What is the full form of IVR

IVR: Interactive Voice Response

IVR stands for Interactive Voice Response. It is an automated telephony system that interacts with callers and take inputs from them and accordingly provides options or routes their calls to the recipients. It is designed to accept voice telephone input and touch-tone keypad selection and respond accordingly in the form of voice, call back, email, and more. In short, it is a technology in which computers interact with humans through voice and DTMF keypad inputs.

It allows users to access a database of information via phone. A typical IVR system contains pre-recorded options for the caller to choose from. Some options may ask the caller to enter detailed information such as phone no., account number, etc.

For example, your telecom operator may have an IVR system that allows customers to call in and check their call balance, call rates, plan validity, offers, bills and recent recharges, etc. Similarly, banks, credit card companies, D2H operators, allow their customers to access information about their accounts and receive up-to-date account information instantly and easily without having to speak directly to a person. Furthermore, it can be used for phone surveys, checking movie times, etc. The advanced IVR systems have speech recognition software that enables users to provide input in the form of spoken words.

A typical IVR system comprises telephony equipment, software applications, a database, and supporting infrastructure. The company's telephone line is connected with the computer on which an IVR software has been installed and finally hardware called a telephone board or telephony card is required.