IVR, alongside many automated systems, faces several challenges operating in the real world. The most obvious challenge of modern Interactive Voice Response is understanding the myriad of human languages and accents with advanced voice recognition abilities. Deviations in speech patterns are a continuous struggle for mainstream AI, but thankfully in this day and age many IVR systems have become extremely adept at voice recognition. There’s nothing quite as frustrating for a customer as being misunderstood or needing to repeat a command to a robotic IVR menu.
It can also be problematic the other way round; computerized voice prompts can be hard to understand by humans, as well. Cheap TTS software should be avoided, as should skimping on voice talent to record professional introductions. Customers don’t generally appreciate hearing a robotic voice, so a real human recording should be prioritized.
IVR menus are infinitely helpful to an organization that experiences a high volume of daily calls, but menus should be as short as possible to avoid wasting the customers time or confusing them with too many options. Overly long menus, coupled with even longer call queues are major pain points for customers calling into an IVR.
Finally, Interactive Voice Response should definitely be avoided in outbound cold-calling, or for sales calls in general.