ISG Interactive Voice Response (IVR) Service Bureau

 Automated surveys using touch-tone™ telephones

Overview

IVR is a great data collection tool that can help reduce both the cost of collecting data and the time needed to gather the responses. ISG’s IVR service bureau offers an automated method for collecting survey responses 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Respondents are invited to call a toll-free number by way of a letter, postcard, receipt, etc. When they call, they hear pre-recorded instructions that guide them through the survey and they respond to questions using a touch-tone telephone. 

When to use IVR 

IVR is ideally suited for short surveys that are less than 5 minutes in length and have primarily closed-end questions. However, ISG can gather responses to open ended questions and either provide transcriptions, digital recordings or allow access to the recordings over the telephone.

A common use for IVR is to obtain customer satisfaction feedback. Organizations with a high service component to their offering (hotels, banks, HMOs, etc.) often want to continually gather customer satisfaction information. An inexpensive way to offer an IVR option is to include an insert with a monthly bank or billing statement that includes the toll free number for the IVR system and instructions. Also the phone number could be listed on questionnaire cards or brochures that are distributed at the check-out register. 

Features of IVR surveys

ISG's IVR system allows surveys to include "branching" - meaning a caller's response to a particular question can determine the path the survey follows. The system will verify that each response to a question is within a pre-determined range and will prompt callers for valid responses if outside the range. If for some reason a caller has to hang up in the middle of a survey, they can call back at any time and pick up right where they left off.

Survey participation can be limited by using unique survey IDs such as account numbers, membership numbers, or telephone numbers. These IDs give respondents the ability to re-start a survey where they left off if they have to hang up at some point during the call.  

Studies have shown that employees give more honest feedback when responding to an IVR survey operated by an outside company. Also, respondents appear to have less concerns about confidentiality when compared with paper-based questionnaires or e-mail. 

Pricing Information

IVR application set-up fee: $750 - $7,500 (based on complexity and data interface requirements)

Cost per call: 10 cents - 25 cents per minute (based on expected call volume)

Examples of survey applications:

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