Acclaim Telecom Services, Inc.

It seems everyone likes to make projections about the future.  We at Acclaim Telecom are no different, so we thought we would share some of our opinions on future directions of the IVR industry.   Keep in mind we are not a research organization such as Gartner or Forrester.  Our predictions are based on our experiences with our customers as well as our responsibility of staying relevant to our customers for the future.  So with that mild disclaimer, here are ten (10) IVR trends we expect to continue or increase in 2012.

1. Despite the rise of social media and alternative methods of providing customer support, use of traditional IVR systems will never die or go away.  No real surprise here.  In fact, mobile phones increased the use of traditional IVR systems, even as smart phones and electronic tablets have created additional avenues of providing customer support.  The ability to access information over the phone (mobile and land line based) is still one of the most convenient ways of doing so for the majority of consumers.
2. Having raised the topic of smart phones and electronic tablets, they will continue to put pressure on traditional IVR systems to improve their ROI and increase effectiveness.  New and alternative methods of supporting customers drive companies and vendors to assess how they traditionally provided value.  And that is a good thing for customers.
3. IVR Cloud Computing based services will continue to drive down cost and increase the speed of deployment of IVR systems for all companies; small, medium and large.
4. And speaking of Cloud Computing based services; IVR from the cloud will continue to significantly expand the ability of small and mid-sized companies to take advantage of IVR capabilities.  Most all of the usual financial and technological benefits associated with Software as a Service (SaaS) apply to IVR applications delivered from the Cloud.
5. 2012 will be a year of pragmatic approaches and incremental improvements for customer support services.  While the business climate was much more resilient in 2011 than most expected, cautious optimism is still an aggressive prediction for many companies in 2012.  Companies will continue to squeeze as much functionality as possible from existing systems, with upgrades or new system installations being driven by careful ROI analysis or legacy systems no longer being able to adequately serve their needed function.
6. The challenges of integrating multimodal methods of customer support (IVR, web based services, email, SMS text messaging, and live agent conversations) will continue to increase in importance.  Customer expectations for more effective support increases with the introduction of new technology.  However, the complexity of integrating and tracking customer interactions through different mediums will continue to increase in importance and require thoughtful planning for customer support organizations.
7. Integrating business and data analytics into IVR systems will continue to increase in importance.  The need to improve the effectiveness of IVR systems and minimize customer frustration through improved information delivery is a never ending pursuit.
8. SMS text messaging and email notifications / services integrated into IVR systems will continue to gain acceptance and usage.
9. Voice XML (VXML) based IVR continue to expand at a rapid pace, and traditional legacy system based IVR systems continue their rapid decline in sales.   There was a huge deployment of legacy IVR systems in the late 1990s and they are reaching the end of their useful product lifecycle, both in terms of support costs as well as functionality.  While DTMF based systems still represent the largest installed based, voice enabled systems continue to close the gap as vendors and companies become smarter on how to use Speech Recognition based technologies.
10. This last one may surprise you coming from a company that makes its living providing IVR services.  IVR systems will continue to be an easy target to poke fun at.

Why?  Like many situations; partly based on fact, partly based on unrealistic customer expectations, and also based on past sins committed.   Most callers know whether their needs can be met from a standard set of menu options, or if they need to speak with a live agent when they first call.  The more difficult companies make it to speak to a live agent (in the pursuit to minimize live agent interaction due to higher costs) or by implementing overly complex menu options, the easier it is for caller frustration to occur.  We had some fun with this topic in a blog published June 2010 titled, “IVR Rage Syndrome” and our commitment to eliminating I.R.S.

If you have a personal prediction for the IVR industry in 2012, we would love to hear and share them!  Drop us a line at customerservice@acclaimtelecom.com and share your thoughts or leave a comment here on the blog.

It may be hard to find an industry in which Steve Jobs did not in some manner directly influence. We at Acclaim Telecom believe that is true for the IVR industry. The amount of impact on the IVR industry depends on how much direct influence you wish to credit Jobs.

Steve Jobs is universally recognized for his brilliance in transforming technology products into an art form; that combined with his obsessive focus on quality and user experience. From the beginnings of Apple’s introduction of the Macintosh computer, to the acclaimed release of the iPod, iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad; each proved highly innovative and disruptive in their respective industry. But I have to wonder if Steve Jobs really knew the impact the iPad and iPhone would have on the business enterprise.

