Interactive Voice Response (IVR) routing is a option to information your callers to the best-fit agent, division, or service middle to reply their questions, clear up their queries, and meet their particular wants.

The top consequence? Greater buyer satisfaction, plus streamlined name administration for your enterprise.

IVR is a strategic device that advantages your callers by lowering their wait occasions and bettering service accuracy. With a well-optimized routing system, they’ll simply discover the division they’re on the lookout for with out being transferred from one agent to a different.

The bottom line is designing name flows that make the most of several types of IVR routing. Every serves a singular operate and has particular situations that it’s greatest suited to. Most companies use multiple kind.

These are the six IVR routing varieties I’ll cowl:

1. Caller ID routing.
2. Knowledge-directed routing.
3. Location-based routing.
4. Menu choices routing.
5. Time-based routing.
6. Abilities-based routing.

Most fashionable enterprise cellphone companies and name middle software program embrace built-in instruments to arrange fundamental IVR routing. Directors can simply arrange the IVR for a single workplace or easy cellphone tree with out the assistance of a specialist. Advanced IVR routing could require specialist help, in addition to upgrades and third-party integrations.

1. Caller ID routing

Caller ID routing makes use of a caller’s cellphone quantity to find out the perfect course for the decision. This methodology is greatest if you could create a personalised expertise for frequent callers or prioritize necessary shoppers.

If that’s the case, you may configure your enterprise’ IVR system to acknowledge cellphone numbers of present shoppers or VIP prospects. When these prospects name, the system will route them on to a devoted account supervisor or a precedence help crew.

This ensures high-value shoppers obtain rapid and customized consideration, which ought to maintain them completely happy.

Past that, you may additionally use caller ID routing to determine and redirect frequent callers to particular departments they often work together with. This can streamline the caller’s journey by lowering the necessity for repeated navigation by the IVR menu and in addition assist your enterprise handle name queues extra successfully.

Briefly, caller ID routing is an effective option to provide a tailor-made expertise to high-value prospects or streamline service for present ones — each of which ought to reinforce buyer loyalty.

2. Knowledge-directed routing

Knowledge-directed routing makes use of your buyer’s earlier interactions to enhance name flows and create a extra customized expertise for callers. By accessing buyer information like buy historical past, account info, or earlier service requests, this IVR routing kind intelligently directs the decision to essentially the most appropriate agent or division.

Callers recognized by account historical past as being in arrears could also be routed to collections, for instance, or routed based mostly on real-time info like account standing or service stage agreements. From there, prospects can get info or make a fee utilizing the IVR.

Bypassing common inquiry channels saves time for the caller. It additionally ensures they’re talking with an agent who’s already acquainted with their particular necessities.

Callers will admire data-directed routing, as a result of it personalizes service and reduces the necessity for them to repeatedly present the identical info over and over. Like the opposite sorts of routing on this record, if you happen to use it proper, you’ll see increased satisfaction charges and finally better buyer loyalty.

3. Location-based routing

In location-based routing, the IVR system makes use of a caller’s geographical location to direct their name to the closest or most acceptable service middle or consultant.

This methodology is most useful if your enterprise has a number of regional workplaces or service areas, because it ensures your callers get localized help tailor-made to their particular area.

Let’s say you run a retail chain with shops throughout the nation. You should use location-based routing to make sure that your callers are related to the shop that’s closest to them geographically.

This method additionally permits for region-specific info, like native promotions or stock, to be conveyed precisely. Equally, if in case you have a service-based enterprise that’s region-specific, like a utility firm, your callers could be mechanically related to native workplaces for extra related help.

General, location-based routing provides callers a extra customized expertise whereas additionally serving to your enterprise handle name volumes extra effectively throughout completely different places.

4. Menu choices routing

This is likely one of the extra acquainted sorts of IVR routing. Because the title implies, callers are given quite a lot of menu choices to select from. Based mostly on their picks, their name is directed to essentially the most acceptable agent or division.

The good factor about this methodology is that it’s extremely versatile and could be custom-made to go well with a variety of service wants. For instance, a utility firm might use menu choices routing to categorize calls into billing, outage reporting, or common inquiries.

By urgent a corresponding quantity on their keypad, callers can shortly navigate to the suitable division with out having to talk to an middleman. This not solely quickens the decision dealing with course of but in addition ensures your callers are related to the brokers greatest geared up to resolve their particular points.

Menu choices will also be nice for bettering effectivity. It may be designed to lower excessive name queuing occasions throughout peak hours by distributing calls based mostly on the kind of inquiry. Throughout a promotional interval, for instance, a retail enterprise may need a devoted menu choice only for promotional queries, which helps if you happen to’re anticipating a rise in a majority of these calls.

5. Talent-based routing

Talent-based routing is one in all a number of necessary name middle software program options. It’s all about connecting your callers with essentially the most certified agent potential. That is particularly useful if a buyer has a extra technical subject or wants further steering that requires the help of one in all your extra skilled brokers.

This IVR routing kind analyzes a caller’s enter or profile, then directs the decision to an agent or division with the requisite experience.

This methodology is especially efficient for tech or software program companies, or any firm whose calls are likely to require specialised data or dealing with.

Your tech firm may use skill-based routing to direct technical help queries on to your IT specialists, or route billing-related calls on to the finance division.

Since this routing methodology shortly connects callers to somebody with the mandatory experience to assist them, it may assist resolve their points extra effectively — that means increased buyer satisfaction ranges in your name middle.

Talent-based routing will also be programmed with a language element or desire. For instance, a caller with a desire for Spanish may very well be routed to a Spanish-speaking agent, which makes the service extra accessible and customized.

6. Time-based routing

Time-based routing is strictly what it seems like. This IVR system directs calls based mostly on the present time of day.

Does your enterprise must deal with calls throughout non-business hours or when completely different shifts are in operation? Time- based mostly routing is especially efficient for these use circumstances. It means that you can arrange predefined guidelines that mechanically ahead calls to the appropriate vacation spot relying on what time they’re obtained.

That is pretty simple for workplaces with customary enterprise hours. For digital contact facilities, companies that function throughout a number of time zones, and different organizations with distributed workforces, this routing methodology turns into completely important. If your enterprise will get a customer support name after hours in a single time zone, it may very well be routed to an workplace in a unique location the place brokers are nonetheless working.

Equally, throughout weekends or holidays, calls could be forwarded to cellular numbers or voicemail. This fashion, buyer inquiries aren’t left unattended.

Time-based routing is a good way to boost the shopper expertise by lowering wait occasions and making certain issues are addressed promptly, it doesn’t matter what time prospects name.