Md. In Arizona, IBM developed an IVR system for the Department of Motor Vehicles that offers the same services as its Web site. In the first month of operation, IVR was by far the more popular interface among Arizona motorists, outperforming the Web site by a ratio of 8 to 1. While one reason may be the department's efforts to advertise the IVR, another likely reason is that people are generally more willing to turn to the telephone than to the Internet to perform transactions. Though the Web is the darling of technology pundits, the telephone comes much closer to hitting the bull's eye when the goal is reaching 100 percent of the population. Someday, the Web will certainly reach more of the population.
Some agencies use IVR for surprisingly sophisticated transactions.
The Massachusetts Department of Revenue, for instance, rolled out income tax return filing by phone in 1994. Last year 400,000 of the state's 3 million taxpayers filed their income taxes by punching numbers on their telephone keypads. In addition, Massachusetts has stopped printing its short form, so taxpayers who want to file state returns using the simpler form must now file by phone. The state, in essence, has forced hundreds of thousands of residents to use IVR when filing their returns. Frederick Laskey, senior deputy commissioner for the Massachusetts Department of Revenue, says that strategy was risky.