Usability Assessments

Also sometimes called an 'IVR Health Check,' a Usability Assessment is a review of an existing application. The application can be either touch tone input, or speech input, or mixed modality.

We offer usability assessments on a out-sourced basis. The length of the engagement depends on the size of the application. We measure application size based on the number of dialog states, which include input menus and output prompts like "Your balance is $23.15". A smaller application of 20 or less dialog states can generally be analyzed in a week or less. Larger applications take proportionally longer.

For the week-long engagement, we gather information in advance and do analysis, then recommend a one to two day on-site discovery. While being on-site is not always necessary, it is usually helpful. In the discovery session, we meet with business owners, technology owners, and call center manager and agents to discuss their perception of the pain points around the existing IVR. At the completion of the face to face meetings, we analyze and review the information gathered and write up our recommendations.

Prior to coming on-site, we request the following information:

• • Test phone numbers and accounts numbers

  • Call flow diagrams

  • Requirements documents

  • Technical Design specifications

  • Grammar files

  • IVR logs

  • Wrap codes

  • Whole call recordings

  • Call traffic statistics

The deliverables for the engagement include:

• • Document background and application description

  • Summary of interviews

  • Self Service Best Practices recommendations

An example report is included here.