This document describes the positive impact that best practices and usability in voice response systems have on customer satisfaction.

The common points of caller frustration outlined in this document are due to the inherent limitations of touch-tone systems, particularly when there is a wide variety of choices to be accessed using a touch-tone menu. Only by moving to open-ended conversational speech applications can the issues of customer satisfaction be adequately addressed.

The best practices in this document enable companies to improve the customer experience and automation rates of their existing touch-tone systems. However, substantial increases in automation (25-30% over existing touch-tone systems) can only be achieved by moving to conversational speech applications.