Enabling Technology Assessment Hosted Interactive Voice Response (IVR)

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1 Hosted Interactive Voice Response (IVR) Brendan Read

2 Significance of the Enabling Technology Award....3 Key Industry Challenges Addressed by VoltDelta. 3 Key Benchmarking Criteria for Enabling Technology Award.5 Best Practice Award Analysis for VoltDelta.5 Decision Support Matrix for Enabling Technology Award.. 5 Conclusion.8 About VoltDelta....8 About Frost & Sullivan...8 2

3 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE ENABLING TECHNOLOGY AWARD Key Industry Challenges Addressed by Developing IVR Technologies Demand for interactive voice response (IVR), both DTMF (dual-tone multifrequency, or touch tone ) and speech recognition, continues to grow. IVR comprises the largest single market for hosted contact center solutions, and according to Frost & Sullivan research, this dominance should continue to As shown in Exhibit 1, Frost & Sullivan research also forecasts that premise-installed IVR and voice portal growth rates will exceed that of inbound contact routing through most of this decade. To capitalize on growth opportunities, IVR providers must anticipate and keep up with both technology advancements and with customer, and endcustomer, needs. VoltDelta has done that and more by developing its own solutions and platforms ranging from N11 (211, 311, 411, 511, and 811), CrystalWAVE voice recognition technology, to a call recording application that tracks and captures end-customer interactions from the IVR to live agents. Brendan Read, Industry Analyst, Customer Contact, Frost & Sullivan ($ Million) On-Premise IVR/Voice Portal 2012 All figures are rounded. Base year is 2011 Exhibit 1: IVR: Cloud/Hosted and Premise-Installed Hosted IVR 2012 On-Premise IVR/Voice Portal 2017 Hosted IVR 2017 Source: Frost & Sullivan analysis There are three distinct, ongoing developments that should make IVR systems even more attractive in the future: 1. The maturation of cloud / hosted deployment. Cloud / hosting allows organizations to handle large IVR volumes at a lower cost of ownership than buying on-premise solutions by adding or subtracting ports on-demand. Hosting has become reliable and secure, but vendors also employ backup systems in case of failure. 2. The rise of IVR-based outbound multichannel proactive customer contact (PCC) solutions. Frost & Sullivan research reports that PCC demand is driving up revenues for hosted and premise installed dialer systems. PCC drivers include inbound call deflection and higher endcustomer satisfaction. PCC solutions alert end-customers to appointments, 3

4 billing, fraud, and service issues, including delay notifications and pickups and deliveries. 3. End-customer mobility. Frost & Sullivan research forecasts a rise in the number of North American wireless subscribers from million in 2012 to million by There are two factors with mobility that favor IVR growth. The first factor is end-customer impatience. Frost & Sullivan research reports that mobile endcustomers are intolerant of long agent queues. Contributing factors to this attitude include multitasking, such as end-customers driving or shopping while on their devices, and pay-per-use wireless plans. The second factor is the need for a hands-free device operation, which many U.S. jurisdictions now require when driving motor vehicles. With speech-enabled IVR, an endcustomer can keep his or her hands on the steering wheel when interacting with others. However, there also are obstacles that stand in the way of IVR systems achieving their potential. Consider the following three examples: 1. Poor customer experience and reputation. Frost & Sullivan research, as shown in Exhibit 2 reports that IVR is the least liked of any of the customer contact channels. It is not because customers are resistant to self-service; quite the opposite, as the exhibit also shows that Web self-service exceeds live agent voice in customer satisfaction. Exhibit 2: Customer Satisfaction, by Contact Channel: Contact Channel Aggregate Summary Q: Considering your customer service experience overall, how would you rate your level of satisfaction? Customer Satisfaction, by Contact Channel Base: All who contacted a company via specific channel Website Self-Service 5.70 Phone / Live Agent Website / Chat with Live Agent 5.24 Phone / IVR =Very dissatisfied Mean scores 7=Very satisfied Source: Frost & Sullivan analysis 4

