Setting up an auto attendant greeting for your business?
While an IVR/Auto Attendant can improve caller experience by forming a great first impression and increasing efficiency, there can be a downside to going automated: the experience can become impersonal and time consuming if poorly laid out.
However, by considering these three factors while planning your automated answering service greeting, you can make a great impression, with every call!
Identification and Organization
First off, you need to ensure that all departments, extensions and information needed for seamless call direction is included!
Which department or employee usually receives the most calls? These should take the first spot!
This in turn helps to determine the amount of voiceover recording you will need.
Just a small operation? Listing names and extensions in your initial greeting will suffice. But, if you’re a large company with many employees, you’ll likely require a company directory listing.
Brevity
You value your caller’s time; show it with a system that allows calls through the system as quickly as possible.
Don’t ramble on about slogans, accolades, or detailed company information in your greeting message. (If you’d like to share this information, there are other ways, such as with a on-hold messaging service).
- Identify your business
- List department or personnel extensions (or the option to select a separate directory)
- Include store hours listings, or policies, provide these as additional selections.
Make sense? See this example below:
“Thank you for calling ABC company. For Sales press 1. For Service press 2. For Store hours by department press 3. For a company directory press 4.”
Voice Selection
Now that you’ve considered efficiency, how can you ensure your recording is engaging? By using a voice that is friendly, pleasant, and articulate!
But how do you choose the right voice? Should it be male or female?
Generally, female voices tend to be more soothing for service and care-based industries while male voices can often be a better fit a higher energy retail application. You can hear some examples of a professional voiceover here.
Not sure what voice to choose? A professional IVR service provider will help select the right fit; as well as assist with planning the most efficient system!
Setting up an Auto Attendant that’s tailored to your business and respects your caller’s time is a sure way to make a great impression, with every call!
