Christell & Associates has a different philosophy about IVR/VRU technology. You begin with a three step process that shouldn't even mention voice response technology.

• First you must clearly define your business problem.
• Then you should define your end objectives.
• Finally you need an action plan to achieve those objectives.

Evaluate your results from both a human solution and a technology solution standpoint.

• Is there a working human process in place that solves this problem?
• Can technology replace or supplement this process?
• How will your customers react to the technology?

Voice response technology spans many areas of an organization so this is a good time to get a Voice Technology Team together. This team should include people from the Telephone/Communications, Information Systems and Consumer Relations groups. Now is the time to discover any internal communications problems.

Your team should come up with a shopping list of features. This doesn't need to be highly technical, just something like:

• The system should answer all calls to our center with an auto-attendant function
• The system must be bilingual
• The system should give the caller the time to wait if they choose to transfer
• The system should allow the customer to use touch tones or voice to enter their number
• The system needs to communicate to our XYZ host system
• The system should have a backup mode if the host goes down
• The system needs to page the supervisor when there is a problem

As you define your list of requirements, you will have started the definition of your hardware requirements. This is a great starting point, however, there is much more to consider when picking your systems developer.

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This page last updated on April 10, 2004
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