5 2. Competition from other technologies. Other technologies include automated chat, call-back applications, mobile apps, SMS / text, and Web self-service. 3. Mobile environment. Calls are more likely to disconnect when endcustomers are on wireless devices. Causes include network issues but also user actions (such as hitting the wrong button). Indeed, vendors of IVR technologies must address such issues, or face being left behind as competing technologies develop and become more popular with consumers. KEY BENCHMARKING CRITERIA FOR ENABLING TECHNOLOGY AWARD Technology solutions should enhance and support existing product lines. VoltDelta has developed the patent-pending CrystalWAVE voice recognition application and an in-house call recording. Meanwhile VoltDelta s LSSI Data division has hundreds of millions of continually updated and scrubbed landline and wireless numbers. Brendan Read, Industry Analyst, Customer Contact, Frost & Sullivan For the Enabling Technology Award, the following criteria were used to benchmark VoltDelta s performance against key competitors: Enhances Current Products Enables New Applications Potential for Market Acceptance Breadth of Access to Technology BEST PRACTICE AWARD ANALYSIS FOR VOLTDELTA The Decision Support Matrix, shown below in Exhibit 3, illustrates the relative importance of each criterion for the Enabling Technology Award and the ratings for each company under evaluation. To remain unbiased while also protecting the interests of the other organizations reviewed, we have chosen to refer to the other key players as Competitor 1 and Competitor 2. 5

6 Decision Support Matrix for Enabling Technology Award Measurement of 1 10 (1 = lowest; 10 = highest) Award Criteria Enables Creation of New Products Enhances Current Products Enables New Applications Potential for Market Acceptance Breadth of Access to Technology Weighted Rating Relative Weight (%) 20% 20% 20% 20% 20% 100% VoltDelta Competitor Competitor Criterion 1: Enables Creation of New Products Technology is not an end to itself but rather the enabler of new and successful products and services. Unlike many other IVR hosting firms, VoltDelta has developed its own IVR solutions and platforms. For example, the company created and continues to refine its automated 411 directory assistance that it launched over twenty years ago. One of its 411 service s features is the ability to remember lastuser actions that avoid requiring disconnected callers starting over when they call back. VoltDelta rolled out its N11 service in VoltDelta N11 supports community information and referral (211), government and non-emergency police (311), traffic and transportation (511), and dial-before-you-dig in the U.S. (811). The N11 service has voice recognition disambiguation to avoid giving the wrong information. It also has last user action caching, such as remembering the stretch of road a motorist last asked about so it can provide targeted traffic updates to callers. VoltDelta s two leading competitors have not been as prolific in offering new hosted IVR solutions. These companies have either developed other solutions or have upgraded their customer contact platforms. Criterion 2: Enhances Current Products Technology solutions should enhance and support existing product lines. VoltDelta has developed the patent-pending CrystalWAVE voice recognition technology to Technology delivery is critical for hosted IVR solutions. Solutions must be securely and reliably delivered with redundancy built in. That VoltDelta has been entrusted to deliver messages for important services speak to its technology reliability. Brendan Read, Industry Analyst, Customer Contact, Frost & Sullivan 6

7 support its IVR solutions. CrystalWAVE takes advantage of parallel recognition streams (using different grammar types) to enhance performance of standard speech engines; especially for large vocabularies. It has the added benefit of minimizing the need for ongoing tuning by deriving its grammar content from dynamic databases, which is often required in other solutions to compensate for oft-changing content. VoltDelta also has developed an in-house call recording application that tracks and captures end-customer interactions from the IVR to live agents. It also supports agent screen recording. VoltDelta helps its customers trace end-customer issues, including determining where and why end-customers zero-ed out to agents. One of VoltDelta s other market differentiator is its ability to supply accurate numbers and associated caller detail through its Volt LSSiDATA division. LSSiDATA has hundreds of millions of continually updated landline and wireless numbers that have been scrubbed through do-not-call and preference lists. LSSiDATA s database permits outbound IVR calls to reach the right endcustomers. VoltDelta provides innovative multi-channel IVR resources, as highlighted in their solution for Parkmobile s mobile parking application. Running for the meter no longer occurs, as motorists use their mobile phones to speak parking space identification and receive SMS reminders on impending meter expiration via VoltDelta s speech recognition and messaging platform. VoltDelta s IVR shares session information with Parkmobile s Mobile App and website so that a motorist can use their channel of preference without losing context of past and current interactions. VoltDelta s leading competitors also have been enhancing their products. However, none of them are as focused on the hosted IVR market as VoltDelta. Criterion 3: Enables New Applications VoltDelta has focused on creating, delivering, maintaining, and evolving their products or services to meet customer needs, including customization in response to specific requirements. For example, VoltDelta s contact center on demand and IVR solution has been integrated with applications from Microsoft, Oracle, and Saleforce.com. 7 For these reasons, VoltDelta is the recipient of the 2013 Frost & Technology also should allow customers to tailor applications to meet their specific needs. Hosted solutions are challenging to customize, as vendors must balance the costs of meeting individual customer needs with retaining economies-of-scale and flexibility.