So what does all of this have to do with the IVR industry?

Early on IVR systems were clearly the dominant alternative of providing customer support without speaking with a live agent. The adoption of the iPhone and iPad contributed significantly to the creation and accelerated acceptance of alternative avenues of providing customer support services. Mobile devices allowing easy access to web enabled services, SMS text capabilities, and the ability to receive email on either the iPhone or iPad (and initially on the RIM Blackberry) have decreased the reliance on IVR systems.

We are not predicting the demise of the IVR industry however. While IVR may not be perceived as sexy or cool as “iTechnology”, not everyone has a smart phone or electronic tablet. Based on information obtained through internet research, cell phone ownership is exceptionally high (no surprise here). In the U.S. almost 91% of the population owns some form of cell phone. In Europe and Russia, there are 13 cell phones owned for every 10 individuals, and in Asia & Pacific almost 70% of the population owns a cell phone. IVR systems still play a very important role in customer service organizations and ease of access increases through the use of cell phones. And just to prove the point, I took advantage of calling an IVR system while traveling to the east coast over the Christmas holiday to check some personal account status from my mobile phone.

Besides the obvious reduction of relying primarily on IVR systems for customer support, here is the more important impact smart phones and tablet technologies are having on customer support services…… the necessity to have a more comprehensive and integrated CRM solution encompassing all methods of support to enhance customer experiences.

The fundamentals of IVR technology are unlikely to radically change. While improvements continue to be made to speech recognition systems, the core process is still effectively the same; dial the customer support phone number, enter appropriate account and personal identification information via touch tone or voice recognition, and receive information from the company’s data repository. What is changing with IVR systems is the following:

• Improving the type or amount of information you can obtain over the phone due to increasingly powerful business analytics tools and improved application design in response to increased competition.
• Increased integration of SMS and email capabilities into legacy IVR systems as well as newly deployed IVR systems.
• The necessity to keep track of customer interactions from multiple support avenues (smart phones and web enabled CRM applications) in an integrated manner to support future customer inquiries.

None of these mentioned enhancements represent a radical or disruptive method of providing customer support from IVR systems. What they do represent is improved ROI for one of the earliest and still highly dominant methods of providing customer support services.

Currently, one of the more cost effective ways Acclaim Telecom is seeing increased ROI and improved customer satisfaction is through the integration of SMS text messaging and email based capabilities with IVR systems. Providing outbound notifications, transaction or event confirmations, transmitting requested data for future use or reference, or prompting alternative system interaction for more complex transaction requests are but a few of the ways SMS text and email capabilities are being used.

Acclaim Telecom would be happy to discuss how you can take advantage of integrated SMS text messaging or integrated email to enhance your customer support services. Just give us a call at 1-866-324-6416 or drop us a line at customerservice@acclaimtelecom.com

Over the years Acclaim Telecom has worked with many clients on hundreds of IVR applications.   Some applications are simple and unique in usage, while others have wide ranging and strategic impact on a company’s operation.

As IVR capabilities continue to migrate to cloud computing models, even more companies are taking advantage of these applications itemized below.  We thought you might be interested in learning about a few of the more commonly deployed retail industry IVR applications.

Store locators – an early usage which allows retail vendors with multiple locations to automate routine information retrieval for their customers.   Information made available typically included store locations (identified by proximity to zip codes), hours of operation, directions, and the ability to search for department or employee extensions.

Order status – by using an IVR order status application retail vendors can service their clients 24 hours per day, 7 days per week.  Typical inbound call information available include product shipment data for air, ground or mail shipments, back order status, along with outbound notices that a product has shipped or been delivered.  One innovative customer used their IVR system to send advance sales notice information with a special purchase code.  This purchase code could be used 12 hours in advance of the general public announcement.  Of course they provided the option to hear about pre-announcement sales information only after being updated on the status of their current order.

Bill reminders – another early and highly productive IVR solution.  With very little additional cost and with a potential huge reduction in live agent overhead, calls can be placed to customers reminding them before and after bills are due, along with current balances and payment history.

