Retail and Hospitality

Speech for self-service

14 May 2008

Boots UK has selected Intervoice Voice Portal (IVP) to provide a natural speech self-service solution for its Advantage loyalty card.

Boots chose Intervoice, which is based on a Microsoft Windows 2000 Server operating system environment, because it can deliver an integrated self-service to live assistance contact centre suite to both new and existing customers.

“The Advantage Card is already a top loyalty card in the UK and the Republic of Ireland, and we want to further develop how we care for our customers. With our investment in Intervoice, we are adding wider choice and flexibility to Boots customers calling into our central Nottingham contact centre,” said Graham Hardy, head of customer care, Boots UK.

The ‘discovery phase’ with Intervoice Global Consulting Services was completed in Q4 2007, with the initial implementation phase beginning in Q2 2008. Goals for this first phase include providing a natural speech IVR, self-service solution for Advantage Card customers and automating 10 of 83 identified call types.

“Like Boots, we recognise that flexibility and a choice of interaction method are important to customers,” said Frank Sherlock, managing director (international) of Intervoice. “Intervoice was able to create a positive user experience resulting in enhanced customer service and increased agent productivity – and we were the only vendor offering a complete solution coupled with in-house services enabling Boots to deliver a superior customer experience.”