Cloud IVR Solutions | Benefits & Top Providers

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Whether you work in ecommerce, online education, tech, or hospitality, you’ll want steady sales and satisfied customers. That means you need to give people a reliable way to contact you. Cloud IVR systems make it easy for your customers to reach the right person for their needs, whether that’s a sales rep or customer service agent. 

These solutions enable you to route callers to relevant departments through an automated system. They also put the control in the caller’s hands, as they can choose the best option based on the type of support they need or the department they want to reach.

This article covers: 

• What a cloud IVR is

• A comparison of cloud IVRs vs on-premise IVRs

• A comparison of the top cloud IVR systems

• Key elements of a cloud IVR system

• The benefits of cloud IVR systems

What is Cloud IVR (Interactive Voice Response)? 

Cloud interactive voice response (IVR) enables callers to use their keypads or voice commands to specify where their call should be routed. 

It gives the caller various menu options based on the type of query they have. They can select the option that most accurately reflects their needs, and the system will direct their call to the correct agent or department. 

Cloud IVR systems help automate your customer communications processes and eliminate the need for a call centre operator. They also integrate with customer relationship management (CRM) systems, making it easier to keep customer information connected across departments and conversations.

Cloud IVR vs On-Premise IVR

When choosing an IVR provider, you have to decide between a cloud-based solution or an on-premise system. Here’s how the two options stack up.

Top IVR Systems Compared 

Take a look at four top IVR systems to compare features and pricing so you can make the best choice for your business.

Aircall

Aircall’s advanced cloud IVR system lets you route callers to the correct department in seconds for a streamlined customer experience. You can also customise your IVR menus based on time of day to adjust to your peak hours and downtime.  

The dynamic visual editor lets you design engaging and helpful call flows in minutes, and you can customise your message or waiting music when building out your IVR menu for a more personalised customer experience. 

Aircall’s customer communications platform comes with a range of other features that can help your team be more productive and provide a better customer experience, like smart routing, call recording, and call whispering. 

You can also connect the platform to over 100 business tools, from CRM software to helpdesk platforms, to provide a more consistent customer experience and save your team members time.

• Highly customisable call routing

• Dynamic visual editor

• Music and audio messages

• Ring groups

• Call whispering

• CRM integrations

• AI-generated call summaries

“It was really easy to set up an IVR with Aircall. With a phone tree, you could press one to talk to someone about refinancing, press two to talk to someone about new student loans and so on. That's useful because it also tracks why people are calling in.”
—Aircall customer, CommonBond

Discover an advanced IVR solution that helps you provide a smoother customer experience while freeing up your contact centre staff. Try Aircall for free.

Twilio

Create customer IVR flows with Twilio

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Twilio’s pay-as-you-go IVR solution offers clear call quality and low latency. It comes with features like AI virtual agents, emergency notifications, self-service automation, and context-gathering to assist in escalated queries.

Like all IVRs, Twilio’s system reduces the need for human intervention by providing self-service options to callers, and it takes just a few days to build and launch. If you don’t have the in-house capacity to develop your IVR, you can outsource the coding or choose a pre-built solution. 

• Pay-as-you-go

• Call-routing

• AI virtual agents

• Global carrier infrastructure

• Low latency

CloudTalk

CloudTalk comes with over 20 action items for customising your IVR menu

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With CloudTalk, you can add up to 10 menu options when a caller phones in, plus provide 24/7 support with automated answers through self-service options.

It offers a visual, customisable call flow, so you can set up the right routing for your customers in just minutes. In addition to the call flow designer, the platform comes with other relevant features, like skill-based and caller-based routing, as well as call queuing. 

• Localised numbers from 160+ countries

• Automatic call distribution

• AI-powered analytics

• 3-way calling

• Pre-recorded voicemail messages

Vonage

Vonage automatically adapts call flows to better fit customer needs

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Vonage’s IVR is easy to set up and allows you to record calls and capture call-event data. This helps you contextualise conversations and track relevant metrics so you can improve agent performance. Plus, you get real-time event data that enables you to make changes to call flows as you need to.

The platform offers local, toll-free numbers and provides an automated greeting with a pre-recorded voice. It also includes text-to-speech capabilities. Callers can select the option that suits them best using their phone’s keypad. 

