How Ivr Works

How the IVR process works

Planning:

The proper flow to build a good IVR is:

Planning Customer agreement with the plan. Record the audio prompts using System Recordings and an extension. Create any destinations that don`t currently exist (queues, ring groups, day/night modes or time conditions). Test all of these. One way to do this is use miscellaneous destinations, assigning a * feature code to whatever thing you want to test. Then go create your IVR. Show it to the customer, and then make the inevitable changes. Now upgrade the voice prompts to a paid voice or designated employee (the office manager or receptionist, etc.

Standard IVR Examples:

Office / Light industrial Welcome to BUSINESSNAME. Please listen carefully as our options have changed. If you know the extension of the person you are trying to reach, you may dial it at any time. Press 1 for sales, press 2 for customer service, press 3 for administration, press 4 for Press inquiries, press 5 for office directions, press # to access the company directory, or press 0 for the operator. Hospitality Welcome to HOTELNAME. Please listen carefully as our options have changed. If you know the room # of the guest you are trying to reach, you may dial it at any time. Press 1 for reservations, press 2 for the front desk, press 3 for event sales, press 4 for hotel administration, press 5 for hotel directions, press # to access the hotel directory, or press 0 for the operator. Engineering/Product Company with Direct Sales and Support Welcome to BUSINESSNAME. Please listen carefully as our options have changed. If you know the extension of the person you are trying to reach, you may dial it at any time. Press 1 for sales, press 2 for customer service, press 3 for technical support, press 4 for administration, press 5 for Press inquiries, press 6 for office directions, press # to access the company directory, or press 0 for the operator. Retail Welcome to BUSINESSNAME. Please listen carefully as our options have changed. If you know the extension of the person you are trying to reach, you may dial it at any time. Press 1 for sales, press 2 for customer service, press 3 for store hours, locations, and directions, press 4 for administration, press 5 for Press inquiries, press # to access the company directory, or press 0 for the operator.

Making recordings

I strongly suggest you use an extension connected to the PBX to make your recordings. They`ll be quick and in the right format and you can worry about getting everything else right. When everything is all finished, you can come back and replace those temporary recordings with paid or improved versions.

IVR load testing tools:

Overview

The Voxeo IVR Application Load Testing service helps ensure your application is reliable under high or moderate call load before or after full scale deployment. Voxeo’s Application Load Testing service takes a multi-pronged approach to end-to-end performance testing, including tests utilizing Voxeo CallXML based test platforms with custom developed IVR test scri pts to emulate real callers and real-world telephone traffic conditions.

Voxeo’s IVR Load Testing service has been used by hundreds of enterprises to test IVR applications running on any telephony platform, including those from Avaya, Dialogic, Intervoice, NMS, Nortel, Voxeo, and others.

Reduce Launch Risk

Voxeo’s Load Testing service is based on a multi-line test system that subjects any voice application to large, rapid and sustained inbound or outbound call tests. These tests include application specific call flows, prompt detection, voice recognition or DTMF control, text to speech monitoring, HTTP application performance metrics, and more. By subjecting your application to these tests prior to launch, you can significantly reduce the risk of application failure.

Expose Hidden Flaws

Over the course of deploying hundreds of voice applications for our customers since 1999, Voxeo has learned that almost every voice application initially experiences performance or reliability issues under load. Our battery of tests help expose hidden performance and reliability issues in the entire chain of voice application layers, including: database performance, application server performance, web server performance, internet connectivity bandwidth and latency, voice recognition responsiveness, prompt caching and playback, and more. Many of these issues are difficult to identify without putting your applications under actual or simulated load.

Voxeo and Application Load Testing

The Voxeo Application Load Testing service provides:

Up to 500 ports of concurrent load testing Up to 5,000 total port-hours of testing Custom IVR test scri pts tuned to your application Application design and implementation consulting with Voxeo engineers Identification of failure points and bottlenecks Suggested usability and performance improvements