The Benefits of Automated Voice Messaging to IT Service Management

The burden of processing incidents and requests traditionally requires a large volume of Service Desk initiated calls to the user in order to simply capture or confirm eventual closure, let alone satisfaction. This is a simple yet typically costly activity that could and should be automated.
Follow-up calls to and from the service desk have always been intrinsic to IT Service Management; and for many organisations, this can represent a significant percentage of overall call volume.   For example, a recognised European IT Managed Service Provider makes in excess of one million calls annually to ascertain from clients that reported incidents have been resolved as the final step of its incident closure process.  Carrying out this activity manually adds significant cost whilst occupying valuable Service Desk resource in simple data capture. Inherent delays and inconsistencies with this manual capture also devalue key service provision metrics.

Automated Voice Messaging technology can help.

Automated Voice Messaging (AVM) is a proven and increasingly affordable solution that can automate repetitive telephone contact activities. Simulated speech technologies have improved substantially during recent years and now provide a level of quality and scalability that has proven itself primarily in the “business to consumer” call centre segment.  

How does it work?

AVM platforms perform five basic functions that are somewhat analogous to the “mail merge” function available in most word processors:

1. They provide one or more “scripts” that contain a combination of repeated content and dynamic “place holders”.   In this context, a script is quite analogous to a mail merge “template”.
   
   
2. They accept data (from the Service Desk platform) that provides the name, telephone number, and any number of values that are “merged” into the “place holders”.   In the case of AVM, this merging process occurs through what is known as Text-to-speech (TTS) conversion.   TTS converts the script and the supplied data into a unified voice stream supplied into each unique telephone call.  



3. Then, the outbound dialing of the number specified is itself automated. 



4. Unlike mail merge, however, the communication can be bi-directional.  Modern AVM platforms provide for the capturing of “responses” to specific questions such as those that relate to customer satisfaction within the telephone call.  These “question and answer” segments are often termed as “branching”, and enable a truly interactive customer experience with the added benefit of complete data capture (through the touch-tone key pad).   Branching capabilities also enable call transfer to a live representative based on the response(s); this provides an important safety net for the customer.



5. The data captured in the call is securely stored and associated back against the original input data supplied by the Service Desk.  This means that a Service Desk can send a list of contacts that require “incident closure verification” and receive back the corresponding verification data and/or any additional responses prompted.  These, in turn, can be inserted back into the Service Desk platform to ensure a complete audit trail; further, numerous service desk technologies can trigger workflow based on the data returned from the AVM platform.  

In addition to automating incident or request closure, service providers are looking to measure the quality of the service provided at point of closure. The use of on-line customer satisfaction questionnaires is common practice; however the return rate is generally low, often weeks later.  Service quality can be measured at the point of call closure, by simply providing an option to rate the service (e.g. “1” being Great and ”5” being Poor). The response can then trigger further actions before the call is actually closed to rectify the problem or address whatever else is required.

Other automation alternatives that could be considered involve the use of email and SMS text messaging.  Whereas both these can deliver efficiencies there are key limitations that result in reduced response rates when compared to a direct voice call to a mobile or landline telephone. Written text, particularly within the limitations of SMS, simply cannot match the effectiveness of voice to deliver message content. Also, these form of messages can all to easily be forgotten about and carry a higher rate of response “corruption” (you cannot control what someone types in a text message or email in the same way as asking for a specific “single key” response to a voice prompt). It can be argued that user convenience is greater with email and SMS and in some cases this may well be a paramount concern that dictates usage. However well designed and constructed voice messages can capture user response in under a minute.

Data confidentiality is quite rightly a concern especially in light of recent, highly publicised, breaches and data losses by prominent organizations. The data transfer and load processes have to be secure, and the data center in which the AVM system operates must also meet recognized standards. Certification to the internationally recognised EAL standard is always a good indicator.

Of equal significance is that modern AVM platforms can now provide the above capabilities as an online “pay-as-you-go” service. Utilising AVM capability as an online service removes the need for upfront investment in sophisticated telephony infrastructure.  The service itself is typically provided on a subscription basis based on call volume, very much like a standard telephone contract

Automated Voice Messaging is here to stay and is being successfully applied today in numerous business-to-consumer call centres.   The productivity gains afforded are equally applicable, however, to IT Service Management; and the applications of AVM technology extend well beyond quality assurance.  For example, Disaster Recovery invocation plans typically require a large percentage of an organisation’s employee base to be quickly and reliably contacted with situation specific guidance in the event of an emergency.   

Indeed IT organisations will continue to be called upon to support an increasingly broader range of critical business services, even beyond Service Management.   AVM affords the opportunity to convert these challenges into extremely cost effective service improvement opportunities.