• AI-powered experiences

• Personalised marketing

• Single inbox view of all customer inquiries

• Automated responses

• CRM integrations

Key Elements of a Cloud-Based IVR System

Professional greeting service

Cloud IVR systems enable you to offer a professional, automated greeting without needing a live agent to answer the phone. 

That means your customers get a consistent message every time they call and a menu that helps them reach the department or agent they need. 

Self-service options

Cloud IVR systems let you offer a range of self-service options to customers. Callers can get quick answers to common inquiries, such as order status and appointment confirmation, and be on and off the line in seconds.

This not only increases customer satisfaction but also alleviates the pressure on your team, freeing them up to handle more high-level queries. 

Live call information

You want your staff members to have smooth customer interactions from day one, and cloud IVR systems can help with this. 

They allow your senior team members to listen in on calls and coach new employees verbally without the customer knowing. This improves operations by enhancing business communication and speeding up training.

Call recording

The ability to record and export calls is essential for a number of reasons. This feature not only allows you to keep records in case an issue arises with a customer, but it also enables you to improve employee performance.

Your employees and call centre agents can listen to previous customer interactions for training purposes, and to get up to speed on a particular account so you’re providing a consistent sales or customer support experience.

Benefits of Cloud IVR Systems

Cloud IVR solutions come with numerous benefits, such as remote work possibilities and  AI-enhanced capabilities for sales. Let’s take a look at how these solutions can help your business.

Customer self-service capabilities

You know what your customers’ most common queries are, so why not automate the responses for them? Cloud IVR systems enable you to do just this, which helps improve the customer journey by giving callers the answers they need almost instantly. 

But these don’t limit customers like an online FAQ page might, as callers who want to speak with an agent can simply tell the IVR menu to direct them to the right department. 

Compatible with remote work

On-site systems force employees to be at their desks to perform their work. But with a cloud IVR system, your team members aren’t tied to an on-premise IVR, meaning they can work remotely—and you can save on office rental costs.

This can also have a big impact on employee satisfaction, as remote and hybrid work is a big benefit you can offer to your staff when you use a cloud IVR system. 

Lower operational costs

Cloud IVR systems can improve customer satisfaction by giving callers self-service options, but they can also save your business money. 

• There’s no need to pay for business premises when employees can work remotely.

• Set-up costs are minimal, especially when compared to the start-up expenses of an on-premise system.

• You can reduce the average cost per call, as you’ll need fewer agents to handle common queries that are automated.

• You’ll optimise your customer interactions, prioritising calls based on urgency or customer value.

Scalability

Cloud IVR systems are designed to help businesses scale up and down with ease. As you grow, the IVR system grows with you. It enables you to take on more calls from customers by automating common, basic inquiries, and by making call routing more efficient. This, of course, helps drive business growth.

They can also scale down with businesses. There is no surplus hardware to worry about when you reduce your operations, like extra phones, because everything’s in the cloud. 

Boost Productivity and Customer Satisfaction with Aircall’s IVR System

IVR can be a powerful tool for organisations looking to improve customer interactions and boost productivity—but only if you use the right solution for your business. 

In addition to essential IVR features like a dynamic visual editor, smart call routing, and personalised menu items, Aircall comes with other advanced capabilities to help you streamline your contact centre, from business hours to ring groups. 

It takes just a few clicks to get started with our IVR solution, so you can improve your call centre’s productivity and exceed customer expectations. 

Our IVR solution also comes with features like call whispering and call transfers, meaning your employees can talk to each other during a call with a customer (without them ever knowing). This helps you train new employees quicker and allows multiple people to work on a complex customer inquiry, increasing the chances of resolution.

With Aircall, you can measure the metrics that matter most to you to refine and optimise your call centre operations. And don’t forget our high call quality—with a 99.95% uptime—which ensures you and your customers can communicate clearly.

Aircall has everything you need to leave a professional impression on customers at every touch point. Enhance your customer communications in just a few clicks with our IVR solution today.

Discover an advanced IVR solution that helps you provide a smoother customer experience and free up your contact centre staff. Try Aircall for free.

Published on October 24, 2024.