The type of application doesn’t matter, if you want to optimize your results, and achieve the return you are expecting. You need to test with real customers – otherwise you are leaving it to the luck of the draw.

This process I call IVR Optimization, (I borrowed the term from Google Web Optimization), a tool that you can use to improve on your web conversion rates by testing various versions of your web site.

Now, you ask yourself, what does this have anything to do with IVR applications? Its simple, the same principals of “Split Testing” apply and are possible with an IVR campaign.

Dynamic, IVR Optimization allows you to test different variations of your IVR scripting. This way you can identify the message combinations that produce the highest success rates. The success rate being; how often you can get the caller to do what you want them to do.

You can run 2, 3 or 4 different combinations and not just rely on gut feelings. You can conduct real-time research, with real callers. This research helps you optimize your messaging and yield the highest success rate.

The IVR world is a little more complex than Google’s Web optimizer approach; you have more caller/call recipient interactions to consider.

The good news is that with the right expertise and technical framework you can optimize your IVR messaging so the caller will do what you want them to do; you can move away from the traditional “guess work” approach to a systematic, predictable approach that will provide you with the highest return.

Before making an IVR companyselection , read this free report on IVR and IVR Development companyevaluation .

You do have some decisions to make: Do you do-it-yourself, or outsource it

* If you feel confident, that you have the expertise and resources to plan, develop, maintain, manage, support and refine an IVR strategy, on your own, you may want to look at Self-Service models.

* If you want to focus on your business and leave the IVR to the experts, people who have done it time after time, 100′s of times if not 1000′s, and where your applications are hosted, monitored, maintained, and supported to ensure the best performance, then you want to look at a Full Service Managed model.

IVR Outsourcing can take many shapes, which one is right for your business? Which model you choose depends on the level of expertise and support responsibilities you would like to shift to your IVR service provider. Here are the three most common models you will encounter:

* Hosted Self-Service * Full Service Managed * Application Service Provider

1) Do-it-yourself: This is the do-it-yourself model of the IVR space, where the service provider offers you a reliable IVR platform and development tools, and you are accountable for the rest. You will have complete responsibility over planning, managing, developing and maintaining the IVR application and simply use the hosting provider to provide you with the development tools, IVR infrastructure and manage the communication lines. This approach will require you to have in-house expertise to develop and support the Application at all times – 24/7/365. In this model your service provider does not have an understanding of your application, so it is up to you to make the right strategy decisions to support and manage the process.

2)Full Service Managed: From this model you will gain the most amount of value if you do not wish to worry about developing and maintaining your own IVR applications. These are the functions you can expect from a Full Service Managed Hosting provider:

* To manage all aspects of the IVR project including planning, development, testing, and deployment of the application.

* To work with your business and IT team, to achieve the desired data integration objectives.

* To take care of vendor relationships, maintain and update telecom infrastructure, plus software and hardware as required.

* To act as a single point of contact for IVR implementation and maintenance, that can bring the necessary resources and experts to you in time to meet your objectives.

* To provide you with dedicated support, and have an in-depth understanding of your application.

3) Application Service Provider: Another business model, which you may consider, is the Application Service Provider model, also known as “software as a service.” You will find Full Service Hosted Managed providers that can offer you off-the-shelf solutions to meet specific business/operational needs. This is quite common for applications such as Sales Lead Generation, Credit Card Payment, and Surveys.

In today’s IVR marketplace you have options, choices that can best fit your business objectives. What option best fits your business depends on how much energy, effort and time, you can afford to divert from your core business to your IVR project. The good news is that there is a model out there for almost everyone.

To make an IVR service provider selection , download this free guide on IVR and IVR Providers service provider evaluation .

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Managers are being forced to make difficult choices between high-touch experience delivered by a live agent and low-cost automation delivered by IVR. It is well known that to process a call using a human agent can cost 5-10 times what it costs to answer a similar call using IVR. In the past, managers have chosen to deliver an enhanced customer experience over a much lower-cost automated option. So when it comes time to slash costs, IVR can play a key role. On the other hand its very important not to upset the balance between automation and customer experience. The answer is not to shift every human interaction to an automated interaction, or to use IVR to make it more difficult for customers to speak to a higher-cost live agent.

I would suggest that you start by taking inventory of all your customer interactions. Not only the obvious ones. Your inventory will allow you to prioritize by value contribution, revenue contribution, and cost of each interaction, and pinpoint where IVR can assist you to cut cost, and not significantly upset the balance.

