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65-431: CATI may function in the following manner: Automated computer telephone interviewing (ACTI) is a technique by which a computer with speaker-independent voice recognition capabilities asks respondents a series of questions, recognizes then stores the answers, and is able to follow scripted logic and branch intelligently according to the flow of the questionnaire based on the answers provided, as well as information known about

130-476: A call center operation by identifying the needs of the caller. Information can be obtained from the caller such as an account number. Answers to simple questions such as account balances or pre-recorded information can be provided without operator intervention. Account numbers from the IVR are often compared to caller ID data for security reasons and additional IVR responses are required if the caller ID does not match

195-546: A log-normal service time distribution . Simulation algorithms are increasingly being used to model call arrival, queueing and service levels. Call centre operations have been supported by mathematical models beyond queueing, with operations research , which considers a wide range of optimisation problems seeking to reduce waiting times while keeping server utilisation and therefore efficiency high. Call centres have received criticism for low rates of pay and restrictive working practices for employees, which have been deemed as

260-502: A SIP end point; SIP IVR systems can be used to replace agents directly by the use of applications deployed using BBUA (back-to-back user agents). Due to the introduction of instant messaging (IM) in contact centers, agents can handle up to 6 different IM conversations at the same time, which increases agent productivity. IVR technology is being used to automate IM conversations using existing natural language processing software. This differs from email handling as email automated response

325-465: A better caller experience and workforce efficiency. IVR systems are often combined with automated attendant functionality. The term voice response unit ( VRU ) is sometimes used as well. Despite the increase in IVR technology during the 1970s, the technology was considered complex and expensive for automating tasks in call centers. Early voice response systems were digital signal processing (DSP) technology based and limited to small vocabularies. In

390-501: A corporate computer network , including mainframes , microcomputer, servers and LANs . It is expected that artificial intelligence -based chatbots will significantly impact call centre jobs and will increase productivity substantially. Many organisations have already adopted AI-based chatbots to improve their customer service experience. The contact center is a central point from which all customer contacts are managed. Through contact centers, valuable information can be routed to

455-404: A dehumanising environment. Other research illustrates how call centre workers develop ways to counter or resist this environment by integrating local cultural sensibilities or embracing a vision of a new life. Most call centres provide electronic reports that outline performance metrics, quarterly highlights and other information about the calls made and received. This has the benefit of helping

520-464: A different status, the service will automatically prioritize the individual's call and move customers to the front of a specific queue. IVRs will also log call detail information into its own database for auditing, performance report, and future IVR system enhancements. CTI allows a contact center or organization to gather information about the caller as a means of directing the inquiry to the appropriate agent. CTI can transfer relevant information about

585-399: A function different from the current one. Higher level IVR development tools are available to further simplify the application development process. A call flow diagram can be drawn with a GUI tool and the presentation layer (typically VoiceXML) can be automatically generated. In addition, these tools normally provide extension mechanisms for software integration, such as an HTTP interface to

650-832: A keypad. In telephony , IVR allows customers to interact with a company's host system via a telephone keypad or by speech recognition, after which services can be inquired about through the IVR dialogue. IVR systems can respond with pre-recorded or dynamically generated audio to further direct users on how to proceed. IVR systems deployed in the network are sized to handle large call volumes and also used for outbound calling as IVR systems are more intelligent than many predictive dialer systems. IVR systems can be used standing alone to create self-service solutions for mobile purchases, banking payments, services, retail orders, utilities, travel information and weather conditions. In combination with systems such an automated attendant and automatic call distributor (ACD), call routing can be optimized for

715-482: A mechanical answering machine. Although undoubtedly more costly (the human service, the cost of setting up and paying the phone company for the OPX on a monthly basis), it had the advantage of being more ready to respond to the unique needs of after-hours callers. The answering service operators also had the option of calling the client and alerting them to particularly important calls. The origins of call centers date back to

