The IVR “Easy Button”

OK we admit it. We borrowed this phrase from Staples, the office supply store. But we really like it. It is the theme we want our customers (or all users of IVR systems for that matter) to experience.

Users of IVR systems typically want their experience to be efficient, effective, quick and painless; in other words, “easy”. But the “easy” theme also has to translate into value. We think everyone will agree that when “easy” combines with “value”, the user experience and benefit is maximized.

Service offerings such as IVR Hosted Services, SaaS, Cloud Computing, and Mobile Applications strive to achieve the goals of both easy and value in our view. Acclaim Telecom has embraced that goal of making IVR, speech, and mobile applications easy to use and as convenient as possible.

In the recently published book (Sept. 2010) “Empowered” by Josh Bernoff and Ted Schadler of Forrester Research, SaaS and cloud based platforms are identified as one of the top 15 technology trends to watch between 2011 – 2013. They predict that SaaS and cloud based platforms will become the standard way of empowering companies to more effectively compete and deliver better service to their customers.

We believe IVR and mobile applications are uniquely suited to be deployed through a cloud computing and SaaS business model. These applications typically have specialized hardware and software components. They also require specialized technical skills to effectively design, build, deploy, and support these systems over time.

Some of the more immediate benefits to using cloud based IVR or mobile solutions include:

  • Eliminate capital equipment purchases, hiring and training highly specialized technical staff, and ongoing support efforts required for in-house systems.
  • On-demand variable capabilities that can scale immediately for short term or unplanned increases in required capacity.
  • Taking advantage of best practices and collective expertise developed through designing and deploying applications across a variety of industries and application usage and then providing this knowledge to all the cloud based application users.
  • Cloud computing or SaaS providers typically integrate newer technologies more quickly and in many cases can lower operating costs while providing improved service to all their clients.
  • Positive environmental impact. Cloud computing reduces aggregate power consumption, reduces disposal of older or un-needed hardware, and eliminates the need for future hardware purchases for variable computing needs.
  • Faster speed to market deployment of new or enhanced offerings to your client base.

As always, we would be happy to discuss how the use of IVR or mobile applications in a cloud computing environment might benefit your company. For a no obligation conversation regarding your needs, please contact us at atsi_sales@acclaimtelecom.com.

We hope all your IVR or mobile applications are Easy Button compatible!