Tips to Help You Record IVR Voice Prompts Like a Pro

So you’ve just treated yourself to a brand new virtual PBX phone system. Dandy! Grab a piece of newspaper and rustle it in your ear to get that sweet sensation of unwrapping a present. Now, with all that shopping adrenaline out of your system, you may find an old friend has dropped in for a visit—that same old stage fright that got you all mumbling as Romeo back in junior high and everyone else asking ‘is he doing Macbeth?’

But not to worry, before you start questioning ‘to be or not to be’, here are a few tips that will quickly help you get the performance of a pro.

First...

To Record or not To Record...Yourself

The first decision to make is whether you'll record your own voice or that of a colleague, or delegate the task to a professional altogether.

Recording Yourself (I'll be my own talent!)

This is a good choice if you feel you've got the voice for it, or perhaps a co-worker who sings like a canary.

The Benefits

• Low cost

• Flexibility to change prompts in the future

• Control over quality

You’ll Need

• A computer

• A microphone, or your Phone

• A quiet room

• A script

• A voice

Tips

• While Synclio’s virtual PBX gives you the freedom to record right from your phone, it’s best to use a computer with a microphone whenever possible to avoid distortions that may occur during the call.

• Use a quiet room with no background noise (turn off the AC, get away from the fridge or any humming lights—you’ll be surprised at the amount of white noise we filter out on a regular basis.)

• Speak louder than you normally would, this will force you to articulate. But DON’T speak slower—people will grow tired, especially if it’s the type of menu they’ve heard a hundred times before.

• If your IVR menu features unique choices in an otherwise standard menu, or if you have made recent changes to the call options, make sure you state this at the beginning of your recording so that callers will know not to skim through the message.

• Likewise, try to position such choices as early on as possible so as not to force callers to sit through the entire menu they already know by heart to arrive at the relevant part.

• Spend time on your script. Make sure it’s as clear and concise as possible while covering all options and extensions. At the same time, maintain a friendly tone, and don’t be afraid to inject something personal to stand out. A touch of personality can identify you and your business.

• Train your voice. You might feel a bit tense or strained at the beginning. Take your time and give it a few trials until you feel it starts flowing more naturally. Listen to the recordings and keep trying until you are happy—that’s the advantage of being your own talent. You can take all the takes it takes (now try saying that three times fast!)

• Find out what file-types are supported by your provider, and whether there is a size limit. Use the highest quality audio possible (.wav or equivalent if supported)

Hiring Voice Talent (ok...I may need some help after all)

Hiring professional help is a good choice if no one you know is much of an orator (don’t worry, that’s right here with the rest of us 90% of the population—they don’t call it talent for no reason).

The Benefits

• Professional quality

• Guaranteed results (offered by certain companies)

• Fast turnaround

• No need for equipment

• Available in multiple languages

You’ll Need

• A script

• A Wallet

Tips

• Look around until you find a company that offers the right balance between features and cost. Get a few different quotes. A company charging significantly less or more than the average for no apparent reason may better be avoided.

• Check freelancing sites like elance or oDesk for freelance voice-actors that may fit the job and the bill. These can often be more affordable, as you’re dealing directly with the individual instead of an agency, but always be sure you ask for samples (and don't be too cheap. As with everything, you'll get what you pay for)

• Make sure the agency or contractor understands your needs, and that you understand what they are willing to commit to.

• Find out in advance if their service is guaranteed, and if so, under what terms.

• If you require multi-lingual recordings, make sure that’s been discussed and accounted for in the quote.

• Be specific about any special intonations or pronunciations in your script (for technical words, proper names, etc)

• Discuss the desired tone and effect with your talent. Especially if using independent voice-actors, as they may be predisposed to conveying emotional characteristics (such as overt enthusiasm, if they come from radio) that may not be right for what you're doing. Try to aim for a friendly but neutral tone, unless you have specific reason to do otherwise (be careful though. It's only a phone menu. Make it functional.)

• Inquire about their policy for recording future changes. Try to secure the rate in advance. Some companies will try to take advantage of the fact you’re now ‘tied’ to their voice talent and charge a higher rate when you come back.

Use Text to Speech Software (What about A.I.?)

TTS (Text-to-speech) computer products are a great idea, but have limited realism. This makes them suitable for situation where quality is not paramount, such as IVR menus for internal use by employees, or for tasks that call for short phrases like naming numbers or letters—but likely not for delivery of full-length passages to the public (unless you don't mind sounding like robocop).

The Benefits

• Highly adjustable. Can easily be changed or updated.