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780-593: A mechanism to support communities and provide information to populations that are hard to reach by traditional methods. IVR has been used for community generated content which NGOs and social organizations can tailor to spread relevant content to hard to reach population. The introduction of Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) means that point-to-point communications are no longer restricted to voice calls but can now be extended to multimedia technologies such as video . IVR manufacturers have extended their systems into IVVR (interactive voice and video response), especially for

845-500: A prevalence of mobile phones even in rural areas, which allows room for IVR technology to support social good projects. However, most IVR technology is designed in resource-rich domains hence research is necessary to contextualize and adapt this technology for developing countries. Research in ICTD has helped tailor IVR towards social impact has created innovative applications in health, agricultural, entertainment and citizen journalism. In

910-404: A sale per lead. The universal queue standardises the processing of communications across multiple technologies such as fax, phone, and email. The virtual queue provides callers with an alternative to waiting on hold when no agents are available to handle inbound call demand. Historically call centres have been built on Private branch exchange (PBX) equipment owned, hosted, and maintained by

975-562: A separate application, and configuration APIs which enable graphical user interface (GUI) controls of administrative functions. Outsourced call centres are often located in developing countries , where wages are significantly lower than in western countries with higher minimum wages. These include the call centre industries in the Philippines , Bangladesh , and India . Companies that regularly utilise outsourced contact centre services include British Sky Broadcasting and Orange in

1040-446: A set of valid responses (e.g. "How can I help you?"). In both cases, the goal is to glean a valid spoken response from the user. The key difference is that with directed dialogue, the user is more likely to speak an option exactly as was communicated by the prompt (e.g. "account balance"). With an open-ended prompt, however, the user is likely to include extraneous words or phrases (e.g. "I was just looking at my bill and saw that my balance

1105-528: A traditional, centralised, call centre location, which increasingly allows people 'on the go' or with physical or other disabilities to work from desired locations – i.e. not leaving their house. The only required equipment is Internet access, a workstation, and a softphone. If the virtual call centre software utilizes webRTC , a softphone is not required to dial. The companies are preferring Virtual Call Centre services due to cost advantage. Companies can start their call centre business immediately without installing

1170-408: A website and a Java interface for connecting to a database. In telecommunications , an audio response unit (ARU) (often included in IVR systems) is a device that provides synthesized voice responses to DTMF keypresses by processing calls based on (a) the call-originator input, (b) information received from a database, and (c) information in the incoming call, such as the time of day. ARUs increase

1235-578: Is a further extension of call centres telephony based capabilities, administers centralised handling of individual communications, including letters , faxes , live support software , social media , instant message , and email . A call center was previously seen as an open workspace for call center agents , with workstations that included a computer and display for each agent and were connected to an inbound/outbound call management system, and one or more supervisor stations. It can be independently operated or networked with additional centers, often linked to

1300-551: Is a managed capability that can be centralised or remote that is used for receiving or transmitting a large volume of enquiries by telephone . An inbound call centre is operated by a company to administer incoming product or service support or information inquiries from consumers. Outbound call centres are usually operated for sales purposes such as telemarketing , for solicitation of charitable or political donations , debt collection , market research , emergency notifications, and urgent/critical needs blood banks . A contact centre

1365-515: Is a perception that IVR is adopted because it allows companies to save money and allow the hiring of fewer employees to answer the phone. Additionally, as basic information is now available online, the calls coming into a call center are more likely to be complex problems and not ones that can be resolved in an automated fashion, thus requiring the attention of a live agent. Call center A call centre ( Commonwealth spelling ) or call center ( American spelling ; see spelling differences )

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1430-401: Is a project that uses good ICTD principles to use IVR technology to benefit TB patients. Patients have a customized packet of tablets that they receive from the healthcare official who trains them to take the medicine in the sequence daily. Opening the packet in a sequence reveals a phone number that the patient needs to dial to acknowledge that they have taken the medicine. This research project

