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.
A conversational voice response (CVR) system is a technology whereby a caller can navigate an informational database in order to retrieve pertinent information by having a conversation or dialogue with the system. The system plays audio prompts to get information from caller and uses the caller's utterances or responses to extract pertinent portions of the database for playback to the user. An example of a CVR system is described in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/319,144, which is hereby incorporated by reference. CVR technology is preferable to IVR technology in that a caller does not have to listen to long prompts and the caller can speak responses as opposed to having to key the responses via a touch tone telephone.
A challenge of making an organization switch from IVR technology to CVR technology is to locate qualified prospects, to personalize marketing and sales information to match those prospects, and to deliver the marketing and sales information in a timely and compelling manner.