V O C A L C O M H E R M E S I V R. H e r m e s I V R. I n t e r a c t i v e V o i c e R e s p o n s e

Transcription

1 H e r m e s I V R I n t e r a c t i v e V o i c e R e s p o n s e

2 W h a t i s I V R? IVR stands for Interactive Voice Response and it uses one of the most widely accepted and versatile devices Available today: the telephone. Telephones are everywhere and thus the perfect medium for self-service solutions. Most people are familiar with basic IVR technologies whereby specific keys of the telephone pad correspond to touch-tone options (e.g. "Press 1 for customer service, Press 2 for accounting, Press 3 for sales department"). IVR in its basic format is a combination of computer, software and telephony technology that automate the interaction with callers. On top of the traditional and very basic IVR applications which are little more than pre-recorded voice prompts and menus the latest systems use natural language speech recognition to interpret the questions that the person wants answered. Other innovations include the ability to speak complex and dynamic information such as an , news report or weather information using Text-To- Speech (TTS). TTS is computer generated synthesized speech and is no longer the robotic voice people associate with computers. Real voices are used to create the speech in tiny fragments that are glued together before being played to the caller creating a more natural sounding voice. Today s IVR solutions can be very sophisticated. IVR solutions can intelligently follow complex business rules based on the answers given by a customer. Implementing a smart IVR system can play a significant role in rendering customer relations more efficient, while reducing costs and guaranteeing high quality services.

3 T y p i c a l I V R a p p l i c a t i o n s IVR application offers 24/7 self service for you customer they complements the call center staff by removing the burden of answering basic inquiries or performing repetitive task from agents freeing them to handle more complex and important interactions. IVR solutions can be used to query personalized data directly from your databases, to record answers, to generate reports or alerts and send them on multiple media like , sms or fax. In a call center or any other organization receiving large volumes of incoming calls, the IVR can be used to pre-qualify callers before transferring them to the best possible agent; to handle incoming calls during closing hours; to transfer calls to abandon solutions; to schedule callbacks at specific dates and times; or to 'read' information and send it to an agent s screen. The CTI aspect of IVR applications enable you to draw information from databases or to enter data gathered from each contact. Virtually every business can use IVR technology for sales, marketing, customer service, inquiry and support calls to and from the organization. Some example of Vocalcom IVR includes: Manage your bank account, check your balance, transfer funds, etc. Pay a bill Order products or check an order status Request a Taxi Book a flight or check flight status Check payment status Automated outbound notification Request literature, product manuals and other forms Information on the company, opening time, address, etc. Taxi booking service in France

4 M a i n I V R a d v a n t a g e s Reduced costs: processing a call with live operator assistance is much more expensive and time consuming than handling calls with an IVR solution. Reduced labor and operating costs are therefore among the primary benefits of IVR applications. Increased productivity and better allocation of staff: IVR applications that handle simple calls are generally handled satisfactorily on the first call, while freeing up valuable time so that agents can handle more complex calls. Technological flexibility: IVR applications can be used to deal with unexpected volumes of incoming calls, to help handle overflow or as a disaster recovery system. 24/7 availability: To live up to the 24/7 availability demand, IVR solutions can provide permanent and responsive service, thus eliminating lost calls and frustrated customers. IVR benefits are as manifold as its applications. However, for most companies the key benefits are that the system enables them to reduce costs, save a significant amount of time and improve customer responsiveness and service hence improving customer satisfaction. W h y V o c a l c o m I V R? Vocalcom is an experienced and dedicated developer of solutions for efficient customer contact through smart computer telephony applications. Vocalcom continuously invests in Research & Development to ensure that its technology is state-of-the-art, user-friendly and easily integrated. For instance, Vocalcom s 4th-generation voice service with its Media Center (VMC) will enable you to deploy IVR information by SMS, fax or in real time. Vocalcom s innovative technology is backed by a graphical and easy-to-use drag-and-drop interface allowing you to make applications for searching, reading, writing, editing and recording external database information. Among its many distinguishing features, the Vocalcom IVR offers: Simple user interface for easy generation of IVR scenarios Voice messaging feature to leave messages at the right mailbox Automated receptionist feature to handle simple calls or transfer calls to live operators Interface with multiple database formats Speech recognition features Multimedia support Reversed IVR that allows importing a database for mass volumes of outbound calls with prerecorded messages

5 Hermes Tools IVR Editor P r o d u c t f e a t u r e s Vocalcom Hermes IVR is fully integrated within Vocalcom s Hermes.Net contact center suite hence giving you access to the full range of CTI and multimedia features of the solution. Powered by its advanced scripting language Vocalcom s IVR make it a breeze to implement any kind of custom voice application and to integrate with existing information repositories and applications. Multi language Full PSTN and VoIP (SIP and H.323) support IVR active on all channels Call management (Call queuing, forwarding, outsourcing and prioritization) Integrated Voice mail Remote monitoring 4 th generation scripting language backed up by an intuitive graphical editor Support for the most common sound file format (Wav, au) Support for any database (through OLE provider) Support for SOAP based web-services Execution of external program for remote data manipulation or advanced scripting Speech synthesis (option) Speech Recognition (option)

6 O u r c u s t o m e r s Vocalcom has offices in 14 countries and customers in more than 37. Our wide distribution network and partnership program allow us to provide wide scale localized round-the-clock support to our 1500 customers. I m p l e m e n t a t i o n e x a m p l e Vocalcom and PSA Peugeot Citroen Group have developed an IVR enabling PSA s customers to access and update their car on-board GPS information through Vocalcom s Hermes IVR. Thanks to the versatility of the Vocalcom IVR scripting tools, PSA and Vocalcom has easily connected PSA s car management web-service with a powerful speech recognition and speech synthesis engine. From a simple phone call the PSA car users can intuitively select a destination in the IVR that is instantly uploaded with the latest traffic information to the car computer and embedded GPS.

7 T e c h n o l o g y Dialogic is a leading provider of open systems platforms for the converged communications market. The platforms enable service providers, developers and system integrators to deliver services, content and applications using multimedia processing and signaling technologies. Dialogic was formed when Eicon Networks Corporation ( Eicon ) completed its acquisition of Intel Corporation s Media and Signaling business and simultaneously announced that Eicon s name would change to Dialogic Corporation. Entirely dedicated to developing and deploying natural language interfaces, Acapela Group is the European leader in speech solutions. Acapela enables customers to create new ways of conversing and interacting with end-users through speech-enabled revenue-generating applications. Their multilingual speech solution (Text To Speech and Automatic Speech Recognition) is available in 23 languages. Nuance is the leading provider of speech and imaging solutions for businesses and consumers around the world.