1495-410: Is also being introduced into automobile systems for hands-free operation. TTS is computer generated synthesized speech that is no longer the robotic voice traditionally associated with computers. Real voices create the speech in fragments that are spliced together (concatenated) and smoothed before being played to the caller. An IVR can be deployed in several ways: An automatic call distributor (ACD)

1560-478: Is also intended to improve efficiencies, both for inbound and outbound campaigns. This allows inbound calls to be directly routed to the appropriate agent for the task, whilst minimising wait times and long lists of irrelevant options for people calling in. For outbound calls, lead selection allows management to designate what type of leads go to which agent based on factors including skill, socioeconomic factors, past performance, and percentage likelihood of closing

1625-433: Is based on key word spotting and IM conversations are conversational. The use of text messaging abbreviations and smilies requires different grammars to those currently used for speech recognition. IM is also starting to replace text messaging on multimedia mobile handsets. With the introduction of web services into the contact center, host integration has been simplified, allowing IVR applications to be hosted remotely from

1690-468: Is information that could easily be handled by a person but the IVR system is used to preserve privacy and avoid potential embarrassment of sensitive information or test results. Users are given a passcode to access their results. Some of the largest installed IVR platforms are used for televoting on television game shows, such as Pop Idol and Big Brother , which can generate enormous call spikes. The network provider will often deploy call gapping in

1755-455: Is often the second point of contact when calling many larger businesses. An ACD uses digital storage devices to play greetings or announcements, but typically routes a caller without prompting for input. An IVR can play announcements and request an input from the caller. This information can be used to profile the caller and used by an ACD to route the call to an agent with a particular skill set. Interactive voice response can be used to front-end

1820-652: Is the ability to allow external callers to page staff and transfer the inbound call to the paged person. IVR can be used to provide a more sophisticated voice mail experience to the caller. Banking institutions are reliant on IVR systems for customer engagement and to extend business hours to a 24/7 operation. Telephone banking allows customers to check balances and transaction histories as well as to make payments and transfers. As online channels have emerged, banking customer satisfaction has decreased. IVR systems are used by pharmaceutical companies and contract research organizations to conduct clinical trials and manage

1885-795: The Communications Workers of America and the United Steelworkers . In Australia , the National Union of Workers represents unionised workers; their activities form part of the Australian labour movement . In Europe , UNI Global Union of Switzerland is involved in assisting unionisation in the call center industry, and in Germany Vereinte Dienstleistungsgewerkschaft represents call centre workers. During

1950-496: The Hilton Hotels Corporation and Marriott International make use of call centres to manage reservations. These are known in the industry as "central reservations offices". Staff members at these call centres take calls from clients wishing to make reservations or other inquiries via a public number, usually a 1-800 number . These centres may operate as many as 24 hours per day, seven days a week, depending on

2015-631: The PSTN to prevent network overload. IVR may also be used by survey organizations to ask more sensitive questions where the investigators are concerned that a respondent might feel less comfortable providing these answers to a human interlocutor (such as questions about drug use or sexual behavior). In some cases, an IVR system can be used in the same survey in conjunction with a human interviewer. By allowing low-literacy populations to interact with technology, IVR systems form an avenue to build technological skills in developing countries. Developing countries have

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2080-489: The 1960s through the 1980s, earlier and slightly later, involved a business that specifically provided the service. Primarily, by using an off-premises extension (OPX) for each subscribing business, connected at a switchboard at the answering service business, the answering service would answer the otherwise unattended phones of the subscribing businesses with a live operator. The live operator could take messages or relay information, doing so with greater human interactivity than

2145-538: The 1960s with the UK-based Birmingham Press and Mail, which installed Private Automated Business Exchanges (PABX) to have rows of agents handling customer contacts. By 1973, call centers had received mainstream attention after Rockwell International patented its Galaxy Automatic Call Distributor (GACD) for a telephone booking system as well as the popularization of telephone headsets as seen on televised NASA Mission Control Center events. During