Recently, I received a call from the director of marketing at a company in the health care sector, needing to cut costs by finding an alternative to live agents handling their Diabetes testing kit sampling program. As a sampling program, there was no linked revenue to the call, and the value to the caller was mostly in receiving delivery of the kit on time, which was advertised to over 2.5 million people. Although this was a highly successful program, based on response, fell under the cuts to the marketing budget. The company recognized that the calls could be handled using IVR, however as an untested alternative they wanted to run a short term pilot to measure the impact to the success of the program.

To minimize the risk the company opted for an outsourced IVR approach, which provided financial flexibility by not having to make a long term commitment. In addition, with reduction in the IT budget, outsourcing the implementation and hosting was a perfect match, allowing the company to control costs, and provide commitment flexibility.

Perhaps when the economy recovers, this company and many others alike will move back the high touch approach of live agents, however as hard economic times call for tough measures, IVR is playing a key role and helping managers accomplish their objectives.

Prior making an IVR service provider selectiabout , ensure to read this Complimentary report about IVR and IVR Surveys vendor evaluatiabout .

Selecting a vendor is no easy task, especially if you want to get it right the first time. The more information you have, the better your chances of success.

The following outline is an introduction to IVR vendor selection from a down-to-earth business perspective. It will help you identify the outsourcing model that is best for your business.

In todays IVR marketplace, IVR service providers deliver their services in different ways; from a complete self service model where you need to do all the legwork to a white glove service model where your projects are planned, developed, and implemented for you. Which one is best for your business will depend on how much energy, effort, and time you can afford to divert from your core business, to your IVR project. The good news is that theres a model out there for almost every business.

Whether your project involves a survey, payment system, sales lead generation, order and fulfillment, credit card transactions, or field employee reporting, there is a vendor model thats right for you.

It is important to understand three key factors which will help you make the right decision. The three (3) main reasons why an organization might decide to outsource its IVR operations versus taking it on in-house are as follows:

(a) Lower Cost (b) Flexible Technology (c) Higher Levels of Expertise

(a) – Cost: An outsourced IVR application can be far less expensive to implement than IVR done in-house. An IVR System will probably take less time to implement if you choose the hosted model and you will typically only pay for what you use or commit to using. Service providers usually adjust to your requirements, rather than you having to plan for growth.

(b) – Flexible Technology: In todays environment of rapidly changing business demands, technology must be flexible enough to adjust quickly and cost effectively. The outsourced IVR approach protects you from having to continuously adapt to these changes, as the responsibility is shifted to the service provider, protecting you from technological obsolescence.

(c) – Higher Levels of Expertise: If you dont have the time and /or resources to keep your IVR application running current and glitch-free, a provider who offers Managed IVR outsourcing is worth looking into. There are various levels of IVR services available ” some provide higher levels of expertise and support than others. Hosted service providers have an expertise that is difficult or almost impossible to maintain in-house, that is, having the experience of deploying 100s, if not 1000s, of applications, and knowing what works, what doesnt work, and what works best.

Which IVR Service model is best for your business? You will probably agree that the best model for any business, regardless of size, industry, budget, or application, is the model that will get the closest to guaranteeing a successful execution. Lets face it, IT projects are seldom completed on time, and most often exceed budget. However it doesnt need to be that way.

You have some decisions to make: Do-it-yourself, or delegate the responsibility to an expert?

* If you feel confident that you have the expertise and resources to plan, develop, maintain, manage, support, and refine an IVR strategy on your own, you may want to look at Self-Service SaaS models.

* If you want to focus on your business and leave the IVR solution to the experts (those who have done it repeatedly – hundreds, if not thousands of times), and want to ensure that your applications are hosted, monitored, maintained, and supported to ensure the best performance, then you want to look at a Full Service Managed SaaS model.

The model you choose depends on the level of expertise and support you would like to shift to your IVR service provider.

Making a vendor selection is no easy task, especially if you want to get it right the first time. So the more information you have, the better your chances of success.

The following outline is an introduction to IVR vendor selection from a down-to-earth business perspective. It will help you identify the outsourcing model that is best for your business.

In todays IVR marketplace, IVR vendors deliver their services in different ways; from a complete self service model where you need to do all the legwork to a white glove service model where your projects are planned, developed, and implemented for you. Which one is best for your business will depend on how much energy, effort, and time you can afford to divert from your core business, to your IVR project. The good news is that theres a model out there for almost every business.

Whether your project involves a survey, account inquiry system, sales lead generation, call center self-service, product order and fulfillment, credit card transactions, or field employee reporting, there is a vendor model thats right for you.

It is important to understand three key factors which will help you make the right decision. The three (3) main reasons why an organization might decide to outsource its IVR operations versus taking it on in-house are as follows:

(a) Lower Cost (b) Flexible Technology (c) Higher Levels of Expertise

(a) – Cost: An outsourced IVR application can be far less expensive to implement than IVR done in-house. An IVR System will probably take less time to implement if you choose the hosted model and you will typically only pay for what you use or commit to using. Service providers usually adjust to your requirements, rather than you having to plan for growth.

