An important decision that you have to make in the process of implementing an IVR solution is whether to host the system yourself or to take advantage of hosted IVR services. We help our clients with this all the time and thought we should share it with everyone. While the ultimate decision is yours, here is a list of reasons why we prefer the Hosted IVR option:
1.  With the economy in trouble, the biggest decision maker these days seems to be the bottom line – opting for an in house system will require you purchase the necessary hardware (and it’s not cheap!) while you could simply pay monthly IVR hosting fees and avoid the large upfront expense. This changes the expense from a CapEx to an OPEX.
2.   Don’t forget the cost of managing and maintaining a system too. With hosted IVR, that’s taken care of.
3.   Consider the limitations of an onsite system: you would have to upgrade your system to accommodate more simultaneous calls, and usually you don’t know you need an upgrade until it’s too late. IVR hosting allows you to handle unexpected spikes in call volume with ease.
4.   Speaking of upgrades, in order to create the very best user experience possible you need to stay on top of the latest speech technology. Plum’s hosted IVR hardware gets updated as soon as a new technology is proven – that our business.
5.   Do you cringe at the mere mention of catastrophic failure? Relax, Plum’s IVR hosting service has you covered with a fully redundant disaster recovery system between three data centers. Just think of all the sleepless nights in the server room you’ll save.
So, there are clear advantages to opting for hosted IVR. Whether you’re motivation is financial, technical, or you just want the peace of mind that comes from knowing the system is in the capable hands of experts, IVR hosting is just a better way to go.
Leave a Reply