2210-401: The 1990s, call centres expanded internationally and developed into two additional subsets of communication: contact centres and outsourced bureau centres. A contact centre is a coordinated system of people, processes, technologies, and strategies that provides access to information, resources, and expertise, through appropriate channels of communication, enabling interactions that create value for

2275-438: The IVR developer to focus on the call flow. IVR speech recognition interactions (call flows) are designed using 3 approaches to prompt for and recognize user input: directed, open-ended, and mixed dialogue. A directed dialogue prompt communicates a set of valid responses to the user (e.g. "How can I help you? ... Say something like, account balance, order status, or more options "). An open-ended prompt does not communicate

2340-407: The account record. IVR call flows are created in a variety of ways. A traditional IVR depended upon proprietary programming or scripting languages, whereas modern IVR applications are generated in a similar way to Web pages, using standards such as VoiceXML , CCXML , SRGS and SSML . The ability to use XML-driven applications allows a web server to act as the application server , freeing

2405-487: The appropriate people or systems, contacts can be tracked, and data may be gathered. It is generally a part of the company's customer relationship management infrastructure. The majority of large companies use contact centers as a means of managing their customer interactions. These centers can be operated by either an in-house department responsible or outsourcing customer interaction to a third-party agency (known as Outsourcing Call Centres ). Answering services, as known in

2470-803: The basic infrastructure like Dialer , ACD and IVRS . Virtual call centres became increasingly used after the COVID-19 pandemic restricted businesses from operating with large groups of people working in close proximity. Through the use of application programming interfaces (APIs), hosted and on-demand call centres that are built on cloud-based software as a service (SaaS) platforms can integrate their functionality with cloud-based applications for customer relationship management (CRM), lead management and more. Developers use APIs to enhance cloud-based call centre platform functionality—including Computer telephony integration (CTI) APIs which provide basic telephony controls and sophisticated call handling from

2535-413: The call centre operator. The PBX can provide functions such as automatic call distribution , interactive voice response , and skills-based routing . In a virtual call centre model, the call centre operator (business) pays a monthly or annual fee to a vendor that hosts the call centre telephony and data equipment in their own facility, cloud-based. In this model, the operator does not own, operate or host

2600-575: The call volume the chain receives. Queueing theory is a branch of mathematics in which models of service systems have been developed. A call centre can be seen as a queueing network and results from queueing theory such as the probability an arriving customer needs to wait before starting service useful for provisioning capacity. ( Erlang's C formula is such a result for an M/M/c queue and approximations exist for an M/G/k queue .) Statistical analysis of call centre data has suggested arrivals are governed by an inhomogeneous Poisson process and jobs have

2665-401: The company to plan the workload and time of its employees. However, it has also been argued that such close monitoring breaches the human right to privacy . Complaints are often logged by callers who find the staff do not have enough skill or authority to resolve problems, as well as appearing apathetic. These concerns are due to a business process that exhibits levels of variability because

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2730-444: The contact center. This has meant hosted IVR applications using speech are now available to smaller contact centers across the globe and has led to an expansion of ASP (application service providers). IVR applications can also be hosted on the public network, without contact center integration. Services include public announcement messages and message services for small business. It is also possible to deploy two-prong IVR services where

2795-419: The context of tuberculosis, patients need to adhere to the medicine daily basis for a period of few months to completely heal. In public sector, there is a scheme called DOTS (Directly Observed Therapy Short Course ) which was the most effective source for poor population. However, this method requires the patient to commute to the clinic everyday which adds financial and time constraints to the patient. 99DOTS

2860-1211: The customer and organization. In contrast to in-house management, outsourced bureau contact centres are a model of contact centre that provide services on a "pay per use" model. The overheads of the contact centre are shared by many clients, thereby supporting a very cost effective model, especially for low volumes of calls. The modern contact centre includes automated call blending of inbound and outbound calls as well as predictive dialing capabilities, dramatically increasing agents' productivity. New implementations of more complex systems require highly skilled operational and management staff that can use multichannel online and offline tools to improve customer interactions. Call centre technologies often include: speech recognition software which allowed Interactive Voice Response (IVR) systems to handle first levels of customer support , text mining , natural language processing to allow better customer handling, agent training via interactive scripting and automatic mining using best practices from past interactions, support automation and many other technologies to improve agent productivity and customer satisfaction . Automatic lead selection or lead steering

