IVR systems

Short for Interactive Voice Response, IVR is a telephony application that allows callers to interact directly with a database through touch-tone or speech. The caller can acquire information from the database, as well as enter data, without any operator assistance. In most enterprises, IVR systems are the first (and possibly only) point of contact for the caller. For example, a credit card company will use IVR applications to allow their customers to receive real-time account information, pay a bill, or activate a new card without having to speak to a live agent.

Over the past decade, IVR technology has advanced well beyond the simple DTMF (touch-tone) inputs and basic "yes"/"no" voice prompts. Speech recognition technology has enabled callers to talk to the IVR system.

Here are basic examples of the common IVR types:

1. Touch-tone: "If you are calling about residential service, press or say one"
2. Directed dialog: "Would you like to check on an existing account, open an account." The caller needs to respond with one of the specific options, i.e. "check on an existing account."
3. Natural language: "What would you like to do?" User is open to answer in any way, i.e. "transfer money from my savings account."

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