What is IVR (Interactive Voice Response)?

IVR stands for Interactive Voice Response it is nothing but a pre-recorded voice that interacts with humans over a voice call. The purpose of an IVR is to collect a response from the receiver or the caller and then based on the response create a certain outcome.

All of this is done without human intervention. The responses are collected in the form of numeric inputs from the dial-pad. There are two types of IVR single level IVR and multi-level IVR. Let's take a look at an example of a single-level IVR.

Let's assume that you're calling a company's customer care number. You'll most probably hear an automated greeting which will quickly be followed by options. For example, they'll ask you to press one to talk to sales press two to talk to support, or press three to talk to accounts. After you decide which department you'd like to speak to, all you have to do is press that particular button on your dial pad. Once you do that, the call is automatically routed to the corresponding department.

This is a single-level IVR. It has only one IVR in the entire flow and you're only asked to give your input once. This is quick, easy to set up, and straightforward. However, most of the times customers' needs are more complex, and that this is where multi-level IVR comes in. Let's look at a quick example of a multi-level system. So you call a customer care number and you hear an automated greeting which is quickly followed by them asking you to choose a language.

They'll ask you to press one forgive me press two for English or press three for Telugu. Based on your requirements, you'll choose a language and after you choose the language you'll hear another recorded voice asking you to select one for sales press two for support, and press three for accounts. Once you do that you'll be routed to the correct department. So this is a multi-level IVR system. It has two or more IVR applets in a single call flow.

Here, they ask you for more than one input, This is of course a very basic example of a multi-level IVR system. These levels can go up to five, six, or even seven depending on customers' requirements.