Get IVR System for the Hospitality Industry – Deliver Customer Delight Each Step of the Way

Hospitality is a confluence of various services covering travel, accommodation, catering, tourism and it may even include entertainment. Even within each there are several sub-categories. For instance, travel covers surface transport, air and sea. Accommodation includes everything from bed and breakfast to five star stays. Just as there are service lines there are modes of service delivery. Travel operators and hotels may serve customers directly or through a network of agents. Travel agents may have travel as the main line and hotels as the secondary line or vice versa. Then there are tour operators that rely on all these segments when they put together a package for customers. The IVR system plays a pivotal role in helping customers at all points and in all respects of their travel.

The travel agent scenario

 A travel agent who deals with travel facilities like air/road/train/sea transport and accommodation will find that the IVR is the perfect way to tie together the services for easy access by customers. It is easy to configure the IVR solution to offer callers the option of travel booking and/or hotel booking to start with. Once they select an option they are walked through to flight timings and booking options. Once they book travel ticket the IVR offers an option to book a hotel room based on the chosen destination. The next step is to confirm both bookings for which the IVR sends out a text and email message. The final step could be to thank the client and hang up or guide them through to the IVR payment system. The travel agent serves hundreds of customers with just a few agents to take over if a customer desires personal interaction. Employees may leave, go on a holiday or may have finished work for the day. The IVR solution for hospitality works 24 hours a day. Customers are happy that one phone call and a few key presses lead to confirmed tickets and hotel room. It does not end there for the travel agent or the customer. The IVR has plenty in store for customers. 

The next stage 

The happy customer prepares to catch his flight and is pleasantly surprised to receive updates about flight timings and even about the specific gate to enter to get aboard. Once at the destination his first stop will be the hotel. The IVR kicks in again with location and directions on how to get there.  Eventually the guest checks in at which stage another set of IVR options come into play. Not all customers follow the usual route. Some may have to cancel their flight ticket and reschedule, which is another area in which the IVR system assists them. It is the same with their hotel room booking that can be cancelled or rescheduled.  Regardless of whether customers proceed as planned or change schedule life for them becomes a lot easier with the IVR providing solid support 24x7. 

Continuing the journey

While in the hotel the IVR system again provides help for room services, for food to be brought in, for transportation, for wake up calls and for checking out. It is back to the airport to catch the return flight at which stage too the IVR provides helpful reassurance that the flight is on time. 

Travel agents and hotels save precious man hours when the IVR takes on routine functions. In addition every action is recorded which can be the basis for fine-tuned analytics to further improve services. Customers like the fact that they can get the service or information whenever they want. It would be no surprise if they turn into loyal customers when they have such superb IVR support available. 

Source: https://ivrsystemdesign.wordpress.com/2019/12/27/get-ivr-system-for-the-hospitality-industry-deliver-customer-delight-each-step-of-the-way/

How IVR Adds to Growth of Hotel Business in Different Ways

The common concept of IVR is a system for customers to call and try to find a measure of self service. IVR solutions can do more if they are properly designed and adapted to the ecosystem in which they must operate. The hotel industry is a case in point. It has various levels of activities according to the stage of a customer’s journey. From the business perspective too, it has variety in the ways business is conducted. AsteriskService IVR solution both sides and helps hotel business to grow in different ways.

The hotel business

There are thousands of individual hotels in cities across the world and there are hotel chains with branches in different countries. From the business angle the IVR can play a significant role in promoting growth.

• A central service provider, for example AirBnB or OYO, can link together thousands of individuals hotels into a common booking system through the hotel IVR tailored for this purpose. Member hotels can carry out quite a few routine operations through the IVR and the service provider saves money they would spend on employees.
• Hotel chains can automate some procedures through the IVR for their staff members and customers with Hotel IVR solutions from Asterisk.
• Hotels normally have arrangements with agents in which case too the IVR comes in handy to allow agents to check availability of rooms and tariffs.
• Hotels can implement Asterisk IVR Payment Gateway to facilitate inbound payments from customers and from their agents.

Tied to the CRM the IVR delivers a lot of information and helps in carrying out routine tasks without human intervention. Since it is available 24x7 such tasks can be available at all times.

The customer journey

Asterisk Service Hotel IVR Solution proves invaluable in providing assistance to customers at all stages of their journey.

