{"id":16276,"date":"2017-02-28T13:58:39","date_gmt":"2017-02-28T13:58:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.c3.co.uk\/blog\/?p=16276"},"modified":"2017-02-28T13:58:39","modified_gmt":"2017-02-28T13:58:39","slug":"mistakes-avoid-make-ivr-system-excellent","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.c3.co.uk\/blog-cms\/2017\/02\/28\/mistakes-avoid-make-ivr-system-excellent\/","title":{"rendered":"Mistakes to Avoid to Make your IVR System Excellent"},"content":{"rendered":"

An IVR system is a great component in helping you and your business to deliver excellent customer service, they are extremely helpful in filtering customers to the right call centre agent and delivering extra information to them. However, an Interactive Voice Response (IVR) system is only useful when it works effectively, otherwise it can be a source of frustration for a lot of callers who get passed around the system and seemingly feel like they are getting nowhere. Here are a few things that you should avoid and steer clear of in your IVR system to make sure it is helping customers rather than hindering them.<\/p>\n

Too Many or Too Little Menu Items<\/strong><\/p>\n

No caller wants to sit through a long list of 13 different menu options, not only is it frustrating, it\u2019s confusing too. By the time anyone has reached the 13th option it is more than likely that they have forgotten at least the first 5, and they will definitely have to listen to menu all over again. However, it is very unlikely that most of the callers had stayed on the line to hear the option of listening to the menu again and if they did stay to the end they probably don\u2019t have the patience to sit through it again. Customers just want to speak to someone to address their problem, so they will probably put the phone down instead and you would have lost their business.<\/p>\n

Setting up between 3 and 5 different menu items is optimal, any less and it creates another problem for the customer. With not enough options the customer can become confused as to which option to choose to get them to the most relevant department. If you have too many options and you\u2019re finding it hard to cut down, you could consider using voice recognition instead to eliminate the push button menu altogether and give the customer the power to tell your system what they\u2019re looking for instead.<\/p>\n

Using Jargon<\/strong><\/p>\n

There is a reason this word exists, to describe every word we don\u2019t understand, much like the word \u2018jargon\u2019 itself. In most cases the customer is calling you because they don\u2019t understand something, need help or have a question or query about something, so they probably don\u2019t understand all of the technical industry jargon related to your business. You don\u2019t want to blind your customer with these words and confuse them even further, so avoid jargon unless it is absolutely necessary, for example, if a technical term needs to be used in a menu item to point a customer in the direction of the department that deals with that item specifically.<\/p>\n

A Lack of Consistency<\/strong><\/p>\n

Changing your wording from menu item to menu item is only going to cause confusion for the caller, don\u2019t go from \u2018Press 1 for sales\u2019 to \u2018To speak to someone about reservations press 2\u2019, it throws the customer off because they can\u2019t follow an easy, predictable pattern which means they have to concentrate on the menu options even more than before to make sure they select the right one and don\u2019t make a mistake. As well as style of menu items, you need to ensure you keep the same voice and volume throughout, if the caller has to keep turning their volume up and down to suit the varying volume of your IVR system it is just creating more work for them which can really annoy them.<\/p>\n

Not Including a Call Back Option<\/strong><\/p>\n

Calling call centres and customer service departments are branded with a stereotype that you will spend a lot of time on hold and being passed around without getting anywhere. No one appreciates being on hold, not even for a few minutes, it often stops you from being able to do anything else while you spend your time hanging on and waiting for a sign that you\u2019re going to be able to speak to a real person soon. If there is no one available to speak to the caller you should always give them the option to hold until there is or to request a call back instead. Offering a call back option saves the customer from wasting their time and their money, it shows the customer that you care about them and understand that they have a life outside of the call that they are making, it\u2019s just good customer service!<\/p>\n

Avoid these mistakes to ensure your IVR system is user-friendly and won\u2019t turn customers away! Find out more about our IVR systems<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

