what to Measure in IVR Metrics

Access your KPIs online;
Measure your success;

Navigation: All Balanced Scorecard Articles > General

IVR metrics should be measured to ensure that the investment is worth it. Otherwise, there is no way to guarantee its effectiveness. Check additional information about IVR metrics.

Anyone who has heavily invested in infrastructure or technology also knows that there has to be a flawless way to measure the efficiency and effectiveness of the investment. This principle also applies in the call center industry where the most common technological investment is the Interactive Voice Response system or IVR. To measure how well the IVR is doing, one has to have a well defined set of Key Performance Indicators or KPIs and these are known as the IVR metrics.

The Interactive Voice Response system is a telephone-operating tool that helps a lot of companies reduce the bulk of customers who wish to talk to live human beings. The Interactive Voice Response technology or tool is a very efficient tool to use to address basic concerns of customers, especially if these are just about simple information that they need, such as account balance. Before, only touch-tone phones can be used in IVR systems but now, even cellular phones may be used.

The common process is that an IVR system has about three to five general menus and these are then broken down further to three or five sub-menus each and so on until the customer finds what he needs. Normally, IVR interaction takes only about five minutes. Once the customer keys in the number for a specified menu, a prerecorded application will be heard to address the customer's concern. Sometimes, the customers do not even have to use the touch-tone key pads. All they have to do is to say what they want based on the voice prompts or voice commands in the IVR system.

To measure the performance of an IVR through metrics, one must design a set of measurable key indicators in a scorecard and give each metric an appropriate weight. Sometimes, these metrics are categorized in general headings and divisions, such as employee perspective, customer perspective, financial impact, and IVR Call Abandonment.

The most common metric measured in this case is the IVR Abandonment Rate. This is equivalent to the number of customers that dropped the call, even prior to making a selection in the IVR system. This number should be very low since it has been a general observation that customers will have the patience to navigate themselves first before giving up. Normally, a customer would not drop the call unless the IVR is not manageable.

Another important metric that should be measured carefully is the Transaction Failure Rate. This rate is equivalent to the number of hours that the IVR system is not working divided by the total number of hours it should be available multiplied by 100. This means that the customers may be calling at three in the morning and the IVR system is already shut off. This translates to bad service since there is no one-not even a machine-to answer the customer's call. Accordingly, if the IVR worked only gets three hours against the six hours it is required to work, then the Transaction Failure Rate is 50%.

This is how important IVR metrics are. It paints you a picture of whether there is a need to change it or simply improve the existing process.

If you are interested in IVR metrics, check this link to find out more about ivr kpi. Also, you can check other articles in General category.

Balanced Scorecard Toolkit includes step-by-step manuals, documents, presentations, check lists designed to help business professionals with successful development and implementation of Balanced Scorecard. Learn more about BSC Toolkit.