• Inquiry stage: Hotels do not have to deploy personnel to answer routine queries about rooms, tariffs and other details. These are fed into the CRM and the smart IVR brings up information on demand, 24x7. Customers in the US, for example, can easily find out about hotel rooms and tariffs in Australia.
• The Booking stage: Once customers are satisfied they may progress to the next level, which is the booking stage and use the IVR for choosing a particular hotel in a particular location and booking a room of their choice for one or more days. Hotel IVR with IVR payment gateway may be used at this stage to facilitate immediate payments if a hotel stipulates advance payments.
• Before reaching the hotel: Customers can dial the IVR number to get directions to the hotel. It makes them happy to know they have full support available 24x7.
• In the hotel: While inside the hotel a different set of options come into play in the IVR. Customers can make use of the hotel internal services IVR option to ask for room service, laundry, catering, transport, wake up alarm, prepare the bill and even make payment.
• On checking out: The IVR helps hotels to get valuable feedback from the guest once he has completed payment using the Payment IVR. It helps hotels to find out gaps in service and improve quality that will lead to more business and repeat customers.

Asterisk Service offers custom IVR development services for hotels across the world to help them fine tune services and grow business.

Source: https://ivrsystemdesign.wordpress.com/2019/12/13/how-ivr-adds-to-growth-of-hotel-business-in-different-ways/

How Automated Ticketing System IVR Solution Can Make Your Work Easier

It is so easy, simple, fast, safe and convenient that you will wonder why the automated ticketing system IVR solution did not come around sooner. Who is this automated ticketing IVR for? It is the perfect ticketing system for entertainment industry, events, for travel, for cab and taxi operators, for support centers where a ticket must be generated for each caller. How does it make your life easier if you are in any of these businesses? Read on

What is the ticketing IVR? 

It is a logical and natural extension of the IVR to the ticketing side of business. IVRs have been in use since some time as a self service option. The usual way is for callers to dial a number, listen to prompts and then make the appropriate choice by pressing an appropriate number on their mobile phone’s keypad. The same concept is applied for ticketing. Instead of a paper ticket an e-ticket in the form of a text message is generated and sent to the individual buying the ticket and that gains him a seat on a train or a bus or at an event or at a movie theater. It is that simple. The IVR can also include a secure IVR payment system for cashless transaction or ticket purchasers may be given the option of payment at the time of admission. 

No worries about staff absenteeism

The process of manually booking and issuing tickets is cumbersome and expensive in every way. You have to employ staff to handle ticketing. You must have printed paper tickets or a computer system they can use to enter details of persons making the booking and issue a printed ticket. Just imagine how your ticket booking can be thrown out of gear due to absenteeism by staff members. You lose revenues and you lose reputation too. Opt for Asterisk Service automated ticketing system IVR solution and you are freed from this worry. You do not have to pay salaries to staff and you do not have to allocate resources and space for ticket booking. There is huge savings. 

Convenient, fast and easy for customers

It is inconvenient for customers to physically visit the booking office at the time the booking window opens. It means a disruption of their routine schedule. Tickets may be sold out in which case their effort goes to nothing. Then there are movie tickets or event tickets for which there may be heavy demand. This means people have to first go to the booking office to purchase tickets well in advance and waste more time because they are not guaranteed a ticket at the time the event starts. With the anywhere, anytime booking facility people do not have to waste time to book tickets. They can book well in advance, take their pick of seats and have the assurance of being able to attend the event or view the movie of their choice. 

Delight repeat customers

Take it a bit further. Link the ticket booking IVR to CRM. The CRM captures data and if a person books again they do not have to furnish their details all over again. Customers like this. They simply pick the ticket option and pay or confirm booking. It is done within a minute or so. You have delighted customers thankful to you for offering this mode of ticket booking. You can make use of customer data to send out offers and promotions from time to time and improve chances of ticket sales. 

Cancellations are easy too

You may then raise a query as to what happens if buyers wish to cancel tickets they have booked for bus, train or show? It is simple. They get back into the IVR and enter details and then pick the option of canceling. They may then have the option of rescheduling too. In this case again the customer does not need to waste time and effort by physically visiting the booking office. 

