Short for interactive voice response,

IVR is a telephony technology in which someone uses a touch-tone telephone to interact with a database to acquire information from or enter data into the database. IVR technology does not require human interaction over the telephone as the user's interaction with the database is predetermined by what the IVR system will allow the user access to. For example, banks and credit card companies use IVR systems so that their customers can receive up-to-date account information instantly and easily without having to speak directly to a person. IVR technology is also used to gather information, as in the case of telephone surveys in which the user is prompted to answer questions by pushing the numbers on a touch-tone telephone.

IVR systems have been around for well over 10 years now, supplying systems which provide information such as banking, sales information, weather reports and cinema information. In the early days of giving presentations to TeleClock clients and prospective clients it was not uncommon to receive questions as to how the TeleClock system worked. There was often some resistance to implementing the TeleClock system because it was thought that employees would have difficulty coping with the unfamiliar technology.

After 10 years we can report that our TeleClock presentations now very rarely have someone present who has not used telephone banking, voice mail, or some other popular form of IVR technology. The user resistance has gone, and we have never had an employee who is unable to master the operation of the TeleClock telephone interface after a couple of attempts. Our TeleClock telephone users come from all types of demographic profiles and even those with English as a second language soon master the flow of the TeleClock system.