IVR Recording Preview System for Agent Call Preparation
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Interactive voice response (IVR) systems fail to provide customer service agents with sufficient information about a customer's interaction before the call, leading to potential escalation of antagonism and poor problem resolution due to the impersonality and time required to navigate through the system.
Innovation Solution
A method and system that processes IVR recordings to create routing data, allowing customer service agents to preview audio files of customer interactions, including responses and prompts, before connecting with the customer, enabling agents to gauge the customer's mood and prepare appropriately.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If IVR systems are used to prescreen calls and provide automated information, then call volumes to agents are reduced and agents receive preliminary customer information, but customers may become hostile or irritated due to the impersonality and time required to navigate the system
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary action by recording and preserving the customer's IVR interaction data before the agent connects. This allows the agent to review the customer's responses, tone, and navigation patterns in advance, preparing them to address potential concerns proactively and personalize the interaction, thereby reducing customer antagonism while maintaining efficiency gains.
Solution Approach 2:
The system introduces feedback by providing the agent with real-time or near-real-time information about the customer's IVR interaction. This feedback loop enables the agent to adjust their approach based on the customer's demonstrated preferences, frustrations, or urgency, allowing them to de-escalate potential hostility and improve service quality.
2Loss of time
If agents connect to calls without knowing the customer's state of mind, then call routing is faster, but agents may inadvertently offend customers or escalate antagonism
Solution Approach 1:
The system enables preliminary action by allowing agents to review customer IVR interaction data before connecting. Agents can assess the customer's state of mind, identify potential issues, and prepare appropriate responses in advance. This preparation happens without delaying the call routing itself, as the review occurs in parallel or just before connection, maintaining fast routing while improving rapport establishment.
3Ease of operation
If the system provides detailed IVR interaction data to agents before connection, then agents can better prepare and personalize service, but system complexity and data processing requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The system applies the extraction principle by isolating and separating the data processing functions from the core IVR and agent communication systems. The IVR interaction data is extracted, processed, and formatted into a concise summary that is then presented to the agent. This modular approach reduces system complexity by creating independent, specialized components rather than requiring a monolithic complex system.
Solution Approach 2:
The system uses copying by creating a simplified representation or summary of the customer's IVR interaction data rather than requiring agents to access or analyze the complete raw data set. This copy contains the essential information needed for preparation (customer preferences, frustrations, key responses) in an easily consumable format, reducing the complexity of data processing while maintaining ease of agent operation.
Data Source
AI summary
The present system and method allow a customer service agent to preview an audio file of a customer's interaction with an interactive voice response (IVR) system before taking the call. While customer voice commands are typically used to navigate through an IVR system to reach an appropriate agent, the present system and method record the customer's voice commands in response to IVR prompts as an audio file and provide them to the agent before she or he takes the call. The agent may play the audio file on a customer engagement center desktop.