Employee notification and work scheduling – companies with large numbers of retail stores often have to make last minute staffing changes.  This is especially true in times of high shopping demand such as Black Friday, holiday shopping seasons, and unique store or product promotion events.  IVR systems can place outbound calls to store employees which in turn allow them to respond with availability, enable automated work scheduling, provide work audit tracking, and provide reminder notices of work schedules for employees who work irregular hours.

Customer service polls – companies wishing to capture real time shopper experience can use outbound IVR calls to capture important knowledge.  Acclaim Telecom recommends limiting the quest for information to the top 2 – 3 most important knowledge areas and allow the customer to finish the survey within 60 seconds.  And most importantly, this is not the time to market new offers to a customer.

Internal Inventory and Reporting – while clearly web enabled automation has encroached in this area, there are still times when using a mobile phone is useful to check the status of inventory, orders and sales information.  By integrating iVR capabilities into supply chain management systems, purchasing agents can place or check order status when mobile internet access is not readily available.

Call Center Automation – obviously this is the big one. By correctly analyzing repetitive customer inquiries, automating non-strategic information inquiries or simple information tasks, significant call center cost reductions can be achieved.  This in turns allows call center agents to address more complex or sophisticated customer inquiries requiring human decision making capabilities.

Custom Retail IVR Applications – if you have a unique or custom retail IVR application need, contact Acclaim Telecom.  We would be happy to see how our industry experience can help your organization achieve your desired results while improving customer responsiveness.

We believe every company with a call center truly wants to provide their customers great service. Being in the IVR technology business gives Acclaim Telecom Services a unique opportunity to observe successful (and not so successful) call center IVR practices.

Two observations stand out in our opinion which contribute in a significant manner to the success of a customer service organization:

First, companies that treat their call center employees as one of the most important elements in their customer support organization perform better than most.

Why? The answer is obvious. Engaged and happy employees provide better customer service. They understand the importance of their role and take pride in helping solve someone’s question or problem. A great example of this philosophy is found in how Paul Spiegelman, CEO of The Beryl Companies manages his company. In fact, Paul wrote a book titled, “Why is Everyone Smiling?” Paul shares his management philosophies punctuated with real life examples of the results of his actions. If you would like to know more you can visit the Why Is Everyone Smiling? website.

Second, build your customer service organization based on your customer’s needs, not your rules.

In the 2010 Global CEO study by IBM, three interesting thoughts emerge regarding customer engagement discussed in this comprehensive report. They are:

• How do you plan to optimize each customer interaction?
• What do your customers remember about each interaction?
• What do you want your customer to remember?

In a previous Customer Experience Impact Report by Harris Interactive, further information is highlighted regarding the importance of good customer service. Nearly 70% of consumers said they ended a business relationship due to poor customer service. Consumers indicated the most prevalent root causes to this decision were:

• Representatives that lack the skills to answer their questions
• Being trapped in automated self-service
• Being forced to wait too long
• Repeating themselves

So how does all this tie back to IVR systems?

The first is thematic. IVR systems are still one of the most utilized and effective technologies deployed in customer service organizations. Over time, IVR systems have evolved to handle more complex tasks in an attempt to off-load increased demands on live agents. As such, you need to carefully plan what you want your customer to experience and remember about their interaction with your IVR system.

Second, two of the items mentioned by the Harris Interactive study apply directly to IVR systems; being trapped in automated self-service, and having to repeat information to a live agent that has already been provided to the IVR system.

As you implement new IVR applications or enhance and modify your existing system, make sure your customers do not get trapped in your IVR application. If there is no live agent available to transfer, consider stating that fact early on in your greeting message. If your IVR system is designed to handle complex queries, be sure to limit the number of responses required to achieve the desired results. In an earlier blog titled, “IVR Design Tip: The Magic Number Seven (7)” we discuss this approach.

And finally, sometimes it is the little things that irritate customers the most. If you require a caller to enter user IDs, passwords, account numbers, security answers, and more; design your system to capture and display that information when a call is transferred to a live agent.

Acclaim Telecom has assisted clients implement new IVR systems and enhance existing IVR applications since 1993. If you would like to discuss ways to improve your IVR systems impact on your customer service operation, we would welcome that opportunity.

For more information about how Acclaim Telecom Services can help request a Free Consultation.

