An IVR (interactive voice response) greets the call and offers choices. Done well, it sends the caller to the right place within seconds. Done poorly, it walks them from menu to menu until they give up. The difference comes down to a few simple rules.
Three choices, not nine
Beyond three or four options, callers stop retaining them. A short menu that covers the real requests and puts the rest under 'other' beats an exhaustive menu nobody listens to the end of.
Always a way out to a human
Every branch must end in reaching someone, or leaving a message that gets picked up. A menu that loops back on itself, or that hangs up when nobody answers, is the surest way to lose an irritated customer.
The announcement changes in thirty seconds
Exceptional hours, holidays, hold messages: these announcements need to change without going through a provider. You type them on the keyboard, a synthetic voice reads them out, and they're live the same day.
A voice menu is judged on one thing: the time between pickup and the right person. If it lengthens that time, it works against you. If it shortens it, it's doing its job.
A good menu is designed in one meeting, and can then be changed without us every season.
Talk to us about itIs your phone greeting losing callers?
Describe your current menu, we'll tell you what we'd shorten to get to the right person faster.