We live in an era that is saturated by constant and continuous news updates, whether you want the news or not. The amount of financially themed news stories has increased exponentially in the last three years due to the precarious state of the economy. Just this week, there has been a variety of fiscal stories that have made front-page news.
The debt crisis is looming, with fierce debate ongoing concerning the debt ceiling and whether it should be increased, and if so, to what amount. The amount of permissible public debt is set at $14.3 trillion dollars as stipulated by federal law.
That debt ceiling was reached on May 16th, at which point special measures were undertaken to extend the government’s ability to make payments until August 2nd, at which point the U.S. Treasury would no longer be fiscally solvent. This would mean that the U.S. Treasury could not borrow additional money to pay bills, and while capital could come from alternative sources, the government would be forced to choose which obligations were of the utmost importance.
The President and Congress are in a stalemate over whether to raise this debt ceiling, with House Republicans refusing to raise the amount without some sort of deficit reduction and the President and Senate Democrats refusing to acquiesce to these demands.
Pictures surfaced yesterday of what many are hoping is the iPhone 5, which is supposed to be released sometime in September. As anyone who even casually follows the tech industry knows, the release of a new and improved model of the iPhone results in widespread excitement and a massive flurry of people attempting to get their hands on one.
This of course means that Apple’s shares, which are already closing at their highest point ever ($403.41/ share), will skyrocket even further. Any savvy financial investor wants to be informed immediately of activity that can potentially affect their portfolio.
While many smartphones come equipped with stock monitoring capabilities, many people continue to have feature phones. Also, checking on stock quotes, currency conversions, portfolio tracking and monitoring financial news can be tedious and often times dangerous. That is where an interactive voice response system can come in handy.
An IVR system can be easily accessed via any kind of phone (mobile, landline) and can be used hands-free as well. Users can simply call in, speak or type their account information, and have all the financial information they require immediately at their fingertips (or more accurately, eardrums). IVR enables users to stay continuously updated on their financial portfolio while on-the-go, without dangerously trying to read and commute.
