Design Approach for A Customer Care IVRU: Conversational Prompting Style Compared to Directed Dialog

Abstract

Interactive Voice Response Units (IVRUs) answer the phones more often than people do in many business domains, including Telecommunication, Personal Finance, Utilities, etc. This paper presents the results of a research study that Sprint initiated to solve a specific business problem within its IVRU. Two design approaches were assessed, pitting a Natural Language with Directed Dialog Fallback structure versus a traditional Directed Dialog framework. Key measurements included task completion and efficiency. The Natural Language with Directed Dialog Fallback design slightly outperformed the Directed Dialog approach by providing a compelling hybrid of two archetypal IVRU approaches.