We have a wealth of experience deploying Amazon Connect to a wide variety of companies, from big multinationals to small businesses. We also know that not everyone has been dealing with self-service tech for as long as we have. Or they simply want results that work for them and their business – that's fine also!
1. Professional Recorded Prompts
An IVR is often your customers' first impression when reaching out to an organisation – so make it count! To portray a professional image, we recommend you use a professional studio to record the prompts. Your chosen studio should also make sure they are in the correct format (this can differ based on region, IVR telephony platform etc) because you want to avoid compatibility issues. Score a quick win by re-recording tired or mismatched prompts!
2. Use a Voice Talent
There are two main reasons why this is important. First and foremost, it ensures the intonation and inflection of each word is correct and clear. This is particularly important when playing alphanumeric prompting like "Did you say 1964?" or "You wish to pay 752 pounds?".
The second reason for using a single voice talent is to align with your company brand or image. A law firm may want to use a more formal voice, whereas a young startup might feel that a more vibrant and enthusiastic voice is more appropriate.
You must also think about why your customer is contacting you, and more to the point, how they may be feeling. Customers call for a reason. Bad IVR messaging could only make matters worse if they are calling because something is not right!
3. Voice User Interface (VUI) Design
Good VUI design is critical to get the most out of your IVR platform. VUI Design focuses on the wording of each prompt, the call flow, and consideration of how a customer will use the system. Good VUI design should lead to high IVR performance.
There is nothing more infuriating than feeling lost in an elongated stream of prompts that seem to bounce you between pressing 1 in a menu, to hold music, and then back to another long menu. With the correct wording and a measured design, an IVR system will reward the customer with a fulfilling customer experience. And making your callers happy quicker means a quicker return on your investment!
4. Run a Workshop
Before implementing Amazon Connect (or any IVR!), run a workshop with the client to establish how customers are interacting with existing IVR systems and contact centre agents. The IVR solution must be sympathetic to the customer's needs, which can only be understood by working through your customer journeys.
5. Tuning
Tuning links into all the things we mentioned in point 4. It is an ongoing process that should be exercised every 6 to 9 months to maintain the high performance your customers deserve.
The reason for regular tuning is to drive the performance of your system as high as possible by finding areas for improvement. It is also used to check if the system is being used in the way it's intended, or to identify new functionality that can be added.
The first step in successfully tuning an Amazon Connect system is to review the reporting. Look at success percentages and ways in which they can be improved. Next, review why failures and errors occur – a possible failure could be that you expect a certain type of answer, but callers provide something slightly different. This may cause a dip in performance or calls being routed incorrectly. With careful analysis, we can weed these failures out of the system.
We believe that without thorough tracking and reporting, a system is more or less redundant – you'd be amazed how many times we see it!
6. Eliminate Silence
When designing and testing your Amazon Connect IVR, make a note of any long pauses in the menu flow. Long pauses could be caused by prompt or tuning parameters not being set correctly. Or there might be a delay when the IVR is calling a backend system – to perform a data dip or make a payment.
Tuning parameters like 'complete timeout', 'inter-digit timeout' and 'max speech timeout' are just a few parameters that if not set correctly can cause the IVR to be slow or feel unresponsive, ultimately annoying the customer and slowing their journey to completion.
7. Minimise Menu Options
This is such an easy fix and one we see forgotten time and time again! Keep the number of IVR menu options to a minimum!
If your IVR application requires complex menus, then you should consider an open call steering menu or a free speech interface. Free speech is where the IVR offers your customer something like: "Welcome to IVR Expert, how can I help you today?" The caller can then talk to the IVR to say what they want.
8. Deflection Messages
If your business is subject to unexpected call spikes, building an application that allows you to react quickly is essential. One way to manage this challenge is to use deflection messaging to inform the caller of any urgent announcements. Keeping callers up to date with current matters will enhance their overall experience.
9. Voice Biometrics
Voice Biometrics (VB) offers an additional layer of security. Every caller has a unique voiceprint that can be used to verify a caller. A benefit of using VB is that it speeds up the identification and verification process, as well as having the ability to check for known fraudsters. Added security plus increased efficiency equals happy customers!
10. Conversational AI
Conversational IVR solutions, known as Virtual Assistants, are becoming extremely popular in addressing complex inbound queries. It allows a caller to speak freely, and the intent of the call is analysed and understood by the platform and addressed accordingly.
This is an amazing jump forwards for both parties. The customer feels they are in charge of their journey and perceive themselves to be getting what they want. You get to cut out (when correctly implemented!) several steps that may take up valuable agent talk-time, driving up Average Handle Times (AHT).