An IVR system is a great component in helping you and your business to deliver excellent customer service, they are extremely helpful in filtering customers to the right call centre agent and delivering extra information to them. However, an Interactive Voice Response (IVR) system is only useful when it works effectively, otherwise it can be … Continue reading Mistakes to Avoid to Make your IVR System Excellent<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":16277,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false},"categories":[33],"tags":[78],"yoast_head":"\nMistakes to Avoid to Make your IVR System Excellent - C3 Communications<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Ensure your IVR system is customer friendly & a help rather than hinderence with these top mistakes to avoid - read more...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.c3.co.uk\/blog-cms\/2017\/02\/28\/mistakes-avoid-make-ivr-system-excellent\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Mistakes to Avoid to Make your IVR System Excellent - C3 Communications\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Ensure your IVR system is customer friendly & a help rather than hinderence with these top mistakes to avoid - read more...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.c3.co.uk\/blog-cms\/2017\/02\/28\/mistakes-avoid-make-ivr-system-excellent\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"C3 Communications\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2017-02-28T13:58:39+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.c3.co.uk\/blog-cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/call-centre-1024x624.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1024\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"624\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"marketing\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"marketing\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Estimated reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.c3.co.uk\/blog-cms\/2017\/02\/28\/mistakes-avoid-make-ivr-system-excellent\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.c3.co.uk\/blog-cms\/2017\/02\/28\/mistakes-avoid-make-ivr-system-excellent\/\",\"name\":\"Mistakes to Avoid to Make your IVR System Excellent - C3 Communications\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.c3.co.uk\/blog-cms\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2017-02-28T13:58:39+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2017-02-28T13:58:39+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.c3.co.uk\/blog-cms\/#\/schema\/person\/ba02145e4bca2001096f8639b596ea2f\"},\"description\":\"Ensure your IVR system is customer friendly & a help rather than hinderence with these top mistakes to avoid - read more...\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.c3.co.uk\/blog-cms\/2017\/02\/28\/mistakes-avoid-make-ivr-system-excellent\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.c3.co.uk\/blog-cms\/2017\/02\/28\/mistakes-avoid-make-ivr-system-excellent\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.c3.co.uk\/blog-cms\/2017\/02\/28\/mistakes-avoid-make-ivr-system-excellent\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.c3.co.uk\/blog-cms\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Mistakes to Avoid to Make your IVR System Excellent\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.c3.co.uk\/blog-cms\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.c3.co.uk\/blog-cms\/\",\"name\":\"C3 Communications\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.c3.co.uk\/blog-cms\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.c3.co.uk\/blog-cms\/#\/schema\/person\/ba02145e4bca2001096f8639b596ea2f\",\"name\":\"marketing\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.c3.co.uk\/blog-cms\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/bf44b8a02d3168b0774ce62d6bc75c78?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/bf44b8a02d3168b0774ce62d6bc75c78?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"marketing\"}}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Mistakes to Avoid to Make your IVR System Excellent - C3 Communications","description":"Ensure your IVR system is customer friendly & a help rather than hinderence with these top mistakes to avoid - read more...","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.c3.co.uk\/blog-cms\/2017\/02\/28\/mistakes-avoid-make-ivr-system-excellent\/","og_locale":"en_GB","og_type":"article","og_title":"Mistakes to Avoid to Make your IVR System Excellent - C3 Communications","og_description":"Ensure your IVR system is customer friendly & a help rather than hinderence with these top mistakes to avoid - read more...","og_url":"https:\/\/www.c3.co.uk\/blog-cms\/2017\/02\/28\/mistakes-avoid-make-ivr-system-excellent\/","og_site_name":"C3 Communications","article_published_time":"2017-02-28T13:58:39+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1024,"height":624,"url":"https:\/\/www.c3.co.uk\/blog-cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/call-centre-1024x624.png","type":"image\/png"}],"author":"marketing","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"marketing","Estimated reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.c3.co.uk\/blog-cms\/2017\/02\/28\/mistakes-avoid-make-ivr-system-excellent\/","url":"https:\/\/www.c3.co.uk\/blog-cms\/2017\/02\/28\/mistakes-avoid-make-ivr-system-excellent\/","name":"Mistakes to Avoid to Make your IVR System Excellent - C3 Communications","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.c3.co.uk\/blog-cms\/#website"},"datePublished":"2017-02-28T13:58:39+00:00","dateModified":"2017-02-28T13:58:39+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.c3.co.uk\/blog-cms\/#\/schema\/person\/ba02145e4bca2001096f8639b596ea2f"},"description":"Ensure your IVR system is customer friendly & a help rather than hinderence with these top mistakes to avoid - read more...","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.c3.co.uk\/blog-cms\/2017\/02\/28\/mistakes-avoid-make-ivr-system-excellent\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-GB","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.c3.co.uk\/blog-cms\/2017\/02\/28\/mistakes-avoid-make-ivr-system-excellent\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.c3.co.uk\/blog-cms\/2017\/02\/28\/mistakes-avoid-make-ivr-system-excellent\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.c3.co.uk\/blog-cms\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Mistakes to Avoid to Make your IVR System Excellent"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.c3.co.uk\/blog-cms\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.c3.co.uk\/blog-cms\/","name":"C3 Communications","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.c3.co.uk\/blog-cms\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-GB"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.c3.co.uk\/blog-cms\/#\/schema\/person\/ba02145e4bca2001096f8639b596ea2f","name":"marketing","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/www.c3.co.uk\/blog-cms\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/bf44b8a02d3168b0774ce62d6bc75c78?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/bf44b8a02d3168b0774ce62d6bc75c78?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"marketing"}}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.c3.co.uk\/blog-cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16276"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.c3.co.uk\/blog-cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.c3.co.uk\/blog-cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.c3.co.uk\/blog-cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.c3.co.uk\/blog-cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16276"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.c3.co.uk\/blog-cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16276\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16280,"href":"https:\/\/www.c3.co.uk\/blog-cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16276\/revisions\/16280"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.c3.co.uk\/blog-cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/16277"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.c3.co.uk\/blog-cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16276"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.c3.co.uk\/blog-cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16276"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.c3.co.uk\/blog-cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16276"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}