written about articles on various topics from Information Technology. Plum Voice (http://www.plumvoice.com) is a leading signal-source provider of carrier-class IVR (Interactive Voice Response) solutions. Plum offers. Matt Ervin's top article generates over 720 views. Bookmark Matt Ervin to your Favourites.
Michael Port has sinced written about articles on various topics from Marketing, Infidelity and Information Technology. Get more clients with Michael Port, expert marketing coach for small business owners and professional service providers. Free small business resources, networking opportunities, articles, advice and coaching on professional services marketing at. Michael Port's top article generates over 12100 views. Bookmark Michael Port to your Favourites.