8 VoltDelta s contact center on demand and IVR solution can be combined with other vendors products. For example, it has been integrated with Oracle s CX solution, which together provides hosted ACD, chat, CTI, and social media contact routing. The VoltDelta contact center and IVR solution also has been integrated with CRM solutions from Microsoft, Oracle, and Salesforce.com. VoltDelta s competitors also provide IVR customization but not to the same extent. One of them offers two IVR product lines that appear to complement, but which also compete with each other. Both companies also have several other customer contact products, besides IVR. Criterion 4: Potential for Market Acceptance and Recognition Market success is the ultimate validation for technology. Sales of hosted products, such as IVR, provide an accurate barometer for this criterion, because they are purchased through renewable subscriptions. There is growing market acceptance of VoltDelta s hosted IVR solutions. Frost & Sullivan research reports that VoltDelta s market share increased from 3.3 percent in 2010 to 3.5 percent in VoltDelta achieved this success through generating results for its customers. For example, VoltDelta s solution raised the IVR completion rate to over 90 percent for AccountNow, a large nationwide prepaid debit card company. VoltDelta also has attracted new customers in the financial services, government, and healthcare verticals. VoltDelta s top competitors have larger shares of the hosted IVR market. These companies have well-known brands and / or other customer contact product lines. At the same time, there have been recent mergers and acquisitions of hosted IVR companies. This leaves VoltDelta as one of the few IVR specialist vendors left in the marketplace, which positions it well for customers who are seeking IVR capabilities. Criterion 5: Delivery of Technology to Market Technology delivery is critical for hosted IVR solutions. Solutions must be securely and reliably delivered. These systems must have the least possible likelihood of failure, and there must be redundancy built in, just in case they do. VoltDelta s IVR platform is housed in two fully-redundant and secure data centers located in Irvine, California and Rochester, New York. It also has data centers in Germany and the United Kingdom. A multi-protocol label switching (MPLS) network 8

9 connects the centers. The company holds and maintains ISO 9001 certification and PCI compliance. VoltDelta monitors, supports, and tests its applications, servers, and network. There are two carrier switches maintained at VoltDelta s U.S. data centers to conduct call volume testing. VoltDelta s platform handles 2.4 billion calls and 2 billion SMS / text messages annually with a company-reported percent reliability. VoltDelta has been entrusted to deliver messages for services like 211, 311, 411, 511, and 811 which exhibit their technology reliability. Finally, while other leading hosted IVR vendors also have excellent market delivery and support, each possesses strengths and weaknesses. One company has an extensive voice / data network, but it also offers and hosts multiple IVR solutions. The other firm has a well-engineered hosted platform, but it lacks the network capabilities of its rivals. CONCLUSION Successful technology enablement requires vendors to focus on creating, delivering, maintaining, and evolving their products or services to meet customer needs. VoltDelta has taken all of these steps with its hosted IVR solutions. The market has responded by validating VoltDelta s approach through growing sales and customer rosters. Frost & Sullivan is therefore proud to present the 2013 North American Enabling Technology Award in Hosted IVR to VoltDelta. ABOUT VOLTDELTA VoltDelta OnDemand is a global cloud-based contact center provider with 35 years of experience. We perform intelligent, data-driven contact management to optimize your customer s journey. VoltDelta rapidly tailors and integrates our multi-channel contact center solutions to enable you to increase revenue, boost retention and reduce operating costs with proven scalability and reliability. VoltDelta s inbound and outbound offerings support virtual and geographicallydistributed contact centers and remote agents within a highly secure and compliant environment. Our service guarantee is supported by contact center and carrier experts who are dedicated to your success. For more information, please visit: ABOUT FROST & SULLIVAN Frost & Sullivan, the Growth Partnership Company, partners with clients to accelerate their growth. The company's TEAM Research, Growth Consulting, and Growth Team Membership empower clients to create a growth-focused culture that generates, evaluates, and implements effective growth strategies. Frost & Sullivan employs over 50 years 9

10 of experience in partnering with Global 1000 companies, emerging businesses, and the investment community from more than 40 offices on six continents. For more information about Frost & Sullivan s Growth Partnership Services, visit For information regarding permission, write: Frost & Sullivan 331 E. Evelyn Ave. Suite 100 Mountain View, CA