1. A lot of companies have call centers. These centers host of a number of employees with a myriad of
different responsibilities in several different departments. When customers call in with comments or
concerns about their accounts or the company's services, they can expect to be put on hold and
transferred to any number of different people. Sometimes, their call might not even get answered!
This is ineffective business. The red tape of call center bureaucracy can often tie businesses up
in knots and put them in danger of wasting time, resources and money. It can even lead to customer
dissatisfaction—especially if these customers are calling in with very simple queries.
This is why many companies are turning to interactive voice response (or, IVR) technology.
In telecommunications, IVR is used extensively as a means of allowing customers the ability to
access any certain set of data within a company's database via their telephone. The customer can
interact with this information because their telephone communicates and integrates directly with the
data source. Typically, this is done by using a touchtone keypad or by voice recognition. After the
customer accesses the database, they can then resolve their own queries by following the instructions.
This technology could be very beneficial for all sorts of businesses to have for their customers.
Credit card companies, banks, shipping companies, schools or even theaters would benefit from the
convenience IVR offers.
With nothing more than their own telephone, customers could check their bank account
balances, transfer money to different accounts, purchase any number of products (i.e., movie or
sporting event tickets, items from a catalog, electronics, etc.), check on the shipping status of a
package, make payments on their various accounts or register for classes. If their employer uses IVR
services, they can even clock in and out of work over the telephone!
These are just a few examples of how IVR can be helpful to a company's clientele; but the
services database integration offers can also directly benefit the companies that employ it.
The businesses that offer IVR to their customers have a better opportunity to cut down on cost,
as they will not have as much need for live operators. Since IVR can also handle voice recognition, it

2. can automatically transfer calls to their respective destinations if the customer would rather speak to a
live representative. This, of course, means the company will have less need for an operator who does
not do much more than transfer calls.
Best of all, the company that allows database integration for their customers will have more
time to focus on more urgent issues. Imagine all the time that is wasted on customers who have very
simple questions—questions that even an automated voice and database integration could handle. With
the time that a customer service representative saves from not having to answer those calls, that person
can devote more time to customers with more serious concerns. And, of course, that leads to better
customer satisfaction.
Joel Black is the President of Diamond Voice, a provider of voicemail, virtual office PBX, third
party verification and virtual phone booth services. For more information regarding caller database
integration and interactive voice response, visit their website at www.diamondvoice.com.