Less unsold tickets

Everything goes into your database. Whether it is a booked ticket or a cancelled ticket you have complete records you can analyze in order to improve business. You will see fewer situations where your tickets remain unsold when you have ticketing IVR with CRM that helps you plan and launch campaigns well in advance. Conversely, if there is a heavy rush for tickets the IVR takes on the load whereas booking staff members would be overburdened and would work under pressure. The chances of mistakes also increase, which does not happen with IVR for ticketing. Plus, if tickets are sold out then there is disappointment for those who are in the queue but this does not happen with automated ticketing IVR. 

It is not just events where automated ticketing makes life easier. Customers dial into IVR expecting fast resolution or wish to speak with an agent who may be busy. They do not have to be kept waiting. The IVR issues them a ticket and the agent sees the notification. He calls back according to the ticket number. 

Asterisk IVR for ticketing is easy to use, easily configurable and can plug into CRM with ease. Get it, save money, ease your work and delight customers. 

Source:https://ivrsystemdesign.wordpress.com/2019/11/15/how-automated-ticketing-system-ivr-solution-can-make-your-work-easier/

How CRM Integrated IVR Works in the Corporate Sector

There is synergy in integration and this applies to the IVR-CRM combine. Corporate sectors have more to gain when they use an IVR solution with CRM at the backend rather than using them as unsynchronized channels. This is what happens when you integrate IVR solution with existing CRM to create a fluidly powerful IVR CRM. 

Leads do not hang in mid air

Use a stand alone IVR and you are likely to receive leads that are left fluttering. Tie it to the CRM and the lead goes right into the data base, visible to marketers or sales personnel who can follow up and convert it into a customer whose journey continues with delight each step of the way. 

Customer experience 

When an existing customer calls and is piped into the IVR he does not have to identify himself. The CRM fetches his data and welcomes him. Should an agent handle the call he has full access to customer details and get down to the matter in hand for quick resolution. A multinational company can have global operations with country-specific IVR but all of the lines lead to a central CRM for easy customer management and also for campaigns from time to time. 

Campaign management

Global enterprises using IVR CRM may conduct campaigns from time to time using the system and such campaigns may target existing customers with offers or simple greetings. IVR automates call and when a CRM is in the chain it fetches records and starts calls based on a set of rules, connecting to a live agent when there is a response at the other end. The campaign may target new customers. The CRM logs all activity for review and analytics. That is one benefit and the side benefit is that burden reduces on agents in the corporate organization. 

Analytics 

Every little bit of activity goes into the CRM through the IVR. How much time is spent on each call and the outcome is something you can find out with ease. A sale takes place somewhere and you have up to the minute information at hand, even the logistic part. Analyze each branch activity, generate graphs and have an eagle’s eye view of all operations including orders, queries, total sales and leads. Analyze employee performance, find gaps and improve performance with your CRM IVR. Know about inventory and stock movements too and use that knowledge to plan production as well as purchases. 

Talk of purchase, production and inventory and the CRM-IVR integration could just as well become an extension of corporate activities in this direction with a little imagination and customization of the IVR. Vendors are drawn into the CRM loop and that makes the task of managers in multinationals just that little bit easier. 

Asterisk Service integrates existing CRMs and powers up your communication to help you accelerate your growth in competitive markets.

Source: https://ivrsystemdesign.wordpress.com/2019/09/30/how-crm-integrated-ivr-works-in-the-corporate-sector/

How to Choose the Best IVR System for Hotels & Resorts

Choosing IVR for hotels is much the same like buying a product. You look at the specs, performance and reviews before zeroing in on a vendor of IVR solution. Then again you have the analogy of the way nobility used to buy Rolls in the days gone by. They would get the chassis and have custom coachwork. You could say that choosing hotel IVR is almost similar. The underlying open source framework is the same. Little touches of customization and implementation distinguish the IVR’s performance. It is necessary given the way hotels and resorts operate.

Double sided IVR

There are two sides to operations of the hospitality industry. One is external relating to inquiries and bookings. The other is internal related to guests in residence and internal actions like a guest setting a wake up alarm, ordering food or a taxi using the hotel IVR system. The two need to operate in separate channels but unified in a CRM at the backend.

Visual IVR

The way visual IVR is gaining in popularity is an indicator of just how much better it is compared to the audio prompt based IVR. Whereas a caller would have to listen to the audio prompts in sequence and thus waste time while frustration mounts, the visual IVR solution presents the entire menu at a glance on the caller’s smartphone screen. He can directly tap the service he wants.  If the customer wishes to speak with a human agent, all he has to do is tap instead of following a labyrinth of myriad key presses. Think just how delighted the customer would be with this type of self service.  

