The future of IVR AI for e-commerce brands
Understanding IVR AI and its future for e-commerce brands
Did you know that Artificial Intelligence (AI) is being used more and more to power Interactive Voice Response (IVR) systems?
This cutting-edge technology is revolutionizing the way e-commerce businesses interact with their customers. In this post, we provide an introduction to IVR AI and how it can benefit your e-commerce brand.
In this article, we address the following questions:
How can IVR AI help my e-commerce business?
What are the benefits of using IVR AI?
What are the potential risks of using IVR AI?
How well does the new platform integrate with existing the help desk system?
How secure is the data on an IVR AI platform?
How quickly can I get started with IVR AI?
Is IVR AI cost effective?
IVR AI and its purpose in e-commerce customer service
IVR AI is a tool that will continue to revolutionize e-commerce customer service. IVR AI provides automated customer support through intelligent natural language processing, helping customers find the answers they need quickly and efficiently, reducing customer effort, and increasing overall customer satisfaction.
E-commerce organizations use IVR AI to improve customer experiences and reduce the cost of providing phone support by creating virtual agents that can handle a wide range of customer inquiries. Categories of inquiries ripe for IVR AI solutions include product availability, order status, shipping status, and general FAQs.
IVR AI is proving to be incredibly effective, not only because it equips organizations with customized solutions tailored to their customers' specific needs, but it also helps streamline workflows so customer experience operations become more efficient. IVR AI is sure to continue to be a key technology in optimizing customer service systems in the e-commerce space.
What does implementing IVR AI look like?
When effectively implemented, IVR AI can provide quick and quality responses to customers' queries, enforcing a positive customer experience. For e-commerce businesses looking for IVR implementation success, there are several key steps that should be taken.
Implementations include building an IVR "tree" that provides multiple paths to resolution; incorporating natural language processing so the IVR can understand various spoken requests; responding with static or dynamic audio recordings; utilizing machine learning technologies for continual improvement of IVRs over time; integrating IVRs with knowledge bases; leveraging analytics tools for real-time insights into customer satisfaction levels; and ultimately providing consistent, personalized experiences across all IVR systems.
We asked Rush Order's Director of Customer Experience, Anthony Ramirez, for his take on some of the key steps in the implementation process for one recent Rush Order client. This client is heavily invested in telephone support for its premium technology products and Anthony proposed using a partially AI-driven solution to improve the customer experience and reduce customer service costs. Here are a few important steps Anthony leveraged in the course of implementing IVR AI four the client, written from Anthony's perspective.
IVR Vendor Selection
I began by identifying the key features and capabilities we needed in an IVR AI solution, such as speech recognition, natural language processing, and integration with our existing help desk system, which was Zendesk in this particular use case.
I also looked for vendors that had experience in the e-commerce industry and had a proven track record of success. Enabling IVR AI that enables and supports purchases of physical items is significantly different than similar solutions in the travel, hospitality, or telecom industries, for example.
There are several potential risks when using IVR AI for e-commerce businesses, including data security, customer experience issues, and potentially high costs (both obvious and hidden costs). To minimize the potential risks, I made sure we were selecting a secure platform with the help of Rush Order's CTO and his team. I also made sure I understood the limits of the customer service functions the new IVR system would provide. Additionally, businesses should carefully evaluate their cost-benefit analysis to determine if IVR AI is right for them. By taking the time to research and prepare, we felt confident we could use IVR AI to improve our client's e-commerce business while mitigating these potential risks.
Lastly, I evaluated pricing, scalability, and the level of support and training offered by each vendor. These are somewhat new solutions to Rush Order, but very new to each of our clients who trust the Rush Order team to be the experts.
Implementation Process
Once we selected a vendor, we worked with them to plan and execute the implementation process.
This included configuring the system, integrating it with our existing systems, and testing it to ensure that it met our requirements.
We also trained our contact center agents in the US and in the Philippines on how to use the system and handle any issues and escalations that arose (hint: there were plenty of bugs to work through initially).
Keep in mind that IVR AI replaces some work normally performed by live agents, but not all. The system also makes agents more efficient as they can specialize their knowledge around higher complexity inquiries. A critical part of IVR AI implementation is the ongoing development of your human team as well.
Onboarding steps
To ensure a smooth transition to the new system, we developed an onboarding plan for our client, reviewed it together, and achieved buy-in from both parties.
We communicated ongoing bugs, issues, and changes to our client. We also provided training and support, and monitored usage to identify any issues.
Ongoing management
After the IVR AI solution was implemented, we set up regular reviews to monitor the system's performance and make any necessary adjustments. We conducted both internal reviews, as well as joint reviews with our client.
We continued to invest in training for our contact center agents on how to use the system and again any issues and escalations.
IVR AI results
Overall, the implementation of IVR AI in our organization improved the customer experience, reduced contact center costs for our client by about 20%, and allowed us to scale our customer support team for this particular brand much more efficiently. With the right vendor, planning, and ongoing management, any organization can successfully implement an IVR AI solution.
Parting Thoughts
IVR AI is not for every brand, but it can be a great fit for some. At Rush Order, we evaluate each client circumstance and recommend a customized suite of solutions that may or may not include IVR AI, or even any phone support at all for that matter.
Sometimes live agent chat, chatbots, email, and social media channels are sufficient. Other times, telephone and specifically IVR AI solutions can unlock massive gains in the customer experience delivered. It all depends.
To learn more and schedule a free consultation to evaluate your CX needs, please contact us today. And, if you haven't already done so, we invite you to join our regular email newsletter where we continually share tips, tricks, and best practices to improve CX management for your e-commerce business.