Fusion – Cloud IVR Solution

Could Your Business Benefit More From IVR?

What is an IVR (Interactive Voice Response) System?

Interactive Voice Response, or IVR software, is a self-service technology that allows customers to interact with humans through voice applications or by touch on a telephone keypad. IVRs give users a menu of automated prompts allowing customers to access self-service features, navigate a menu, and find the appropriate solution quickly. By utilising menu options, an IVR system enables the routing of callers or incoming calls to the appropriate agent or department without having them speak to a live agent.

An IVR system enables callers to solve basic problems or answer basic enquiries on their own. Integrating an IVR solution into your incoming call flow will allow your customers to receive quicker, better service. Customers can easily find the status of a shipment, follow up on an existing order, or request an agent depending on their specific needs and menu choices.

IVR systems increase customer satisfaction, customer service efficiency and reduce operational costs. In addition to improved first-call resolution, implementing an interactive voice response system boosts agent productivity by eliminating the tedious step of manually gathering customer data. Agents can therefore focus on what’s important - The customer experience.

There are two kinds of IVR systems. Traditional IVR typically prompts callers to select a number from an options menu and will route calls or provide services depending on that selection. Options are usually selected via the caller’s phone keypad and utilise DTMF (Dual-Tone Multi-Frequency), the signal you generate when you press a telephone's keypad.

Conversational IVR solutions utilise speech recognition to allow users to speak naturally and describe what they need in their own words. C3’s Fusion IVR application utilises artificial intelligence (AI), Natural Language Processing (NLP) and speech-to-text technologies to deliver a more natural customer experience that closely replicates the experience of talking to a real agent over the phone.

C3’s FUSION IVR is a graphical service tool and automatic code generator. It allows you to rapidly develop and deploy IVR services represented in a flowchart format using nodes (and their associated parameters) joined together with 'links', allowing call flows to be defined quickly. As soon as the service has been specified, all the complex code required to make it operational is automatically generated and distributed to the C3 Apcentia infrastructure.

No complex programming or technical knowledge is required to use FUSION so anyone can create or modify a call flow using the software’s simple flowchart format. FUSION has helped our customers slash development time and, as a result, launch new call services far quicker than their competition, helping them to respond faster to market demands and dramatically cut operational costs.

FUSION’s intuitive drag and drop interface removes the complexity of developing new services; anyone can create or modify a call flow using the software’s simple flowchart format. Nodes (representing a block of functionality) and their associated parameters are joined together with links, enabling call flows to be defined quickly.

As soon as the service has been specified, then FUSION automatically generates all the complex code to make it before distributing it to C3’s Service Manager Infrastructure. The fine granularity of C3’s 4Voice is also available, meaning that Custom nodes can easily be created to ensure a particular individual requirement is met.

Operational everywhere, on any PC with an internet connection, services can be designed and specified actually using the editor. Naturally, FUSION will run in parallel to any existing C3 technology and interact with existing services. The result is a powerful service creation and code generation tool that will drastically lower operational costs, allowing you to concentrate on providing successful applications.

FUSION provides several benefits to both callers, small business owners, and enterprises. Whether you’re a sales team, a customer support team, or a service provider, FUSION can boost productivity and efficiency by acting as an automated receptionist. Customers today often prefer self-service, and businesses can enjoy higher levels of customer satisfaction while lowering costs.

Benefits of FUSION to Customers

• Easier navigation based on needs — FUSION provides customers choices to solve their particular issue, whether it be account lookup, making payments, or speaking to a particular agent.
• Faster service for routine tasks — Typical tasks such as checking a balance can be offered up automatically to customers for fast selection and service.
• Increase first contact resolution - FUSION significantly increases first contact resolution because callers are always directed to the most capable agent to meet their needs or the most appropriate department. The agent who receives the call will be more qualified to answer the caller’s question and less likely to transfer the call to another agent.
• Increased customer satisfaction — Customers who are routed to the best resource or department with the right information get their issue resolved faster.

Benefits of FUSION to Businesses

• Reduce operational costs - Replace a receptionist or a customer service agent who answers and directs calls to specific agents. They are also very affordable, will increase efficiency and will reduce operational costs.
• Improved agent productivity — Gather basic information and route customers to the best and highest-skilled agent to handle the customer service interaction.
• Better customer service —Self-service can reduce customer wait time and call volume, resulting in time savings for both the customer and the company
• Anytime/anywhere 24/7 access — Customers can receive service whenever they choose and are not limited to business hours and weekday schedules.
• Optimise company resources — Saves money on labour, lower customer queue times, improve call flow, automate routine activities, and stay available for the customer at all times.

Additional IVR Applications

Self-service applications help direct inbound calls to the right destination in the best route possible. The goal of FUSION is to help the caller reach their desired destination as quickly as possible, improving the customer experience. However, IVR is not just limited to simply directing a caller with a specific need. It can also be used to gather information from the caller and used for other purposes. Information like phone numbers, account numbers, and address information can be collected and passed on to other applications.

Payments

Enable customers to make payments without the need for any human intervention or involvement. Automated phone services are easy to use and implement with features embedded in a normal phone payment process where a business has a dedicated phone number for customers to call in on and complete a transaction. This is normally done via a unique reference number, normally printed on the customer communications. The customer will call the payment phone number, enter the reference, and then confirm the amount owed. No card details are stored by the company or handled by a person, making the transaction safe and secure.

Accepting credit and debit cards via FUSION is a cost-effective and secure way of taking payments. It allows customers to make payments quickly and accurately while reducing agent transaction time and improving security both for you and your customers.

Enabling automated payments allows customers to make payments 24x7x365 without any agent interaction or accessing a website and can be configured to reconcile automatically with your accounting systems.

Call Recording

FUSION includes Call Recording nodes that have a diverse range of benefits, including improving processes, providing coaching or training to new staff, and gaining a 360° perspective on your customer experience through both customer and agent feedback.

Your recordings are searchable, facilitating you to locate them by number queue/campaign, date, file or team.

Feedback

Businesses can set up feedback surveys to obtain valuable data from their customers. After the call is done, an IVR script gathers real-time feedback and consumer data which can also help businesses and call centres anticipate events or times that typically trigger increased call rates to schedule appropriately and manage increased demand.

Integrations

Companies have also used FUSION so that their customers can place orders over the phone. The IVR script uses responses to prompts to complete an automated virtual form. Once the order is placed, it is transferred by the system to the appropriate department. The IVR can also be set up to send this data as an email.

FUSION can send a fax, deliver an email, or place a phone call and can be used to produce transcriptions of audio content, which is then transferred to databases, to the cloud, or individuals via email.

C3

Apart from advanced IVR functionality, C3’s contact centre software (CONTACT) is a unique, easy-to-use, cost-effective solution that streamlines inquiries from all your media channels (Voice, Email, SMS, Live Chat, Social Media) into a single, fully integrated multi-channel contact centre. CONTACT builds upon basic call centre functionality such as call queuing, routing, recording and monitoring and adds advanced features such as analytics, API integration and PCI DSS compliant payments.

For more information on FUSION, download our IVR datasheet here.