IVR stands for Interactive Voice Response and IVR payments use interactive voice response to enable payments. IVR is computer technology that replaces human interaction in contact centres. The use of IVR payments means that payments can be used simply using touch tones via a telephone.

There are many benefits of IVR payments. Primarily these include round-the-clock business operations, security, personalised customer experience, seamless integration and freeing agent time to allow them to focus on more productive services to add value to customer experience.

IVR payments are used for multiple purposes. IVR payments are used to enable 24/7 payments to be made without any agent involvement. Customers can self-serve using IVR payments to find the information they need. IVR payments allow customers to make payments from anywhere at any time of the day or night using a telephone.

It is important to identify a customer using IVR payments and the first place to start is a telephone number. Using a customer’s telephone number for IVR payments authentication is a speedy method of Identification & Verification (ID&V) and improves the customer experience. The second method of authentication is a customer ID number (ie invoice or customer reference) which is entered using touch tones on the telephone into the IVR payments system to authenticate a customer prior to taking their payment.

IVR payments are perfect for companies which experience seasonal spikes in calls, normally requiring temporary staff or costly overtime. IVR payment costs can be a fraction of the equivalent costs of an agent taking a payment. According to contact centre analyst Contact Babel the average call into a contact centre costs an organisation over £4. Whereas an IVR payments can be just a matter of pennies.

Encoded only charges for successfully processed transactions. In terms of IVR payments this pricing policy keeps prices transparent. It rewards both Encoded and its customers on success therefore maintaining an active working relationship based on customer experience. As IVR payments can cost as little as pennies payment process costs are immediately reduced.

Accepting credit and debit cards using IVR payments is a cost effective and secure way of taking payments. Encoded is Level 1 PCI DSS certified and with IVR payments, everything is fully automated and confidential with data being stored within Encoded’s secure cloud infrastructure. Using IVR payments is an easy way to achieve PCI DSS SAQ-A.

Most business telephone systems can route calls to IVR payments by way of recorded voice prompts therefore avoiding connection with a live agent. Integration with other business systems means that Encoded IVR payments can be configured to reconcile automatically with accounting and other systems.

IVR payment integration is made possible by Encoded’s payment gateway which integrates with all providers, carriers, telephony systems and CRM systems to provide total flexibility for secure omnichannel payments. Integration with other critical systems ensures agents have the latest information at their fingertips to deliver a joined up and exceptional customer experience.

Typically, IVR payments are far more secure than other traditional methods which might include agents noting down credit or debit card details manually. With Encoded IVR payments, everything is fully automated and confidential client data is stored within Encoded’s secure cloud infrastructure.