Improve sales, manage call volume, help customers self-assist by integrating an interactive voice response or IVR system within your office communication system. Enhance customer relations by choosing the right tools and services for your finance company.
Interactive Voice Response (IVR): A Financial Communication Solution
First, what is an IVR system? Interactive Voice Response is an automated response system that answers incoming calls and directs callers. It does so by presenting callers with pre-recorded menus and options to assist them in completing a task or reaching the right employee.
Most businesses incorporate IVR into their office phone system to maintain a professional image and they use automation to manage call volumes. Customers are always calling businesses to access information or resolve concerns. (Read about important facts regarding business phone calls here.) If used effectively and creatively, this service may fulfill most of the simple and mundane tasks callers may present. This allows agents and employees to focus on more complex calls and interactions.
Cloud-based phone service providers, like Global Call Forwarding, offer this service along with other virtual communication tools like call forwarding, call recording, unlimited extensions, outbound calling, etc. And so, you can easily integrate IVR into your business phone service by choosing a reliable provider.
Setting Up Your Company’s IVR System?
Setting up your IVR system depends on what you want to provide your callers and what your cloud-based phone service provider offers. You can either have a one-level or multi-level IVR system, depending on the different tasks you want your callers to be able to complete. For example, do you want to provide self-service options such as complete payments, review active accounts or credit/debit cards, purchase histories, etc.? Additionally, international finance banks may want to distribute calls based on geographic location.
You can start by distributing calls based on language preferences where the IVR system asks callers to input 1 for English and 2 for Spanish, and so on. Then, you can set up other activities, based on the categories. For example, to:
- Learn more about our products and services, press 1.
- To get information about your account (payment history, account balances), press 2.
- To verify and activate a new account or card, press 3.
- To register a concern or complaint, press 4.
- If your call doesn’t fall under any of the previously-mentioned reasons and you want to speak with a representative, press 5.
Then, once callers move to the next level, you can offer more specific options. For instance, if a caller presses 2, then they may encounter a menu as the following:
- Verify your account by entering the last 5 digits of your account number.
- Thank you for that information. Now, for account balance information, press 1, for payment history, press 2, etc.
This way, customers move along a map of menus to complete the tasks they called for. And, for the most part, they are able to complete such simple tasks like this without the help of an agent or representative. This frees your employees to take calls that present as more complicated. And furthermore, they provide your clients with refined customer service.
Why Your Finance Company Needs an IVR System
So, what are some different ways you can use IVR for financial services? Your finance company can use such a system to:
- Greet callers and assist them while an employee is busy
- Transfer callers to the appropriate department
- Provide basic information about products and services
- Help them make payments
- Verify/authenticate account information
- Get account balance information
- Check payment history
- Activate accounts
- Allow logging of complaints
- Offer customer service, etc.
Besides the benefits of automating certain processes and handling call volumes, an IVR system can also boost your finance company’s professional image. It helps establish your company as one that cares about its customers and offers different ways for callers to resolve their concerns or issues.
Get IVR with Global Call Forwarding
Global Call Forwarding offers IVR with each of its plans. And so, whether you are a small business or an established finance company, you can enjoy the benefits of having an IVR system. To get this service, simply sign up for a plan on our website, globalcallforwarding.com. To learn more, feel free to call us at 1 (888) 908 6171.
