Managing Call Flow
The use of Auto-Attendant and Interactive Voice Response (IVR) has been in many cases used as an excuse for why suppliers do not need to talk to customers and, therefore, has become aligned with a self service environment and poor customer service.
- Good use of Auto-Attendant and IVR in the NHS will aid access and help call flow by managing calls.
- Our experience shows that, in the vast majority of cases, NHS institutions do not have enough lines or staff to answer calls during peak times e.g. “The morning rush”.
- Should a service provider choose to use Auto-Attendant and IVR, which announces different messages at various times of the day, they can streamline calls to fall in line with staffing levels.
- These features, combined with Call Queuing, will keep callers informed whilst queuing for a service and advised why they are waiting.
- This will help improve the callers’ experience.
- Handling calls in an improved and efficient way will help to keep patients in the Primary Care System where appropriate.
- Our experience when working with Auto-Attendant and IVR scripts and viewing the management reports we produce, has proved invaluable in improving access to callers.