Smartness

Let us admit it. IVRs are pretty dumb. That need not be the case for the hotel IVR system you choose. Find the right vendor that offers AI embedded IVRs that can sense mood of caller, recognize language and even offer natural language translation as well as text to speech and speech to text and you will love to use the IVR as will customers. The hotel industry needs to address customers calling from any part of the world in any language. An IVR that recognizes language, or at the very least recognizes the country from the country code prefix can greet callers in the language of that country. Customer experience matters and the day is not far off when, instead of just a series of responses, your caller will be talking with a near humanoid IVR. For the present, however, you may have to make do with bots.

Periscope to the future

If AI will make inroads into IVR to improve it then there will also be AR and VR down the road. A customer calls and wishes to know about directions or about the room and amenities. The IVR gives him a walkthrough, or places him on a map. While that is still to come, it is comforting to know that IVR systems available today can give him details of the room, tariffs and driving directions.

The vendor is just as important as the IVR solution you choose because of emerging technologies to be implemented in the time to come. Constant support, evolution of the IVR and possibly hosted service should count when you choose IVR.

Source: https://www.asteriskservice.com/how-to-choose-the-best-ivr-system-for-hotels-resorts

IVR Development Trends in 2019 | Asteriskservice

The term Interactive Voice Response leads one to believe that there is a high degree of interaction. So far, callers have to listen to pre-recorded messages and then their interaction is limited to just key presses. It is time wasting and, in many instances, does not serve the caller’s purpose due to limited menu options. Happily, trends for 2019 indicate that IVR could change for the better.

Artificial Intelligence in IVR

• Artificial intelligence integration in IVR development leads the transformation. Instead of a rigid hierarchy of trees and branches, we have flexible and more human-like options that callers will like.
• AI and language capabilities lead to better interaction since the system can identify caller’s language and switch to the same language. If the call must lead to a live agent, then it goes to one with that language capability. Natural language processing feature could speed up the process from the customer perspective and take him straight to the resolution point instead of labyrinthine key presses that can be so frustrating.
• IVRs could evolve to a point where callers interact with intelligent chatbots. The experience is nearly similar to talking with a live agent.

Asterisk Service has an edge in intelligent IVR deployments since its parent company is engaged in Artificial Intelligence and Asterisk IVR solutions are AI infused.

Visual IVR

No, visual IVR in an IVR solution yet does not mean you can interact with a live person. Instead, it is a system of displaying menus on the screen, possibly a touchscreen smartphone. The screen will display the entire tree and sub-menu structure making it easy for a caller to jump straight to the option of his choice. This can be particularly helpful in payment IVR where he has to tap on the payment mode and jump straight to payment using that mode.

The Visual IVR can also have spin-offs such as skill based routing and exchange of documents. The visual IVR alone should help convert more callers to take the route and resolve whatever issues they have without human intervention. Visual IVR also opens up possibilities of tutorials, access to help pages and videos.

Call backs

The most frustrating thing about IVRs is that companies usually play a promotional message before the menu is presented which is the start of innumerable key presses. Ultimately, when they choose to speak to a human agent he is on another call. IVR implementations could see that option of call back presented right at the start. Caller can do something else until the agent calls back.

Users can adapt IVRs

The dynamic IVR should become more popular since it lets businesses structure and restructure their menu and sub-menu systems according to feedbacks from users.

Hopefully, in the years to come, IVRs should get to a point where callers actually love the facility and Asterisk Service leads with its AI powered intuitive IVRs.

Source: https://ivrsystemdesign.wordpress.com/2019/01/28/ivr-development-trends-in-2019-asteriskservice/

6 Tips for Creating a User-Friendly IVR System

That IVRs are beneficial for business enterprises is beyond doubt. However, its implementation could lead to caller frustration and customer churn. Enterprise clients may blame the IVR developer but it takes two to tango. Better understanding will help developers come up with a user-friendly and functional IVR that delivers delight instead of rage.

1. Shortcut to human agent

The IVR system can look like a wall to some customers who simply do not like the lengthy process of key presses. One way to keep them happy is to provide an option for them to be able to speak to a human representative in the first menu itself. Callers are more likely to use IVRs if they know they can get through to a person on the first attempt instead of being stonewalled with set responses.