With the constantly accelerating pace of technology advances, we sometimes lose sight of what earlier introductions of now commonly used services originally looked like.  So we thought you might enjoy a brief history on the evolution of IVR technologies.

Early on Automated Call Attendants (ACD) allowed for some basic or fundamental call routing capabilities.  The auto attendant had a very specific purpose in mind; to replace the live attendant or operator and route calls.  Most common auto attendant features included routing calls to an extension, transfer to voice mail, play messages, repeat menu selections, have a default mailbox, and allow you to “0” out to an operator.  All are important features, but with limited operational intelligence. Auto attendants were almost always integrated into a PBX system.

A PBX (private branch exchange) connects the internal phones, typically for a business to the external telephone network, and through trunk lines. Because PBX systems incorporated fax machines, modems, telephones, and more, the term “extension” became widely used to refer to any end point of the PBX.  As PBX systems became more powerful, enhanced features were added, but still not to the level of current IVR (interactive voice response) systems.

It was the invention of DTMF (dual-tone, multi-frequency signaling) that provided the technical foundation for future use of IVR systems.  DTMF or touch tone phone systems were first made available to the public in 1963.

It was in the early 1970’s that IVR systems began to make headway in call centers to automate basic, repetitive tasks.  Initially call center IVR systems were tied into larger mainframe computing systems. The technology was still fairly rudimentary and expensive.  By the 1980’s a growing number of new vendors, advances in technology (both computationally and in networking) made the use of IVR systems more cost effective.  As the IVR systems became more intelligent and powerful, application and specific industry usage increased.  This was also the time where IVR functionality became more intelligent and separated from PBX systems.

One of the earlier drawbacks to IVR systems was that almost all the programming languages were proprietary.  These proprietary languages or scripting tools were unique to the specific IVR vendor and not transportable across other IVR systems.  That limitation, combined with the fact that unless you are a Fortune 500 size firm, IVR development skills are not typically mainstream skills required by most companies.  That required a customer wishing to use IVR systems to rely heavily on the system vendor to also write the applications for their use.

Speech recognition for IVR systems, also known as Automated Speech Recognition (ASR) systems have continued to gain acceptance over time.  Speech Reco (industry slang referring to Automated Speech Recognition) began to make real inroads in the late 1990’s as the underlying speech recognition algorithms improved, along with the processing power of hardware.  Speech recognition applications bring their unique set of challenges as well as benefits, and speech reco enabled applications require a different development approach from DTMF based applications.  Interestingly, the first speech recognition device was showcased in 1952, and was capable of only recognizing single spoken digits. (1)

The widespread and rapid acceptance of the internet and web based applications proved to be another inflection point in the evolution of IVR systems and languages.  The desire for more tightly integrated capabilities of voice applications to internet based applications drove the development of VXML (Voice Extensible Markup Language) and CCXML (Call Control XML).

VXML and CCXML make it possible to develop applications that work on multiple platforms (with some limited porting efforts).  VXML specifically helps IVR applications integrate more effectively with internet based applications.  The IVR application can be written by individuals who are also experienced with web based application development using XML   A major goal of VXML was to make web based applications and content available through a voice portal.

CCXML is designed to enable call control telephony support for VXML applications. CCXML provides control for how phone calls are placed, answered, transferred, conferenced, and more.

Another significant advantage of making voice applications easily web compatible is the ability to deliver services through a hosted services or cloud based business model.  By opening up these previously proprietary systems, the focus is moving from hardware to the applications and services perspective.

Early adopters of IVR technologies included the financial industry, utilities, travel industry, and other capital intensive industries with high call volume customer care centers.  Current technology advances have driven down system costs, improved reliability, enabled more effective service delivery models, which in turn have enhanced and improved IVR system usage.

However, none of these advances mean much if companies using IVR systems do not stay laser focused on improving and enhancing the user experience based on these newer technologies.

As always, the team at Acclaim Telecom would be happy to discuss ways to use IVR applications to enhance top line revenue or improve operational effectiveness.  And we promise to keep the sales pitch in the desk drawer!

1 – Davies , K.H., Biddulph, R. and Balashek, S. (1952) Automatic Speech Recognition of Spoken Digits, J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 24(6) pp.637 – 642

Despite what may generate lots of head nodding, most IVR systems are not as dysfunctional as a few pundits might like you to believe.  Not that there isn’t room for continuous improvement however.

