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Make sure that the choices you give your callers are simple and intuitive. They should always
know what their choices are and what they are expected to say at any given point. Here are a few
ways you can help your callers navigate through your Application:
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Break up complex choices into a several sets of simple choices. For example, let?s say you have
information in your Application about the following topics:
- Opening an account
- Closing an account
- Transferring an account
- Billing address
- Billing disputes
You could ask your callers, "Are you interested in opening an account, closing an account,
transferring an account, billing disputes or our billing address?" However, the number of
choices may overwhelm your callers, and they may not remember what to say once the Vox A Vox is
an Action that plays a sound file. You can record a Vox in your own voice directly from the Speech
Driven Information System. You can also use the Audio Manager to import recordings or sound effects
that you have obtained from other sources. has finished playing.
A better strategy would be to ask, "Are you interested in accounts or billing?" If they
answer "Accounts", then ask, "Would you like information about opening, closing, or
transferring an account?" If they answer "Billing", ask, "Would you like information
about our billing address or about billing disputes?"
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Ask your caller a series of yes or no questions to determine the information they need. Yes and no questions
are easy for your caller to answer because they don?t need to know how to describe what they want. A series
of yes and no questions is useful if the information you offer is difficult to describe in a few short words,
or if it would require the caller to know specific terminology used by your company or your industry. For
example, let?s say you offer information about the following topics:
- Converting a Personal Plus account to an account with multiple authorized users
- Removing authorized users from an account
You could ask, "Would you like to convert your Personal Plus account to an account with multiple
authorized users or remove authorized users from your account?" This question, however, is extremely
complex.
It would be best to ask, "Would you like to convert your Personal Plus account to an account
with multiple authorized users?" If the caller answers "Yes", play that information.
If they answer "No", then ask, "Would you like to remove authorized users from your
account?" The caller could then answer "Yes" or "No".
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Always give your callers a sense of where they are in the system, so they don?t feel like they have gotten lost.
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Let your callers know how they can get back to where they were in case they make an incorrect choice.
Avoid putting them into a loop from which they can't escape.
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If you have to send your callers through a series of many modules, give them a way to get halfway back.
This keeps them from having to go through all the steps all over again if they make a mistake or need to
ask a related question.
For example, let?s say that you ask your caller a series of questions and determine that they have
a question about billing. You then offer them several different pieces of information about billing
and they pick one of them. Once that information has played, offer them the chance to ask another
question about billing before sending them all the way back to the Main Menu.