IVRs are put in place to reduce load on human agents and because they are available for customers 24x7. This also means when you offer a human agent contact option, the IVR should have some findme/follow me feature ported to mobile so that the caller does get to talk to a person about his problem.

2. Identify caller and guess purpose

Smart delivers go beyond the mechanics of IVR solution to incorporating CRM into the ecosystem and endowing it with some Artificial Intelligence. AI certainly helps:

• The caller can be identified by name by referring his number in the database
• His purpose can be identified based on his past interactions with the company
• Sense his mood and respond appropriately or transfer call to human agent.

3. Prompt response

IVRs work on a series of prompts and responses. Say, a caller has followed a prompt. It is for the IVR system to initiate the right response as fast as possible instead of putting the caller on interminable hold.

4. The fewer the options, the better

It is tempting to design a menu that has anywhere from 1 to 9 options but by the time the system enunciates these options the caller has forgotten which number relates to which option. The best way is to include four options in a tree and branch structure. Callers remember. It takes less time.

5. The more important ones first

Which caller will like to wait until option 9 is stated, which is what he needs. If he is presented that one first, he will be a happy caller. Is this possible? Can the IVR identify number and link to database to decide on a set of menus to present the caller based on history and transactions? It should not be difficult if you have the right IVR solution provider.

6. Be ready to modify and refine

Do not be complacent that once an IVR system is in place there is nothing more to do. In fact, it is a starting point. The IVR should have some sort of data collection and analytics features so that user behavior can be monitored and taken as inputs to tailor the solution to fit caller expectations.

Source: https://ivrsystemdesign.wordpress.com/2018/12/28/6-tips-for-creating-a-user-friendly-ivr-system/

IVR Development for Businesses –Avoiding the Pitfalls

IVR arrived on the scene. Businesses adopted it in droves. IVR does help businesses save on manpower costs and provide a measure of self service. No less important is that the system can gather data and also fetch data from a backend CRM. However,  interactive voice response systems delivered on some promises but became the cause of customer churn in some cases. This can happen to your business due to a dumbed down IVR with a rigid set of responses. Callers can become extremely frustrated. They will leave.

IVRs are truly helpful for business

A business can adapt an IVR according to the purpose. IVR systems can provide information to callers. It can also be used for payments and for carrying out surveys as happens in outbound IVRs but the main focus is on inbound IVRs as a versatile business aide. By providing self service companies need not have employees dedicated to the task. They can work on something more productive and business certainly benefits.

IVR has pitfalls too

Since most business owners are not aware of the capabilities of IVR and also its pitfalls, they usually go in for a set of structured responses according to the purpose. As always happens, this type of system developed on the basis of anticipated queries can only give limited satisfaction. Some may make it more complex. This leads to innumerable key presses and wait times. In both cases, the caller becomes frustrated and shifts loyalties elsewhere.  Fault is not in the IVR but the way it is understood and implemented. Should you wish to implement IVR then it is wise to know the advantages and avoid pitfalls of IVR by retaining an expert and experienced company for IVR solution development

Pitfall one

A rigid hierarchy of responses implemented in the IVR means callers can only have limited options. Getting through to a live agent may not even be a feature and this can be quite frustrating. Solution: If you must implement a limited functionality IVR then at least analyze and research call patterns and query patterns so that the IVR answers most queries. Also, let your developer know that he will be required to make changes as you get feedback.

Pitfall two

Too many branches to the tree. Companies think that a portmanteau IVR that covers all possible queries and purposes. This leads to development of a very complex IVR with many branches and innumerable key presses. A caller who is in a hurry not only gets frustrated; he can become furiously enraged that he is getting nowhere. Solution: In this type of scenario a dynamic IVR solution implemented by specialists in IVR development helps you get it right and avoid customer churn.

Pitfall three

Not understanding or accepting that some callers may like to talk with a human agent. The wise thing is to provide this option right at the start of the interaction but then companies may ask, if a human agent is to attend calls what is the point of IVR? Solution: Dynamic IVR with a measure of artificial intelligence is what modern businesses need to make IVR a delightful customer experience. AI in the IVR can sense a caller’s mood and switch him to a live agent! Dynamic IVR can help companies customize the tree to their liking based on customer feedback and delight callers with fast resolution.

There is a lot that can be done with dynamic IVR implementations in business and when you have the right IVR solution Development Company, your business grows, costs reduce and customer base increases.