2925-410: The early 1980s, Leon Ferber's Perception Technology became the first mainstream market competitor, after hard drive technology (read/write random-access to digitized voice data) had reached a cost-effective price point. At that time, a system could store digitized speech on disk, play the appropriate spoken message, and process the human's DTMF response. As call centers began to migrate to multimedia in

2990-524: The equipment on which the call centre runs. Agents connect to the vendor's equipment through traditional PSTN telephone lines, or over voice over IP . Calls to and from prospects or contacts originate from or terminate at the vendor's data centre, rather than at the call centre operator's premises. The vendor's telephony equipment (at times data servers) then connects the calls to the call centre operator's agents. Virtual call centre technology allows people to work from home or any other location instead of in

3055-523: The experience a customer gets and results a company achieves on a given call are dependent upon the quality of the agent. Call centres are beginning to address this by using agent-assisted automation to standardise the process all agents use. However, more popular alternatives are using personality and skill based approaches. The various challenges encountered by call operators are discussed by several authors. Call centres located in India have been

3120-446: The focus of several documentary films, the 2004 film Thomas L. Friedman Reporting: The Other Side of Outsourcing , the 2005 films John and Jane , Nalini by Day, Nancy by Night , and 1-800-India: Importing a White-Collar Economy , and the 2006 film Bombay Calling , among others. An Indian call centre is also the subject of the 2006 film Outsourced and a key location in the 2008 film, Slumdog Millionaire . The 2014 BBC fly on

3185-414: The individual customer and the IVR dialog from the IVR to the agent desktop using a screen-pop , making for a more effective and efficient service. Voice-activated dialing (VAD) IVR systems are used to automate routine inquiries to a switchboard or PABX (Private Automatic Branch exchange) operators, and are used in many hospitals and large businesses to reduce the caller waiting time. An additional function

3250-399: The initial IVR application is used to route the call to the appropriate contact center. This can be used to balance loading across multiple contact centers or provide business continuity in the event of a system outage. Surveys show IVR is generally unpopular with customers. It is difficult to use and unresponsive to the caller. Many customers object to talking to an automated system. There

3315-513: The introduction of SIP contact centers, call control in a SIP contact center can be implemented by CCXML scripting, which is an adjunct to the VXML language used to generate modern IVR dialogues. As calls are queued in the SIP contact center, the IVR system can provide treatment or automation, wait for a fixed period, or play music. Inbound calls to a SIP contact center must be queued or terminated against

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3380-534: The large volumes of data generated. The caller will respond to questions in their preferred language and their responses will be logged into a database and possibly recorded at the same time to confirm authenticity. Applications include patient randomization and drug supply management. They are also used in recording patient diaries and questionnaires. IVR systems allow callers to obtain data relatively anonymously. Hospitals and clinics have used IVR systems to allow callers to receive anonymous access to test results. This

3445-692: The late 1970s, call center technology expanded to include telephone sales, airline reservations, and banking systems. The term "call center" was first published and recognised by the Oxford English Dictionary in 1983. The 1980s saw the development of toll-free telephone numbers to increase the efficiency of agents and overall call volume. Call centers increased with the deregulation of long-distance calling and growth in information-dependent industries. As call centres expanded, workers in North America began to join unions such as

3510-415: The late 1990s, companies started to invest in computer telephony integration (CTI) with IVR systems. IVR became vital for call centers deploying universal queuing and routing solutions and acted as an agent which collected customer data to enable intelligent routing decisions. With improvements in technology, systems could use speaker-independent voice recognition of a limited vocabulary instead of requiring

