What’s the difference between a good IVA and a great one?
You’ve probably had experiences with an “okay” IVA. It got the job done, but maybe not in the fastest or most efficient way. You may have had to repeat a few things, or maybe it took a few tries for the technology to understand what you were actually calling about. You completed your transaction, but you left the interaction feeling annoyed.
And hopefully you’ve had experiences with a great IVA. The conversation was quick, effortless, and satisfying. You not only got done what you needed to, but you felt that the IVA was on par with a great live agent because it truly understood your intent and offered you enough personalization to get your issue solved efficiently.
The difference between these situations comes down to customer experience (CX). CX blackbelts know that IVAs are often key to being able to deliver amazing customer experience at scale.
But when it comes to choosing and deploying a new technology, it can get complicated. Between features and technology, many can appear to offer the same exact thing. So how do you know you’re getting an application that will actually satisfy your customers, or just turn out okay?
There are three things that need to be considered when choosing an application.
The first two are pretty obvious: Technology and features. You can read a more in depth review about them here. In fact, technology and features are usually the only things that businesses heavily consider when making the purchase.
But the third, and maybe the most important thing to consider is the design. The way that the conversation and application is designed will have a huge impact on your customer’s experience with the technology. It’s what will separate the good from the great. But design must of course have a solid foundation of technology and features in order to deliver satisfying results.
Technology
Technology sets the base for what features, and therefore what design, can be created. So it’s important to pick a technology that can support your end goals. AI, specifically Conversational AI, is essential to creating any conversational application. AI continuously improves based on experience which allows the application to get more and more accurate when interacting with customers. For more details about what technologies your Conversational IVA should include, see our eBook.
Features
With a proper Conversational AI technology, there are many features that can be added in order to support customers. Some examples include omnichannel capabilities, data and identity security, personalization, and more. Again, when looking at what features are important for your IVA, it’s important to make sure that they are aligned with your end goals. For example, if your business is a bank, security will be an extremely important feature, so you may even want to consider features such as voice biometrics for the most advanced security.
Design
Last, but certainly not least, is design. Because design, especially at scale, can be a complicated undertaking, it’s best to partner with a vendor that has proven experience in designing and implementing successful applications. Proper design will result in the most productive, efficient, and effortless conversations for your customers.
For a more detailed checklist, our eBook will cover the specifics about exactly what an IVA needs in order to deliver the best customer experiences.
