Most customer service call centers experience spikes in call volume. For contact centers handling calls during crises, these spikes can be big. With citizens around the world looking for reliable information on the quickly expanding COVID-19 Coronavirus disease, rapid response Visual IVR deployments provide the stability and assistance they need.

Websites, news agencies, and other media are critical avenues for disseminating important information to the public, but crisis managers can’t afford to overlook another channel in their integrated communications strategy: phone calls.

“With citizens around the world looking for reliable information on the expanding COVID-19 Coronavirus disease, rapid response Visual IVR deployments provide the stability and assistance they need.”

Rapid Response

Millions of people still prefer calling into providers in a crisis, but modern technology means call center managers can deliver faster, more powerful experiences through phone channels than ever before. Callers are reaching out to get information as quickly as possible, but when volume spikes as it is during the current Coronavirus situation, contact centers can take a long time to catch up. By deploying efficient self-service like Visual IVR, these call centers can catch up virtually instantly.

Visual IVR provides impressive value in times like these and delivers important benefits:

• Rapid deployments allow contact centers and managers to implement and deploy Visual IVR responses in days, even during a crisis
• Powerful editing tools empower managers and decision-makers to quickly and easily edit public information alerts on Visual IVR platforms
• Visual IVR lets call centers deflect calls to self-service and reduce the burden on agents
• Self-service automation provides callers the answers they are looking for 24/7
• Visual interfaces give important assistance to callers with hearing loss or who are hard of hearing

A Powerful Answer That Complements Current Systems

A Visual IVR call deploys right on top of whatever IVR or backend system contact centers are already using, making deployment simple and the callers’ experience intuitive. Callers simply opt into the visual experience, receive a link to the Visual IVR via SMS, and are instantly connected to the information they need.

These digital experiences leverage every advantage of modern technology. Smartphones mean visual experiences can intuitively play videos to better explain complex situations and hold the attention of nervous callers. The new era of Visual IVR phone calls isn’t just for the current crisis. Agencies experience call spikes all the time because of other natural disasters, grid difficulties, and other complications.

After the coronavirus, agencies will benefit from rich information collected from visual experiences. Smartphone geolocation features mean citizens can easily tag their precise location when reporting issues, making deploying responders on the ground easier and more accurate. Visual IVR leverages every tool modern phones have to offer as well. Citizens reporting specific issues can submit photos and other helpful information directly to agencies, empowering agents and experts to respond digitally if able and reduce the need for responders to go out.

“Smartphone features like geolocation and photo capture mean citizen requests could be handled with fewer home visits — great for the COVID-19 outbreak and the future.”

The modern era of Visual IVR means most callers get exactly what they need in a fraction of the time and completely avoid waiting on hold.

Success Is A Tap Away

In a crisis, every decision matters. When more agency managers deploy Visual IVR self-service in their contact centers, more callers will get the information they need to remain updated and stay safe, fewer callers will abandon their search for information because of long wait times and unsatisfactory experiences, and agents responding to spikes in volume will be empowered to do their jobs better and more efficiently. Digital transformation has affected every sector of our modern economy, and agencies will be better off because of it.