You know what the difference between a call center that only has live agents and one that has an IVR system as well? It’s the difference between regular traffic and holiday traffic.
I drove into work this morning from Boulder to Denver, which I don’t normally do. Usually I take the bus so I can read or catch a little catnap or whatever. The bus can go in the HOV lanes, obviously, so it’s also a little faster.
The days I’ve driven in with normal traffic loads have been a hassle. Boulder is about 30 miles from Denver along a major commuting freeway. Lots of people who live in Boulder commute to Denver for work, so traffic gets heavy at times.
Things start to get pretty bad when you get close to Denver. During normal rush hour, you slow to a crawl for the last few miles. Which is why I definitely prefer to take the bus.
But not this week. Why? Because it’s a holiday week, and the rules are completely different. Even yesterday people were out of town already so traffic was lighter, and it’s only getting lighter as the week goes on. Tomorrow ought to be a breeze.
So today, instead of sitting in bumper-to-bumper traffic the last few miles into Denver, I just cruised right in. You gotta love holiday traffic.
And it’s the same thing with call centers. Ones without an IVR are normal traffic—it usually takes a while to get someone on the phone because you have to wait in a call queue (unless you’re calling at one in the morning). Often you have to wait for five minutes, ten minutes, twenty minutes…
Not so with an IVR. Automated call answering means no call queues. An IVR has virtually unlimited lines, so it can take every call it receives first time. After that, it can take care of most calls itself, but if it can’t it’ll send you on to a call agent.
IVRs are the holiday traffics of the call center world. Easier, faster, way less stressful. Like I said, you gotta love holiday traffic.