Have you ever called an IVR system and initially felt  like you were led down a wrong path, or when you try to get to the right path, it takes you even deeper and farther from your goal?  Ever had so many menu choices you weren’t quite sure which option to choose in the first place? This has been a common challenge in IVR design when companies try to design an IVR system with either too many features, or try to solve too many problems through automation alone.

A recurring theme you hear from Acclaim Telecom regarding IVR design is “Keep your IVR system as simple and intuitive as possible“.

A research paper published in the late 1950s by renowned psychologist George Armitage Miller was titled, “The Magic Number Seven, Plus or Minus Two”. This paper suggests that seven (plus or minus two) is the magic number that characterizes people’s memory performance on random lists of letters, words, numbers, or almost any kind of meaningful familiar item.  Further research revealed that the short term memory of a person depends on the type of information being remembered, (e.g., memory is around seven for digits, around six for letters, and around 5 for words).  And unfortunately since then, time has not improved our short term memory.

The good news is the challenge of the number seven can be overcome.  Whether a huge call center or a business with just a few customer service representatives; the answer to this IVR challenge may be right under your fingers tips.  Your customer service representatives are one of your best resources for either helping design, re-design, or enhance your IVR system.  It can be as easy as asking them a few simple questions such as:

What do customers call about most commonly that are not solved with the IVR system?

Ask for the exact words the customer’s use to get assistance for the specific tasks, and incorporate them into your menus.  This will help the customer get to the option they require, without having to guess at whether it’s appropriate or not.

What are the biggest complaints about the automated IVR system?

This can be subjective, however listen carefully to the answer to see if you can determine what the true problem is.  It may be as simple as fixing menu option wording, or finding a better way to ask for account information.

What do your customers tell you would be a beneficial addition to the IVR system?

Customers will tell you what they want.  Obviously there will be some ‘pie in the sky’ requests, but for the most part the caller may say very simply, “I’d like to be able to pay my bill without having to talk to someone”, or “After four option selections I want to speak with a live agent”.

Sometimes the K.I.S.S. (keep it simple stupid) approach can be the most effective.  But if you must convey a lot of information to your customers, consider giving them an option to skip through, or trim the message to the most important of the key points and possibly allowing them a further option to hear more on that particular subject.  There’s nothing worse than being stuck listening to a message which seems endless, or worse, not relevant to their immediate needs while being forced to listen to the entire message before being able to move to the next option.

On a closing note, here is one additional suggestion we hope all owners of an IVR system perform.  Review your IVR call flow at least once every six months. Even if your business has not changed during that six month period, people’s expectations and your competitors do change.  Keeping your system fresh and current will go far in making your customers happy and showing you pay attention to their needs.

Press “9″ if you would like to hear these options again.

Can you spot what is wrong with these messages?

“Using your touch tone keys, enter the name of the person you wish to contact starting with the last name. Press # when finished.” Or,

“To speak with someone with product knowledge, you must dial a different phone number. Please call 1-800-HLP-FAST” (Please DO NOT call this number as it is for illustrative purposes only!)

Or finally, this text message I received on my cell phone; “Call 972 – XXX-HELP if you would like additional assistance.”

Did you spot the problem?

Actually, there is nothing wrong with any of the messages if you can make the phone calls on a home or business telephone where the alphabet is clearly identified on the key pad. Anyone out there really ever take the time to memorize which 3 letters of the alphabet are on the number 5 of your phone? I certainly don’t, and the alphabet is not identified on my Blackberry cell phone numbers.

If only they had a speech recognition front end!

We all know the old saying, “First impressions are everything”. Sometimes companies overlook the most basic entry points into their companies, and miss the opportunity to maximize a positive user experience, no matter how trivial or small it may seem.

In many situations a simple application of technology brings more immediate ROI, whether measured in financial or goodwill terms. Front ending your PBX call routing systems with a speech reco application is a good example of a high use feature, valuable to almost every caller or customer, and not very expensive to implement. Plus it seems pretty obvious with more and more individuals using cell phones, and with more than 50% of all cell phones sold being smart phones, you cannot use letters to identify which number to press on your keypad.

