*611 IVR needs to be more friendly to callers

[vincedeon]

These suggestions will improve the customer experience with the *611 IVR.

1. IVR should state what business hours are in case the caller goes to a queue that isn't open
2. IVR should state "high call volumes at this time" kind of message only when there are actually high call volumes
3. IVR should have an option for a callback without losing position in queue in case a waiting caller gets disconnected.

Background:

Recently I called *611 needing support. I was immediately greeted with "high call volumes, long wait times" kind of message. I waited and after 10 minutes my call was disconnected. Frustrating, to be sure. A disconnect happened again an hour later too.

Undeterred I tried later in the evening at 1845h local time. I went through the IVR choices and prompts only to hear "we are now closed please call back during regular business hours" and the line disconnected.

At 0645h I tried again ... still closed. At 0705h again, and now I once again hear "high call volumes" message and am then handled by an agent.

The whole experience left a sour taste due to:

1. There is no indication what the hours of service actually are for a given queue
2. The whole "high call volume" message seems to be false if it is in place but there is a near zero wait time
3. Getting disconnected happens but this is excessive (2 out of 2 tries)

[vincedeon]

I missed a word above.

The sentence "At 0645h I tried again ... still closed. At 0705h again, and now I once again hear "high call volumes" message and am then handled by an agent."

should read as

"At 0645h I tried again ... still closed. At 0705h again, and now I once again hear "high call volumes" message and am then am almost immediately handled by an agent."

[jobrien]

Business side eliminates almost all call wait times. USe Google Assistant to wait on hold for you if you have a Pixel 6, 6 pro or later. This is a good suggestion. I think an automated message saying what position you are in the queue would also help. And for god sake, change up the music.

[vincedeon]

Adding to my post above.

I just got dropped off a call placed at a few minutes after 6pm local time and checked the website to see hours of service. The screengrab is what it shows. Undaunted, I then dialled the "I'm in the USA" option where I was greeted with a different IVR. Hopeful I pressed the buttons. I still was dropped "we are now closed".

So even this screengrab shows incorrect hours of service. How hard is it to post real hours?

[Amyj]

Thank you for sharing your feedback. I shared it with our internal ideas team for review.