Unlike traditional or self-hosted IVR, cloud IVR offers rapid deployment and scalability advantages, making it an attractive option for businesses of all sizes.
Cloud IVRs also offer a broader range of integration options, which makes them great for everything from making payments to providing personalized customer experiences. However, there are still some challenges when it comes to integrating cloud IVRs with your existing business applications and workflows.
Let’s start by looking at the fundamental differences in how cloud IVRs function as compared to their traditional counterparts.
How cloud IVR works with your phone system
At its core, a cloud IVR system allows automated interaction with callers without human intervention. It uses voice commands and dual-tone multi-frequency input via a keypad to guide callers through a series of menus.
Unlike traditional IVR systems, which are hardware-based and often require significant upfront investment, cloud IVRs are hosted on remote servers maintained by third parties that you can access via the internet.
As a result, they offer the following benefits:
- Reduced upfront costs: No need to invest in expensive hardware.
- Easy set-up and configuration: Changes to menus and options can be made remotely through a web interface, eliminating the need for technical expertise.
- Increased accessibility: Cloud IVR can be accessed from anywhere with an internet connection, allowing for remote management and updates.
- Integration with other cloud-based services: Cloud IVR can easily integrate with other business applications like CRM systems, so you can leverage data to enhance customer experience.
- Pay-as-you-go model: With cloud IVR, you only pay for the resources you use, allowing businesses of all sizes to benefit from the technology without overspending.
- Easily adapt to changing call volume: During peak seasons or special promotions, cloud IVR can handle increased call volume automatically by scaling up resources.
- Simple to add features and functionality: New features and functionalities can be added easily to the cloud-based system without requiring hardware upgrades.
Say you run a local pharmacy business, and a customer calls you to refill a prescription. The cloud IVR system quickly identifies your caller based on their phone number, thanks to CRM integration, and verifies their identity.
It then guides them through options such as store hours, service inquiries, or prescription refills. For a refill request, the IVR system checks the CRM for the customer’s prescription history and forwards the call to the pharmacy assistant if necessary, or confirms the refill automatically based on predefined rules.
This highlights how powerful cloud IVR can be when integrated with your CRM. It’s not just about offering a customer experience. Cloud IVR will also result in a more efficient operation for your business, giving you the ability to authenticate callers, access customer history, and route calls accordingly — all without manual intervention.
Cloud IVR integration by software type
CRM software
CRM software integration with cloud IVR systems allows you to recognize and respond to customer needs more efficiently. When a customer calls, the IVR system can quickly retrieve their purchase history, support tickets, and personal preferences from your CRM to tailor the interaction.
Cutting-edge CRM/IVR integrations enable even more advanced functionalities. For example, with predictive customer service, the IVR system anticipates the caller’s needs based on their history and current trends.
Integrating CRM software with an IVR system has its challenges. The big ones are ensuring data consistency and real-time synchronization between them.
Because information about a customer can be entered into both the CRM system through manual entry, website forms, etc. and the IVR system through voice interactions, there’s always the possibility for overlapping or duplicate data.
Each system could also have its own way of storing and formatting data. For example, a customer’s phone number might be stored with or without hyphens in different systems. Small inconsistencies like these could make it difficult to accurately match data between them.
These problems can usually be overcome with careful planning and ongoing maintenance. Choosing the right cloud IVR solution goes a long way, too.
To find one that integrates smoothly with your CRM, look for features like API flexibility, real-time data access, and robust security measures.
When shopping around, you should also ask about the vendor’s experience with similar integrations and their support for troubleshooting. This way, you can choose a provider that will give you exactly what you need, and there won’t be any surprises down the road.
Payment services integration
By integrating cloud IVR systems with payment services, your customers, patients, or clients can pay directly over the phone without having to talk to anyone.
With this type of integration, your system can process transactions in real-time. This makes the payment experience a secure, efficient, and highly automated process for both you and your customers.
However, integrating payment services with cloud IVR does come with some security concerns that must be addressed. Payment transactions involve sensitive financial information, so they require stringent security measures, including encryption and compliance with PCI DSS standards, to protect customer data.
Each connection point (IVR, cloud platform, payment gateway, processor) needs strong security measures to prevent unauthorized access and data leaks.
Flexibility in processor integration and a user-friendly experience that reassures customers of their data’s safety are also big points to focus on. Here are some questions you should ask prospective vendors:
- What security certifications does your cloud IVR platform hold (e.g., PCI DSS, SOC 2)?
- How does your platform comply with relevant data privacy regulations (e.g., GDPR, CCPA)?
- What encryption standards are used for data at rest and in transit during payment processing?
- Are customer credit card details stored securely, and if so, how?
ERP software integration
If you want to help your customers receive timely and accurate information about queries, ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) software is another integration to consider.
It works by streamlining processes across various business functions, from order processing and inventory management to customer service and support.
For example, when a customer calls to check on their order status, the ERP system can reveal:
- Order details: What the customer ordered, when it was placed, and how much it cost.
