How to Get to a Person Instead of Talking to a Machine

Many people cringe at the thought of talking to a machine, most would much rather speak to a live person. But think about that for a second, how did your last conversation really go when you got through to an agent?

More often that not, it probably didn't go well because you ended up talking to somebody who was hardly trained or even paid. They may not have even been in this country. One thing for sure is that customer service is truly a lost art. But many callers are starting to be savvy and getting the most out of talking to the machines and you can as well.

Who or what are you really talking to anyway?

The computer or machine that you're talking to is commonly known as a Speech IVR or SIVR system. The IVR stands for Interactive Voice Response. In the old days IVR systems could only understand button presses as in "Press one for English...press two for Spanish..." but now technology has advanced to the point where the system can understand what you say so the S for Speech got added.

Why you can get better service from a Speech IVR System

Unlike a typical call center agent, a company has absolute control over what their SIVR system can and can't do along with how it goes about doing it. They can script exactly what is said for just about any situation so you can have a consistent and pleasant experience. This assumes that they have taken the time to set it up correctly.

There is never a hold time for the Speech IVR, you may have to wait hours to talk to an agent but the Speech IVR is always available right away. If you are going to wait anyway why not give the Speech IVR a try?

Call from somewhere quiet

The system obviously needs to understand what you say in order to help you. The biggest obstacle here is background noise. The system has the arduous task of turning sound into words and then those words into actions. If there is too much background noise, system won't get a clear sample of what you say and it will have no hope of saying the right thing back.

Think about it, if somebody called you on a cell phone from a crowded party do you think that you could be counted on to give them the response they were looking for? Of course not. Instead try to call from someplace where you have very little background noise and have a nice clear connection.

Listen to the prompts

Many people get lost when talking to a Speech IVR system because they simply don't listen to it. Trust me, quite a bit of research should have gone into the design of the call flow so if you listen, they system should guide you along quite well.

The prompts, what the system says to you, will usually list your choices at each step with examples of what you can say. If you do get lost, the system will usually be designed to detect this and give you additional help or you can use some of the global commands described later.

Use simple words and speak clearly

Most good systems will give you clear examples of words to say in order to indicate what you want. Use these whenever you can and try not to add to them.

When left with an open prompt such as "How can I help you" thing in terms of key words. I remember hearing a little old lady once who said something like, "I just don't understand why my bill is so high."

That may work great on a human but all the system will hear might be "bill" which would still be hard to pick out. You are much more likely to be understood if you say something as simple as "billing" or "reservations"

Be very careful about combining key words. For example, if you call and say "I want to get the flight information from my reservation," the system is going to have to decide if it should send you down the flight information path or the reservation path. The flight information path may try and give you actual times and gate information for today. Usually it will decide based on how these key words are weighted which will be based on call history. A much better thing to say would be a simple "Reservations"

How you say something is also very important. Try and use your "TV" voice as much as possible, SIVR systems have a hard time with all of the different dialects. The closer you speak to the average population the more likely you will be understood. It also helps if you don't talk with your mouth full so put the pizza down for a minute.

Asking for help and other global commands

Many systems will have what are called global commands. These are words that you can say at any point if you get stuck. Self explanatory examples include:

• Help
• Repeat That
• Start Over
• Agent, Representative, etc.

If you get stuck somewhere try a global command and see if it works.

Resort to an agent if needed

If all else fails, most systems usually let you speak to an agent. Sometimes they will tell you it is an option, sometimes you just have to use the right word. The better systems will ask a few more questions so it can try and get you to the right kind of agent.

Yes, I said the better systems. They aren't trying to talk you out of an agent, although some do for other reasons, they are simply trying to make sure you get to an agent who is trained to handle your call. In most call centers not all agents are trained the same to cut down on training costs.

Airlines are a great example. Most general calls go to their front line reps that are usually only trained to handle basic questions, flight information, and maybe domestic sales. If you are calling about an international mileage award flight you need a very different agent. The SIVR system will let you skip the first layer and get you right to the agent you need.