Interactive voice response (IVR) is a telephone payment system. It allows consumers to make an automated payment over the phone without interacting with a live person. IVR payment services add value and build revenue for your business – all without hiring any additional staff members.

If a consumer understands what they owe and wants to resolve their payment fast, IVR is the perfect solution. Offering an IVR system allows consumers to help themselves during the payment process, saving time and eliminating the need to speak to a representative.

Because customer service employees aren’t needed to run your IVR solution, it can operate outside of normal business hours. This is good because:

• It’s convenient - Many people can’t pay their bills during business hours if that's when they work. Allowing them an after-hours option gives consumers more freedom to make payments at their convenience.

• Saves on operational costs - keeping your IVR technology running doesn’t require you to hire extra staff to handle calls, which keeps operational costs low while bringing in more money.

• Increases payments you receive - just as with online payments, keeping an IVR payment option open at all times increases the amount of payments you’ll take each day.

With the right IVR phone system, credit card payments taken through IVR will be payment card industry (PCI) compliant. Look for a processor that offers PCI Level 1 compliance to ensure your business and your consumer’s sensitive credit card data are protected from data breaches.

Some companies go above and beyond by offering encryption, tokenization and safe data storage along with other security measures that protect you to the fullest extent.

IVR systems enable you to capture absolute proof of authorization because the consumer has initiated the payment. Consumer-initiated payments act as an authorization, keeping businesses compliant with NACHA for ACH transactions.

In third party collections, fraudulent chargebacks can put your merchant account in jeopardy. Allowing consumers to initiate payments themselves reduces chargebacks and makes it harder for a consumer to allege lack of authorization later on.

In the business of debt collection, complaints are to be expected. The simple act of speaking to someone about their debt may put consumers on the offensive or make them feel uncomfortable. Offering an IVR system allows consumers to resolve the sensitive matter of debt in a private manner. This reduces the number of complaints your agency receives from consumers who are simply upset with the situation.

In third party collections, full bill payment isn’t a guarantee. While some consumers respond well to speaking with someone in your call center, that doesn’t apply to every consumer. For those that prefer a self-serve payment method, interacting with a collector may rub them the wrong way. A bad experience can reduce the amount your consumer is willing to pay, costing you money in the long run.

Typically, those who choose to pay on their own through IVR are not consumers your agents need to spend their time and effort on. These people want to resolve their debts and will take the initiative to do so themselves. Having a collector call these simple-to-address accounts is a waste of time for both your business and your consumers.

Setting up an IVR system for these simple payments diverts agent effort and attention to more complicated accounts. Using multiple channels and tactics during debt recovery increases overall recovery rates, maximizing your revenue.

To see how a Titan Revenue Solutions, a third party debt collection office in California increased revenue and reduced overhead using PDCflow’s IVR payment solution, download the case study:

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