However prior to this trend, IVR was perceived an exceptional technology; it played a role where there was a balance between efficiency, customer satisfaction and return on investment. I'm sure many recall the days, when the way to get to the right place meant remembering to press 1…, 4, 3 and you were where you wanted to be. It wasn't all that bad, customers were happy, business managed their costs, and the technology did its job as advertised.

Most of the attention, has been focused on IVR's application in call centers, however IVR plays a significant role in other industry applications, providing both businesses and callers with significant benefits, a positive experience, and return on investment.

Where IVR Really Does Work” is an ongoing review of IVR applications across a multitude of industries and disciplines. Where IVR brings significant value to callers, organizations and businesses alike. Where there is a demonstrable balance between efficiency, user satisfaction and return on investment.

Large tenants depend on and demand quick response and resolution to, facility problems to run their business. That means when they have a problem, they need the right technician to show up on time.

Tenants don't expect a call center agent to resolve the issue over the telephone, as there is often a physical problem, that requires an expert to fix a water leak, an electrical problem, an HVAC problem, or something that needs to be repaired quickly and a technician needs to be dispatched immediately.

So how does IVR provide a win-win solution for commercial tenants and outsourced facility management providers?

Many facility management service providers have already deployed IVR applications, which allow tenants to report problems, and management to dispatch repair technicians who, in turn, log-in and log-out from the job. But how does this really work, in day-to-day operations? Here is a real-life example:

It is 7:00 a.m. and the manager at store #326 of a national women's apparel chain, shows up to prep for the day. On her arrival, she tries to boot up her cash registers, realizes that the electrical outlets powering the cash registers are not operational; she follows procedure, and resets the breaker, however that does not resolve the problem.

Now this becomes a major problem, as the doors will open in 2 ½ hours with no cash registers and this will cost the company $1000's per hour if the problem is not resolved before opening.

The World Without IVR: Based on company procedure, a call is placed to the facility management outsourcing vendor, and to the regional VP of the retail chain. It is 7:00 a.m. so the facility management vendor is routing calls to an after hours outsourced answering service, who will call a company manager, who will then contact a contractor, who dispatches a technician to the job site. On arrival, the contractor will call the facility management vendor to request authorization to proceed. All this requires various people being involved for a single after business hours dispatch. This particular retailer has over 50 after hours facility maintenance requests in any given day, throughout its 700 + outlets.

Today the picture looks very different as reporting and dispatching takes minutes. The facility management outsourcing provider has implemented a fully automated IVR system which automates three key functions.

(a) Tenant Trouble Reporting: Tenants can report a facility related issue 24/7 by simply calling in to a national toll-free IVR #. They identify themselves by providing a tenant ID, and enter a problem code (each tenant has a reporting code card). The IVR transmits this information in real-time to the facility management provider's web enabled software. Alerts get issued, and calls get placed to the corresponding technician, technicians accept the work order by providing a telephone input, and proceed to the job location.

(b) Technician/Contractor Sign-in: The technician/contractor arrives at the site, calls into the toll-free # and logs-in to the job, providing job relevant information. The technician then receives authorization to proceed.

(c) Technician/Contractor Sign-out: The technician/contractor completes the task, calls into the toll-free # and updates the status of the work order.

What happens, if there is a problem that can't be handled by IVR automation? The customer or technician can always contact an after hours manager on call, something else that the IVR can handle through scheduled on-call routing functionality. This only has to happen 2-3 times in any given day to reduce labor related costs and accelerate the workflow exponentially, which ultimately increases customer satisfaction, and adds to the facility management service provider's bottom line.

What happens, if a Technician/Contractor doesn't call in on time? The IVR has the capability of initiating an outbound call to the technician, to determine their status. What happens if they don't answer? - The IVR System can notify a manager.

In most cases, facility management service providers have in-house software that handle the tenants reporting, work order tracking, scheduling and tracking. Current IVR technology is flexible enough to allow service providers integration into a 3rd party or home-grown facility management software by capitalizing on their existing investment in web technology.

So IVR does work, delivers on its promises, and provides a balance between efficiency, user satisfaction and return on investment. Facility management is just one of many applications "Where IVR Does Really Work."