I got a phone call last week from Gilad Odinak over at Spoken Communications, in response to the blog post I wrote about the guided IVR used by Spiegel Brands and powered by Spoken. My gripe was that, when I called Spiegel to check out the IVR, all I got was a DTMF interface. Boo! I wanted to experience some guided self-service with natural language, but came up short.

Gilad told me that, at times, the Spiegel contact center and its hardware can get a bit funky — blame the network and the equipment. He said that I should try calling again, when the system wasn’t all wonky. Well, I did today and am happy to say I got to chat with “Lindsay,” the virtual agent who guided me through a few ridiculous requests I made. Here’s a transcript: (more…)

Over the past month, I have been investigating agent-assisted IVRs, and working through some of the implications the technology may have on the contact center/IVR space. Today, I decided to give them a try. One company that uses the guided IVR, Spiegel, talked to me during an interview about their experience with the IVR, which is provided by a vendor named Spoken Communications. I called up Spiegel’s toll-free number (1.800.345.4500), was greeted by a standard welcome message, given the choice of four prompts, and…..was put on hold for a live agent.

I was not expecting this! Though Spiegel owns a variety of other retail companies - I tried two others, as well - I never got to experience the company’s guided IVR. According to both Spiegel and Spoken, I would be greeted by a simple How can I help you? (natural language! yay!), but no such message popped up. So, what’s the deal? Was I horribly misinformed, or did I call the wrong Spiegel Brands company?

I really wanted to test out the guided system, but have come up empty-handed. If anyone has information about how to access the guided IVR for Spiegel, let me know. When I try it out again, I’ll be sure to post with my review. Until then, see the post below for editorial assistant Ryan Joe’s recounting of his mother’s IVR nightmare.

Let’s hope the airline in question cleans up its act! Or else face the wrath of Mrs. Joe.