3575-490: The mobile phone networks. The use of video gives IVR systems the ability to implement multimodal interaction with the caller. The introduction of full-duplex video IVR in the future will allow systems the ability to read emotions and facial expressions. It may also be used to identify the caller, using technology such as Iris scan or other biometric means. Recordings of the caller may be stored to monitor certain transactions and can be used to reduce identity fraud. With

3640-471: The number of information calls handled and provide consistent quality in information retrieval. IVR systems are used to service high call volumes at lower cost. The use of IVR allows callers' queries to be resolved without a live agent. If callers do not find the information they need, the calls may be transferred to a live agent. The approach allows live agents to have more time to deal with complex interactions. When an IVR system answers multiple phone numbers,

3705-425: The participant. This technique is also referred to as interactive voice response (IVR) . This article related to telecommunications is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Interactive voice response Interactive voice response ( IVR ) is a technology that allows telephone users to interact with a computer-operated telephone system through the use of voice and DTMF tones input with

3770-563: The person to use DTMF signaling. Starting in the 2000s, voice response became more common and cheaper to deploy. This was due to increased CPU power and the migration of speech applications from proprietary code to the VXML standard. DTMF decoding and speech recognition are used to interpret the caller's response to voice prompts. DTMF tones are entered via the telephone keypad . Other technologies include using text-to-speech (TTS) to speak complex and dynamic information, such as e-mails, news reports or weather information. IVR technology

3835-408: The prompts themselves are typically much shorter. A mixed dialogue approach involves shifting from open-ended to directed dialogue or vice versa within the same interaction, as one type of prompt may be more effective in a given situation. Mixed dialog prompts must also be able to recognize responses that are not relevant to the immediate prompt, for instance in the case of a user deciding to shift to

3900-415: The queue, choose an automated service, or request a callback. The system may obtain caller line identification (CLI) data from the network to help identify or authenticate the caller. Additional caller authentication data could include account number, personal information, password and biometrics (such as voice print). IVR also enables customer prioritization. In a system wherein individual customers may have

3965-769: The telecommunications industry, Adidas in the sports and leisure sector, Audi in car manufacturing and charities such as the RSPCA . The healthcare industry has and continues to use outbound call centre programmes for years to help manage billing, collections, and patient communication. The inbound call centre is a new and increasingly popular service for many types of healthcare facilities, including large hospitals. Inbound call centres can be outsourced or managed in-house. These healthcare call centres are designed to help streamline communications, enhance patient retention and satisfaction, reduce expenses and improve operational efficiencies. Many large hospitality companies such as

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4030-408: The use of DNIS ensures that the correct application and language is executed. A single large IVR system can handle calls for thousands of applications, each with its own phone numbers and script. Call centers use IVR systems to identify and segment callers. The ability to identify customers allows services to be tailored according to the customer profile. The caller can be given the option to wait in

4095-569: The wall documentary series The Call Centre gave an often distorted although humorous view of life in a Welsh call centre. Appointment setting is a specialized function within call centres, where dedicated agents focus on facilitating and scheduling meetings between clients and businesses or sales representatives. This service is particularly prevalent in various industries such as financial services, healthcare, real estate, and B2B sales, where time-sensitive and personalized communications are essential for effective client engagement. Lead generation

4160-526: Was based out of Microsoft Research India by Bill Theis and who received MacArthur Fellowship for the project. The project has spun off as Everwell Technologies which now works closely with the Government of India to scale this technology to patients throughout India. Although radio is a very popular means of entertainment, IVR provides interactivity, which can help listeners engage in novel ways using their phones. ICTD research has used IVR entertainment as

4225-499: Was wrong."). The open-ended prompt requires a greater degree of natural language processing to extract the relevant information from the phrase (i.e. "balance"). Open-ended recognition also requires a larger grammar set, which accounts for a wider array of permutations of a given response (e.g. "balance was wrong", "wrong balance", "balance is high", "high balance"). Despite the greater amount of data and processing required for open-ended prompts, they are more interactively efficient, as

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