Transform phone systems from call routers to customer interfaces

Guest blog by David Richardson, Premier CX

I’ll start by declaring my credentials – I’ve been working with audio in various ways since the very late 90s, and I’ve specialised with audio in telephone systems for going on 5 years.

But I’ve been buying products and services for longer than both. It’s that personal, customer perspective that I always start with when assessing any telephone experience. Because as customers, consciously or unconsciously, we’re rating an organisation every time we call.

As that customer, and as a consultant, I’m going to lay out what I want to hear when I pick up the phone, and… yes… because I work with the system, I’m going to point out just some of the advantages that PromptVoice offers too.

Branded

By which I mean it should reflect who the company is as a brand. So that means a ‘welcome’ message should be the first thing a caller hears. Now they know they’ve called the right number. The voice they hear on any telephone system should reflect that organisation and how they want to be perceived, which is another reason for them to choose a professional voice (and why PromptVoice offers over 300 real and TTS voices). The language used on any scripting should also reflect that brand e.g., it could be formal or laid-back and friendly?

Bundling professional voicing into your service wrap opens up new revenue streams for you, and differentiates your solution from the competition.

Audible

What quality guarantees do you give your SIP customers, or your line rental clients? If callers can’t make out what’s being said, it’s a losing battle from the start. You wouldn’t provide a bad line quality, so why deliver sub-standard audio whilst callers are queuing or on-hold?

A solution like PromptVoice lets your customers choose a professional voice, using professional recording equipment and edited by a professional studio. It means no background noise, no errors and none of the heavy breathing or clicks and buzzes produced by recording through a telephone or a headset.

Furthermore – any music tracks should be suitable for the telephony network, which compresses files to remove high and low notes. A track may sound great on your computer, but has it been optimised for telephony transmission?

Simple

When a caller reaches an IVR – they want simplicity and straightforward language to make it clear which option to select. We've got you covered in more detail in our 3 Top Tips for Creative Messaging blog.

An IVR should always assume a first-time caller, who doesn’t know how to navigate their system, unless dynamic or personalised menus are used. Small and medium sized organisations can score here, because their menus are generally less complex, and more agile, than the larger corporations.

Relevant

Any information on a telephone system should be relevant to the caller. Stating the company name is relevant, compliance messages are relevant, and the right promotional or informational messages can be too. Promotions and information sit well in the in-queue and on-hold space, but they do need to be current. Out of date messages can cause confusion and give the impression that an organisation is not paying attention.

So, encourage customers to review and update. PromptVoice's streaming feature takes it a step further by allowing your customers to schedule their seasonal messages. That way they can guarantee they never have Christmas promotions playing at the end of January!

If you offer professional telephony audio, you tap into new revenue streams, and make customers stickier with a more comprehensive telephony proposition that enables your customers to provide excellent CX. A professional service is what customers expect, and it contributes directly to the credibility of a company or organisation.

Some of it, your customers need to think about and do themselves, and offering PromptVoice as standard is a sure-fire way to make sure they have the tools they need. Want some more good news? We have subscription packages to suit businesses of any size, plus pay-as-you-go options.

Check out all the features and benefits of PromptVoice Portal, or get in touch by emailing partners@promptvoice.com.