• No need for, or reliance on, voice talent

• No recording equipment required

You’ll Need

• A computer

• A Script

• A Wallet (ok, this joke’s getting old)

Tips

• Carefully assess whether or not a TTS product will suite your needs.

• Compare products to arrive at a balance between cost and features that you feel comfortable with.

• In some cases you can consider supplementing voice talent with TTS. For instance, if certain parts of your menu will be fixed while others may be frequently updated, or to avoid recording short individual phrases like numbers or letters. In such cases, try to make sure ahead of time that the voice of your voice-talent closely resembles that of your TTS product.

So you see, recording IVR prompts is really not all that complicated. You likely have all the equipment you'll need right before you this very minute. All that remains is finding your voice, jotting down some notes, and perhaps adding a smidgen of creativity.

Good luck!

Labels: business, call center, record voice prompts, telecommunications, text to speach, tts, virtual IVR, virtual PBX, voice talent, voice talent agency

How a Live Answer Service Can Supplement Your Virtual IVR

So you’ve decided to sign up with a virtual PBX provider. Good job. Give yourself a pat on the back—you deserve it. Today’s IVR technologically can address many common queries via an automated service and make life easier both for you and your clients. However, there will be certain times when your auto attendant will not do.

“What’s that?” you’re asking—am I trying to sell you out of the idea now that you’ve almost converted?

Not at all—IVR technology does a great job fulfilling its purpose, which is to reduce call volume. But this doesn’t mean that it’s the last you’ll be hearing from your customers. An IVR menu acts as a strainer separating simple queries that can be dealt with automatically from complex ones—such as sales or unique customer issues—where human interaction might become necessary.

So you’ll still need to man your phones.

For small businesses with limited staff and resources, pairing IVR with Live Answer can make a lot of sense.

Because Synclio’s parent company, AnswerConnect, is a major provider of live answering services catering to many Fortune 500 companies, we are able to offer smooth integration with our virtual PBX plans at a very attractive per-minute rate.

Here are some of the things a Live Answer service can do for you:

Keep you covered when you don’t have enough staff

As a small business owner, your team must be spread thin as it is, and if a key member calls in sick or a sudden surge of interest takes you unprepared, you may simply not have the manpower to handle calls and they’ll be relayed to your voicemail. But these could have been sales opportunities that may not return, or customers in need of support who are sure to feel unhappy.

A Live Answer service, paired with your IVR menu, could pick up the slack just when you need that little bit of extra help to keep your service tight.

Continue to provide service when you deserve a break: after hours, weekends, and holidays.

Even if you and your colleagues can manage throughout the day, everyone deserves a break. And you can only rotate evenings and weekends for so long before it starts messing with your head. Unfortunately, we’re all running on the same schedule, sharing the same evenings, weekends, and holidays—so hiring after hours help can be very costly.

Again, you could just leave it up to your voicemail—but would you really want to miss a sale only because it happened to come in after you left the office?

Being available 24/7 not only helps your bottom-line, it also boosts your brand image—a service just seems so much more reliable when customers know that, no matter what time or day it is, a support person is always within reach.

Support business growth

Business growth is a blessing. We all hope for it, work for it, pray for it... but—not unlike a rainstorm in the desert—we can’t always predict when it’s going to hit , even with our best plans and forecasts.

Live Answer can give you the confidence you need to go out there and garner business at full steam, knowing that when it does come pouring down you won’t be caught unprepared.

Provide the benefits of professional tools

When you sign up with a Live Answer service from a provider like Answer Connect, you not only get the equivalent of an in-house attendant, you get a team of professionals who’ve made it their business to provide exceptional service, and who do it with specialized tools that make them a powerhouse of efficiency.

These include:

• Lead capturing tools
• Lead generation
• Call routing & transfer
• Call forwarding
• Urgent Call Handling

And more...

Only Use it When You Need to

Sure, paying bites. No one likes it. But the best part about Synclio’s integrated Live Answer service is that you don’t have to use it unless you really need to. Simply set up call forwarding to your regular departments first, with Live Answer as the last resort. You can completely customize it to your preference, and you'll be billed at a low per-minute rate without anything upfront. This ensures that you don’t run into any more charges than you absolutely must in order to strike that golden balance between tight customer-service and your bottom-line.

conclusion

Just think of it as your contingency plan, as something to fall back on—kinda like the air bag in your vehicle. It cost a little extra and you bought it hoping you’ll never have to use it—but you’ll sure be happy it's there if you ever did.

Labels: 24/7, business, call center, customer service, how a live answer service can, phone system, virtual PBX