CRM - January 2008 - (Page 35)

By Ryan Joe Just because your customers are calling in to an automated response line doesn’t mean your script is automatically going to work. Designing a truly interactive conversation is anything but simple. WHEN A MAGICIAN FANS OUT HIS DECK OF CARDS face down and asks an audience member to pick a card, any card, he’s not actually allowing her to do so. Through a sequence of carefully worded prompts, the magician guides her to the card she will ultimately select. If she selects a card the magician expects, the trick is a success and everybody is delighted. If not—and the magician gets flustered— the situation becomes awkward. The properties of a voice user interface (VUI) are similar: The VUI’s success hinges on its ability to elicit from the caller the specific responses that will enable the system to help solve a problem. While there’s certainly consensus on such a fundamental principle, the conflict emerges at the skeletal level of VUI design, where three components should work in sync with one another. First are the grammars, which encompass all the possible things an end user might say. Second are the prompts, which the system says to provoke a caller response. Third is dialogue flow, which is the way the entire structure is organized. GRAMMATICAL CORRECTIONS “I hate your stupid VUIs!” the end user screams as she hurls her iPhone at the head of her husband, who happens to be a VUI designer. “They never understand what I say!” To save the marriage, the husband stuffs more grammars into his next VUI design, thus allowing the system to comprehend a greater variety of end-user responses. Where a menu option allows callers to check account balances, the embattled designer simply This feature—a version of which originally appeared in Speech Technology magazine (“The Elements of Style,” October 2007, page 20)—is the second in a series of CRM magazine articles examining the role of interactive voice response (IVR) systems in CRM and contact centers. The first piece—“Speak Up!,” CRM magazine, December 2007, page 34—provided 11 tips for designing an IVR. That article can also be found at www.destinationCRM.com. CUSTOMER RELATIONSHIP MANAGEMENT | JANUARY 2008 35 http://www.destinationCRM.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of CRM - January 2008

CRM - January 2008 Contents Front Office Reality Check Customer Centricity The Tipping Point Facebook's About-Face On the Scene: Oracle OpenWorld 2007 CRM Market Set to Double Customers, Meet your Makers Required Reading Oh, Behave! Fine-Tuning the Channel Listen Up! The Master Piece Flying High on Customer Service Let's Get Digital The Big Rigs Get Revved Up Putting Asia in Your Pocket Secret of My Success Connect Re:Tooling Pint of View

CRM - January 2008

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