(b) – Flexible Technology: In todays environment of rapidly changing business demands, technology must be flexible enough to adjust quickly and cost effectively. The outsourced IVR approach protects you from having to continuously adapt to these changes, as the responsibility is shifted to the service provider, protecting you from technological obsolescence.

(c) – Higher Levels of Expertise: If you dont have the time and /or resources to keep your IVR application running current and glitch-free, a provider who offers Managed IVR outsourcing is worth looking into. There are various levels of IVR services available ” some provide higher levels of expertise and support than others. Hosted service providers have an expertise that is difficult or almost impossible to maintain in-house, that is, having the experience of deploying 100s, if not 1000s, of applications, and knowing what works, what doesnt work, and what works best.

Which IVR Service model is best for your business? You will probably agree that the best model for any business, regardless of size, industry, budget, or application, is the model that will get the closest to guaranteeing a successful execution. Lets face it, IT projects are seldom completed on time, and most often exceed budget. However it doesnt need to be that way.

You have some decisions to make: Do-it-yourself, or delegate the responsibility to an expert?

* If you feel confident that you have the expertise and resources to plan, develop, maintain, manage, support, and refine an IVR strategy on your own, you may want to look at Self-Service SaaS models.

* If you want to focus on your business and leave the IVR solution to the experts (those who have done it repeatedly – hundreds, if not thousands of times), and want to ensure that your applications are hosted, monitored, maintained, and supported to ensure the best performance, then you want to look at a Full Service Managed SaaS model.

The model you choose depends on the level of expertise and support you would like to shift to your IVR service provider.

I recently launched an ask the expert campaign on IVR Surveys, inviting anyone who wanted to participate to submit their questions regarding IVR Surveys. Not surprisingly the most popular question was, How can I increase my survey response rates when using IVR?

I would like share a client story with you that will help answer this question.

I was recently working with a healthcare benefits group, we develop and host about a dozen IVR surveys per year for them. They were experiencing a 10% response rate on a particular project, when the average for projects of this scope is about 30%. They chose IVR specifically because of the demographics they were targeting, and where access to the internet was limited.

The IVR survey invitation was part of a benefits package information kit sent out to 15,000 employees and the package contained about 50 pages. If you have worked in a large organization, or your employer offers you benefits I ’m sure you are familiar with this type of package. Included in the package there was an invitation to participate in an employee survey. The client thought they had this under control. The organization was relying on the results of this survey to tailor changes to the benefits package to the realities faced by employees, and the client wanted to obtain a significant enough sample to make the changes that reflect the needs and wants of the employees.

Needless to say, the 10% response was not what they expected, and certainly was not representative of their employee base; therefore it was of little use in planning their benefits strategy change. They were very disappointed, I would be.

The first reaction, by the clients project team, was “Our employees don’t use IVR”, and this is why so few responded. Our client called us immediately to ask for our opinion, and what could be done. Of course, as soon I heard where the invitation was inserted; basic marketing 101 told me where the problem was.

Since the client had already invested in developing the survey, and had pre-paid for some transactional services, I suggested that they conduct a small pilot, a mailing to 200 employees. This was a simple post-card invitation, with the survey toll-free number, and access code, plus a compelling reason to call , “We are making changes to your benefits plan, and your opinion is important to us.”

Printing and mailing were cost-effective and the response rate jumped to 65%. Needless to say the client was ecstatic, and the next week, they mailed all 15,000 postcards, achieving a 62% response rate. Applying basic marketing principals to promoting surveys, became part of our clients practice, and escalated the average survey participation rate for employee surveys from 30% to over 50% where IVR access was provided.

The survey invitation was part of a benefits package information kit sent out to 15,000 employees and the package contained about 50 pages. If you have worked in a large organization, or your employer offers you benefits I ’m sure you are familiar with this type of package. Included in the package there was an invitation to participate in an employee survey. The client thought they had this under control. The organization was relying on the results of this survey to tailor changes to the benefits package to the realities faced by employees, and the client wanted to obtain a significant enough sample to make the changes that reflect the needs and wants of the employees.

Needless to say, the 10% response was not what they expected, and certainly was not representative of their employee base; therefore it was of little use in planning their benefits strategy change. They were very disappointed, I would be.

The first reaction, by the clients project team, was “Our employees don ’t use IVR ”, and this is why so few responded. Our client called us immediately to ask for our opinion, and what could be done. Of course, as soon I heard where the invitation was inserted; basic marketing 101 told me where the problem was.

