Users who call organizations often find themselves in frustrating phone trees. Provide callers with a good experience by following some best practices.
A phone tree (also called an Interactive Voice-Response [IVR] system) generally consists of pre-recorded audio messages that are presented when someone calls a business or organization. In most cases, callers select a number on the phone keypad associated with the recorded option most closely related to their question.
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Provide language options first. If callers have the option to select their language, they should be given this choice immediately. Don’t force callers to listen through lengthy messages in a language they don’t understand because they might think that there are no other language options available. We realize this won’t be an option for many call-trees at Texas Woman’s.
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Front-load menu options with task-related information. There are two components to each menu option in a phone tree: the information that option offers, and the number the caller should press to select it. The information offered by an option should always be presented first, followed by the selection number. This way, the caller can first determine whether the option is relevant to their question, then decide whether to remember the number they would need to press. If the number is presented first, the caller must hold the selection number in their working memory while listening to the related information to decide whether to continue remembering that number — another challenge of the fully auditory environment. This subtle difference makes things easier for the caller.
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Good Example: For billing, press 1. For operating hours, press 2. To schedule an appointment, press 3.
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Poor Example: Press 1 to contact the Cashier to pay a bill. Press 2 to hear our operating hours. Press 3 to get information about classes and schedule an appointment with an agent.
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Be concise. We know that users appreciate concise content on the web because they want to quickly accomplish tasks. This preference for brevity transfers to sequential, robotic, prerecorded audio in a phone tree. Trapped callers do not want to listen to advertisements, promotions, or wordy messages that ramble on about things that are irrelevant and prevent them from accomplishing their current task.
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Speak clearly and slowly–particularly when providing contact or other information. Warn callers with phrases such as “We would like to provide you with some other resources such as contact emails, phone numbers, and websites. You might want to grab a pen so you are ready to write them down if they seem useful.” Present technical information twice as slowly as a normal speaking rate. Callers trying to remember or capture information such as a phone number will be very grateful. Alternatively, consider presenting difficult technical information that is relevant to most callers twice in a row by default.
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Use unique language for each menu option. Making options as distinct as possible will increase the information scent for callers as they try to determine which options are most closely related to their question. Using similar words or phrases in multiple menu options makes these options hard to differentiate — especially when the terminology is unfamiliar to the caller.
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Limit the number of choices. Ten is your maximum. Go lower if you can.
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Provide useful information outside of operating hours. For organizations who have long periods without anyone answering the phones (such as overnight), there should still be useful information provided in a recording for callers. Some basic information to consider presenting includes:
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Operating hours, and when the organization will begin taking calls again
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Any specific pages on the website that address frequently asked questions
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Who to contact in an emergency (if applicable)
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Record a real human speaking rather than using a robot voice. Don't forget that most callers want to speak with a live person. Users expect higher levels of authenticity from organizations than ever before. It is more personable and approachable to use a real person's voice - particularly for larger organizations which tend to seem inherently distant and impersonal. It takes very little extra time for someone to record themselves reading the script.
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Provide regular status updates while on hold. Nearing the end of many phone trees, callers finally find themselves on hold as they wait for the next available representative. While being on hold is not part of a traditional phone tree, providing regular updates informing callers of how many minutes their estimated hold time will be, and of their place in line can drastically improve this experience. However, it becomes annoying to interrupt callers too frequently to provide these updates (especially if they are not changing quickly). It is also unnecessary to repeat meaningless statements such as “Thank you for holding. Your call is important to us.” A good frequency for updates is about every 1.5 to 2 minutes. These settings can be managed in your call queue(s).
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Test, and ask for feedback. When the IVR is live, call and listen. Writing a script is different than hearing it on the phone. Ask others to call as well. When anyone provides feedback, have a means to collect and consider.
Ready to get started with an IVR? Submit a ticket at servicecenter.twu.edu.
Best practices cribbed from The UX of Phone-Tree Systems: 16 Usability Guidelines
For additional support, contact the Technology Service Desk at 940-898-3971, servicedesk@twu.edu, techchat.twu.edu, or submit a request through the Technology Service Catalog.