Jacada and Vocantas Partner on Visual IVR for Utilities

Jacada and Vocantas today announced that visual IVR capabilities are now available with Vocantas' Utilities OnCall solution.

The Utilities OnCall solution now extends to the mobile device and to the utilities' Web sites. Vocantas' existing utility customers can immediately take advantage of this visual self-serve experience. The Utilities OnCall visual IVR is now available for any smartphone platform and Web site, with the addition of Jacada's technologies into the Vocantas Utilities OnCall platform.

The visual IVR allows organizations to extend their Vocantas IVRs into the smartphone menus and directly onto their Web sites, without the development and customization of new infrastructure. The visual IVR will allow customers to include photos of their meter readings or send the utility the GPS locator of their positions in case of reporting an outage or service interruption.

"Visual IVR puts the power of the smartphone graphic screen into the utility customer's hand," said Guy Yair, Jacada's co-CEO, in a statement. "Improving customer service by speeding up the time it takes to check a balance, pay a bill, or report an outage will not only improve end-user satisfaction but will ultimately reduce operational costs for the utility, as customers increasingly self-serve rather than hit the call centre queue."

"At the end of the day, utility companies want to provide excellent customer service to accompany the delivery of essential utility services to their clients at a price tag that doesn't add costs to the end users bill," said Gary Hannah, Vocantas' CEO, in a statement. "Using visual IVR Utilities OnCall, utilities can put the power of smartphone technology to work and give their clients an awesome experience using self-serve tools. Why not pay your utility bill with the swipe of your finger on your smartphone with as much effort as it takes to choose a song from a menu on your iPod?"

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