There are a number of vendors who provide speech recognition applications for call routing applications if you happen to have an older PBX system installed and wish to upgrade. You can also look into a cloud based PBX system with integrated voice recognition capabilities that also leverage other IVR capabilities. Acclaim Telecom can help you if you wish to explore cloud based options.

But the message I want to convey is speech recognition applications do not have to be expensive or sophisticated in order to provide benefit. Take a look at all aspects of contact with your company; your main phone number, voice mail system, call center, live agent support, and mobile applications. Identify where high volume customer contact occurs, and be sure to make the user experience as easy and as productive as possible, regardless of the types of technologies employed. After all, first impressions really are everything.

I recently used my telephone to contact a credit reporting agency, to change the address listed on my credit report. Because I design and program IVR systems,   I was disappointed when I dialed the number and started listening to the menus. Their website already directed me to call and speak with a customer service representative.  So I had hoped that I wouldn’t have to jump through hoops to get to one. Well, no.  It took me over five minutes PLUS wait time to finally get to speak with a live person.

Once reaching them, I had to give all the information I’d just entered all over again. I asked the person if they’d received a screen pop, and they said “no.”

So then I asked if they ever got screen pops, and they said they used to. Just out of curiosity, I called back after business hours and tried to see if I could get into the ‘cloud’ of the office using standard methods of back door and random number pushing. Sure enough, I was able to get into their office voice mail system.  I probably could have left some fun messages, but I opted to blog about it instead.

You have to wonder if anyone has ever said anything to the appropriate person about this program flaw.  But I digress…

To make a long story short, the application was poorly written, broken, and had a security breech.

So what do you do? What should you ask yourself when trying to build a customer service application that your callers will love, use, and praise; instead of complain, hang up, or possibly get angry with one of your live customer service representatives?

Cheap isn’t always best. When you find an IVR development company, ask for references. I know this sounds like a no brainer, but you might be surprised how often this does not happen.  They should be able to give examples, even phone numbers of companies they have done work for. Call the applications and listen to how it sounds.  Call a customer service representative for that company and ask them what their experience has been with the IVR system, good and bad.

One caveat to keep in mind.   A good IVR firm should be able to share best practices and experiences with their customers during the analysis and design phase.  However at the end of the day, the customer makes the final decision on how the call flows operate.

Remember the point of having the IVR system. You want your  customers to be able to perform tasks that can be time consuming, repetitive, and require little to no complex decision making process .  You want your highly trained customer service representatives assisting your clients with more complex transactions and needs.  In short, you want them involved higher up the food chain of customer assistance requirements whenever possible.

However, don’t force your customer to listen to lengthy options or execute too many decisions before allowing them to speak with a customer service representative.  Most customers know when they call whether their needs can be satisfied through the normal IVR options or whether they need to speak to a live agent.  The more complex the task or need, the quicker they need to speak with a customer service agent.  You don’t want your customer service representatives receiving the brunt of a caller’s frustration because you didn’t capture basic information already provided by the caller.

Here is a suggestion to consider.  If possible, release the new application to a small audience of customers initially.  This is your test market.  It’s a great time to get feedback from callers as to how they use the system; if they were able to complete the tasks they were calling about; or if another service option might be missing.  Here is another hint.  Have the customer service representative ask the caller their opinion of the IVR system.   Don’t offer them a survey at the end of the call.  You’ll get better results and more honest answers.  And in the end, the caller will be happy that you are taking the time to show your concern about them; further creating a loyal returning customer.

Finally, try the “5 year old adolescent” test technique to check for any possible back door logic.  Just start pressing buttons on the phone.  It’s pretty simple.  Star and Pound, or do a zig zag through the digits.  If there’s a way to get out of the IVR and into the cloud of voicemail, you should be able to find it.  You don’t have to be methodical about it.  All you need to know is that it worked or didn’t.

If you find an unexpected trap door, let the IVR programmer know, and they will fix it.

If you would like to know more about good IVR design practices, hosted IVR services or on-premise IVR solutions,  contact us and we would be happy to discuss those with you.

Like any robust industry, healthcare in America is a diverse and rapidly evolving field. And almost without exception the one area of the healthcare industry that impacts almost all of us is pharmaceuticals and prescriptions.