Since the client had already invested in developing the survey, and had pre-paid for some transactional services, I suggested that they conduct a small pilot, a mailing to 200 employees. This was a simple post-card invitation, with the survey toll-free number, and access code, plus a compelling reason to call , “We are making changes to your benefits plan, and your opinion is important to us’

Printing and mailing were cost-effective and the response rate jumped to 65%. Needless to say the client was ecstatic, and the next week, they mailed all 15,000 postcards, achieving a 62% participation rate. Applying basic marketing principals to promoting surveys, became part of our clients practice, and escalated the average survey participation rate for employee surveys from 30% to over 50% where IVR access was provided.

IVR (Interactive Voice Response) has been getting a really bad wrap for poor implementation results, with unfulfilled promises from vendors, and, in efforts to cut costs from handling calls from customers.

There was a time when IVR was perceived an exceptional technology; it played a role where there was a balance between efficiency, customer satisfaction and return on investment. It wasnt all that bad, customers were happy, business managed their costs, and the technology did its job as advertised.

Most of the attention, has been focused on IVRs application in call centers, however IVR plays a significant role in other industry applications, providing both businesses and callers with significant benefits, a positive experience, and return on investment.

For over 30 years, the Algoma Health Unit (AHU) has provided public health services to citizens of the Algoma district. With offices in Blind River, Elliot Lake, Sault Ste. Marie and Wawa, AHU has a large geographical area in which to provide service coverage. Case managers, public health nurses, family support workers, health practitioners and public health inspectors work in these areas servicing a very broad constituency. Like many health organizations across North America, AHU was facing the need to continuously communicate with staff in the district, and have the ability to respond quickly and efficiently to any situation where there could be a potential public health or staff safety risk.

To address the problem, AHU embarked on a process of redesigning their communication and response processes and policies. This initiative resulted in the revision of policies and procedures and the use of automation for employee tracking, communications and response processes.

The new process required an off-hours call center to track and communicate with staff – a manual solution that created operational bottlenecks and increased costs.

After careful review of the manual solution by health unit management, which included consultation with the Health and Safety Committee, a decision was made to evaluate a computerized solution utilizing IVR.

A team, led by Suzanne Irwin, System/Records Manager, examined multiple employee tracking and response requirements. It was important that a staff tracking system did more than just collect data and document safety issues. Immediate alerts, notifications to management and responses to situations where an out-call professional may be in a precarious position, were a priority.

While it was clear that moving from a manual/people intensive system to track staff electronically when responding to potential safety situations was crucial, management felt strongly that attention needed to be paid to the work processes surrounding the solutions as well. Working closely with the Health and Safety Committee plus employees, their input ensured that the solution selection, as well as the timing of implementation, would meet the immediate need to track employees with the ability to respond quickly and efficiently to potential risk situations.

The agency appreciated that with the selected IVR solution there was continuous, open, two-way channel of communication with staff. Information was tracked in real-time, thus eliminating the need for dedicated human resources personnel to manually monitor, and all that was required was the standard issue, field employee mobile phone.

Today, when staff are leaving on a visit request, all they do is pick-up their mobile phone, and in less than 60 seconds they provide key information though a self-service IVR Telephone portal. When they have completed the visit, the practitioner will simply call-in and sign-out, with the option to set the parameters for the next visit. In the event a practitioner forgets to sign-out, the IVR will place an automated reminder call, with the option to postpone the sign-out time. In the event that an employee fails to respond to the reminder call, then the IVR will automatically issue alerts to the field safety coordinators on call.

Program Directors and coordinators can monitor who is in the field and where. Safety officers can review the logs on an historical or real-time basis and assess the effectiveness of safety policies, subsequently making improvements where required, based on objective data.

After the IVR solution was implemented, AHU reduced administrative costs associated with Employee Safety Tracking and Response processes by over 80%. Our IVR solution allows us to manage by exception, eliminate the need for a dispatcher, and eliminate the need for after-hours call center support by 95% – resulting in significant operational savings. reported AHU. With access to field employee information 24/7 over the web or via telephone, Program Directors and safety coordinators can make decisions in real time.

The IVR solutions Embedded Audit Trail and management reporting allows AHU to focus on strategy, ensure compliance, and execute their safety policy.

In addition AHU chose a Software-as-Service Model, which provides AHU operations expertise with no overhead. With no need for additional infrastructure, AHUs IVR implementation and deployment took days not months.

IVR does work, does deliver on its promises, and there is a balance between efficiency, user satisfaction and return on investment. The management of Field Employee Safety and Health Care is just one of many applications Where IVR Does Really Work.