As IVRs continue to permeate the communications environment, they become increasingly complex, with many options and paths branching off in different directions. The resulting warren of interconnected possibilities requires IVR testing services capable of providing a window into the complete, end-to-end operability of the IVR system, exposing problems and revealing the size and complexity of the entire system.
Let’s look at the main challenges to in-house IVR testing and learn why automated IVR testing services such as Spearline’s IVR Tester are the solution.
Inexperience
One of the main challenges to in-house IVR testing is inexperience. This is not a criticism of your existing support teams; this is not the job they were hired for. IVR testing requires a set of specialist skills to ensure that applications are examined from end to end, that all fail points are revealed, and that the entire process is fully documented and repeatable.
Time Waster
Manual, in-house IVR testing is time intensive. However, when issues arise, your customers will not wait for your team to carry out manual post-mortems to find and fix an issue.
Spearline’s IVR Tester transcription feature automatically dials and travels every possible journey of an IVR system, capturing and transcribing each audio prompt so you don’t have to waste time manually calling each stage of the IVR. Our IVR Tester can schedule tests inside and outside of regular working hours, providing you with a complete map of your IVR, enabling you to pinpoint problems and areas for improvement.
Money waster
Manual testing isn’t cheap. Recruiting and training an army of volunteers or paying people to physically test your IVR system in the various locations your service is available throughout the globe is a costly business. Pouring business resources into a testing process would be far more effective – if automated detracts from revenue-generating opportunities. Robust, end-to-end, automated IVR testing is the cost-effective solution, reining in project deadlines and hastening ROI.
CX sophistication
As your application grows more complex in response to increasing CX sophistication, relying on intermittent testing campaigns becomes impractical and ineffective.
Without regular, automated testing services to detect issues and help you visualize pain points in real time, the first time you will hear about problems is when your customers complain, or worse, when you notice them drop off altogether! IVR testing services like Spearline’s IVR Tester will help you to meet the high CX demands you need to stay competitive.
Legacy issues
Many of the older IVR systems still in use are not as customer-centric as we need them to be. It is not uncommon for legacy IVR systems to be poorly maintained or to fail to integrate correctly with newer software. The result is bottlenecks and blindspots that are hard to spot with manual, in-house testing practices.
Automated IVR testing services like Spearline’s are the best way to circumvent this issue. Our IVR Tester collects all audio for you to examine for weaknesses. You can determine if the language used is confusing or outdated, if the localization messages are still appropriate, and whether the automated menu options are capable of responding to customer needs quickly and completely.
Eyes on the prize
As IVR systems become more complex, stretching to omnichannel availability, mapping has become the best way to gain some perspective on the expansive reality of your service.
With Spearline’s IVR Tester, automated calls crawl through your entire IVR to map out every journey and end-point of your system. You can view your IVR map on your own visual, interactive dashboard and even export the map to share with colleagues that don’t have access to the platform.
Visibility at this scale makes it easier to plan upgrades or migrate interactive voice response flows from one system to another if you are moving to a new provider or the cloud.
Up to the challenge
There are many challenges in performing IVR testing in-house, but one simple solution is automation.
Automation will reduce test times and costs, increase agent satisfaction levels, and send your CX scores through the roof. Moving to an automated IVR testing system like Spearline’s represents pure peace of mind that your IVR is fit for purpose and your business is reaping the rewards that come from continued brand loyalty.
New to Spearline?
Spearline provides quality assurance tools for business communication services, allowing you to proactively manage your inbound and outbound voice, SMS and fax services. Our latest WebRTC products offer testing, monitoring and support for web-based communications.
We work globally across business sectors, supporting contact centers, conferencing services, and more to successfully connect with their customers and employees. For further information, or if you have any further questions please get in touch.