- Inventory levels: Are the items in stock and ready to be shipped?
- Shipping information: Is the order already on its way, and if so, when can the customer expect to receive it?
But all that useful data is a bit of a double-edged sword. For real-time accuracy, the IVR system must have access to up-to-the-minute data from your ERP system. This requires a solid integration framework that can handle data synchronization without lag. Otherwise, you risk outdated information being presented to customers.
Additionally, businesses must ensure that the IVR system can interpret and act on ERP data correctly, providing relevant and context-appropriate responses to customer inquiries.
Businesses should look for cloud IVR solutions that offer flexible and robust APIs, compatibility with a wide range of ERP systems, and features that support dynamic data updates and retrieval.
It also helps to clearly define what information you want the IVR to retrieve from your ERP system at the outset and how you want this presented to customers. You can then test the IVR system to ensure it provides clear, accurate, and user-friendly responses to customer inquiries based on the ERP data.
Auto dialer software integration
Integrating auto dialer software with cloud IVR helps if you’re looking to scale outbound communication strategies and optimize calling campaigns.
This type of integration allows for automatic dialing of phone numbers. It can also initiate pre-scripted IVR dialogs tailored to various campaign objectives, whether that’s marketing or customer feedback collection.
It’s essential to personalize these calls so customers don’t feel like they’re receiving a cold call from a robot. To engage customers and hit campaign goals, you’ll want the IVR system to deliver messages that feel relevant to the recipient.
This requires advanced scripting capabilities, data analytics to segment and target calls accurately, and the flexibility to adjust campaigns in real time based on customer interactions and feedback.
Keep these questions in mind as you evaluate vendors:
- Does your platform support advanced scripting capabilities?
- Can I use scripting to personalize greetings, responses, and prompts based on caller information or previous interactions?
- How easy is it to create and manage complex IVR scripts without requiring extensive programming knowledge?
Customer support software
Integrating cloud IVR systems with customer support software is another way to enhance customer experience, especially if your business handles a lot of customer inquiries and support tickets.
This integration helps your IVR system automatically route calls to the appropriate support team based on your caller’s input and history in order to handle calls more quickly.
For example, a customer experiencing technical issues can be directly connected to the technical support team without having to navigate through multiple options.
Just remember to keep up-to-date customer support tickets within the IVR system and ensure that the system can adapt to different levels of support needed. You should look for a solution that offers dynamic routing capabilities and can easily sync with your customer support software’s database.
Marketing automation software
Integrating with marketing automation software opens up even more avenues for personalized marketing campaigns. By analyzing customer interactions and data from the IVR system, you can tailor marketing efforts to individual preferences and behaviors.
For example, a customer who frequently inquires about certain products can receive targeted offers and information related to those products.
The primary hurdle to this integration? You’ll also need advanced data analytics capabilities, because the whole automation process relies on interpreting customer interactions meaningfully. That’s why you should prioritize cloud IVR solutions that provide robust analytics tools and seamless data exchange with marketing automation platforms.
Human resources management software
Cloud IVR systems can also have powerful internal business functions. Integrating with HRM software can streamline HR processes, such as employee onboarding, leave requests, and HR inquiries.
Employees can interact with the IVR system to complete tasks or get information without needing direct HR intervention. This not only improves efficiency but also makes for a better overall employee experience.
Integrating cloud IVR with HRM software is especially helpful if you’re a large company with hundreds of employees. At that size, onboarding new hires can be a time-consuming process for your HR department, involving paperwork, setting up accounts, and answering basic questions.
With a well-integrated cloud IVR, it could look like this instead:
- New hires receive a welcome message from the IVR system, guiding them through the initial steps of onboarding.
- The IVR system prompts them to enter their employee ID and securely collects some basic information through voice commands or keypad options.
- Using the employee ID, the system accesses their information stored in the HRM software.
- Based on this information, the IVR system can automatically:
- Enroll them in company benefits programs based on their pre-selected choices.
- Set up their email and network access with pre-configured settings.
- Provide them with their employee handbook and other relevant documents as downloadable files or by directing them to the company intranet.
- The IVR system can also answer frequently asked questions about benefits, payroll, and company policies, directing employees to specific resources if needed.
If the new hire has more specific questions, the IVR system can also connect them to an HR representative who can assist them further.
The challenge here is ensuring the privacy and security of sensitive employee data and providing an intuitive user interface for your employees to interact with. When choosing a cloud IVR solution for this purpose, make sure to focus on high security standards and compliance with relevant regulations.
Final thoughts
It’s clear that cloud IVR systems deploy quickly and scale easily, plus they offer a wider range of benefits compared to traditional and self-hosted IVRs.
Since they’re able to be integrated with other powerful software applications, they can give everything from your marketing efforts to your internal HR workflows a boost. While integrating cloud IVR may seem like a lot of work upfront, you’ll see benefits down the road in everything from customer experience to internal efficiency.