To understand how a mobile IVR application can help simplify the healthcare field, take a look at Smart Mobile RX — a flexible, nimble application that both improves efficiency and cuts costs for pharmacies, while also improving customer service with increased flexibility for the patient.

Basically, Smart Mobile RX is a cross-functional, fully-featured consumer pharmacy application — its core purpose is to make customer/pharmacy interactions simpler. Customers use it to be informed and get the medicine and treatment they need. Pharmacies use it to support their clients in a way that satisfies and retains customers.

It combines a host of the standard IVR functions retail consumers are increasingly demanding, plus crucial added elements of a mobile application. It seamlessly integrates with major retail pharmacy solutions like the PDX Pharmacy System. And it works on just about all smartphones and tablets currently available, including the iPhone, the iPad, Android phones, and more.

For customers, benefits range from simpler ordering capabilities to access to discounts and savings, including:

• An SMS or text message when it’s time to refill a prescription
• Simple “Smart Button” re-order capabilities, including handy responses from pharmacies like confirmation and pick up times and reminders
• Access to wellness and health information, which improves education and helps patients better understand what they need.
• Customer loyalty alerts and reward offerings for savings opportunities.
• Store locator services, for easier access.
• Alerts and prescription compliance reminders.

For pharmacies, benefits range from boosted accuracy and quality assurance to improved long-term customer loyalty, including:

• Fewer product bin returns to stock for forgotten prescriptions, which reduces waste and improves sales.
• Improved customer retention and increased customer sales through push notifications regarding store specials.
• Reduced staff involvement on non-critical status checks, which increases time for in-depth consulting with in-store patients.
• Boosted store performance through increased residual purchases.

In other words, it meets the needs of both pharmacies and patients. And folks are starting to notice — here are some kind words from the Unitek College nursing school:

The Dallas-based company designed the application for use by pharmacies that are currently on their Enterprise Pharmacy System and PDX Pharmacy System brand prescription filling software. Participating pharmacies and related professionals, like San Francisco pharmacy technicians, can use the Smart Mobile RX app to notify customers, via email or rich-text format messages, of important services like medication refills.

Made for use with almost any kind of email client or smartphone, the soon-to-be released technology can also be applied to traditional phone messages.

“Acclaim’s Smart Mobile RX allows any brand of Smart Phone, for the first time, to provide consumers with additional features through the use of a single interactive portal eliminating the need to develop separate applications for each unique mobile device. Smart Mobile RX’s feature rich message offerings save valuable time and money while enabling Pharmacy Retailers to increase store revenues,” said James Davis, President of Acclaim Telecom Services.

Smart Mobile RX is just one example of the kinds of applications we’re developing that make life easier for both businesses and their customers. Contact one of our mobile application development specialists to learn about what we can do for your business.

I stumbled across an interesting article last week while doing research on the internet. The article was written by Matt Flemming, founder of Flemming Consulting, LLC.  I must confess it was the title that caught my attention:  Lies, Damned Lies and Call Center Statistics.

Acclaim Telecom Services has been developing Call Center IVR Applications since 1993.  While developing these IVR applications we are heavily involved in areas such as:

• Analysis and optimization of call flows and critical decision points,
• Speech analytics and VUI design,
• Application tuning,
• Developing custom reports,
• And a plethora of other areas necessary to develop and support Call Center applications.

But we are rarely involved in the on-going analysis of the actual call center’s operation in an effort to optimize customer satisfaction as well as the call center’s performance.  That’s were Matthew’s expertise comes into play.

Matt  takes an interesting approach in tackling several key measurements traditionally used to predict and manage Call Center performance.  He also takes issue with the validity of using many of these metrics when applied in less than a holistic view of a call center’s operation.

So take a look at some of the areas of Call Center metrics and operations that Matthew challenges you to think about differently.    They include:

• Average time to abandon (ATA)
• Average speed to Answer (ASA)
• Service Level Objectives (SLO)
• Understanding your call profile
• Call Center Agent occupancy
• Economies of scale & idle time
• Cost per call

If you take the time to read his article Lies, Damned Lies and Call Center Statistics, we hope you find it of value.

And if you happen to contact Matt, please tell him the folks at Acclaim Telecom said hello.