Usability of many call center IVRs (Interactive Voice Response systems) is dismal. Callers dislike touch-tone IVRs and seek agent assistance at the first opportunity. However, because of high agent costs, call center managers continue to seek automation with IVRs. The challenge for call centers is providing user-friendly, yet cost-efficient, customer service. This article describes a comprehensive methodology for usability re-engineering of telephone voice user interfaces based on detailed call center assessment and call flow redesign. At the core of our methodology is a data-driven IVR assessment, in which we analyze end-to-end recordings of thousands of calls to evaluate IVR cost effectiveness and usability. Because agent time is the major cost driver in call center operations, we quantify cost-effectiveness in terms of agent time saved by automation in the IVR. We identify usability problems by carefully inspecting user-path diagrams, a visual representation of the sequence of events of thousands of calls as they flow through the IVR. Such an IVR assessment leads directly into call-flow redesign. Assessment insights lead to specific suggestions on how to improve a call-flow design. In addition, the assessment enables us to estimate the cost savings of a new design, thus providing the necessary business justification. We illustrate our IVR usability and re-engineering methodology with examples from large commercial call centers, demonstrating how the staged process maximizes the payback for the call center while minimizing risk.
