Interactive voice response (IVR)

IVR, or Interactive Voice Response, is a customer service automation tool that leverages either keypad or vocal responses from the user to curate customer experiences over the phone. Contact centers utilize IVRs because most inbound customer inquiry volumes are often repeat scenarios like appointment scheduling and balance inquiries, just to name a few common examples. IVR technology is a cost-effective way of optimizing the contact center and ensuring that live agents are spending their time resolving more complicated customer issues.

IVR’s next iteration is IVA, commonly known as an interactive virtual agent or assistant. Interactive virtual agents leverage AI technology like natural language processing (NLP) to listen to customers and provide the best resolution. Unlike IVR, IVAs aren’t limited to pre-built communication workflows. With AI, IVAs can handle the most typical inquiries but can also solve more complex problems, understand user sentiment, and reference historical data to provide an advanced level of customer experience.