No Jitter Roll: Automated IVR Testing, Chat Workflow

This week we share news around CX assurance platform updates, a web-based workflow building and management tool, Rich Communication Service messaging, backup voice service, and phone number management.

 

CX assurance provider Cyara has updated its platform with a web-based record-and-play UI, named Call Explorer, aimed at easing manual dialing and testing of IVR trees and speeding the process of building up a test script library, James Isaacs, president of Cyara, shared in a No Jitter briefing.

 

When CX assurance teams work through their test scripts, they can now push in their numbers via Call Explorer, which logs and documents every step they take throughout their test calls, Isaacs said. Because Call Explorer presents as a familiar dial pad interface, it offers a level of comfort to testers who have previously been uncomfortable automating their processes — and that’s a lot of folks, given that 80% of new Cyara customers, of all sizes, have no IVR testing automation whatsoever, he added.

 

With Call Explorer, staff can reduce the time they spend on IVR testing from a couple of days down to under 20 minutes, Isaacs said. “They push a button — it’s all automated — go get coffee, come back, and it’s tested,” he said.

 

However, to get to this state, a company must have a body of test scripts, Isaacs said. So, once the IVR test is complete, Call Explorer generates a test script for storage in the Cyara cloud. As needed, developers can then use these test scripts in troubleshooting and validating their fixes, he added.

 

Call Explorer is now available as part of Cyara’s Automated CX Assurance Platform, Isaacs said.

 

Mobile communications and chat commerce provider Clickatell this week launched Chat Flow, a web-based drag-and-drop conversation workflow building and management tool.

 

With Chat Flow, organizations can create, edit, design, build, test, and manage conversational experiences across multiple chat channels with little or no-code requirements, Clickatell said. For example, a company might add support for chat interactions aimed at helping customers learn more about products and services, resolve queries and disputes, place orders, make purchases, and track or return their orders, Jeppe Dorff, chief product and technology officer at Clickatell, said in a prepared statement. In addition, Chat Flow enables the hand off from chatbot to live agent, as needed, the company said.

 

Verizon, AT&T, and T-Mobile have ended the Cross Carrier Messaging Initiative they launched in 2019 to develop a Rich Communications Services (RCS) messaging app for Android devices, as reported widely based on confirmation from website LightReading. In published statements to LightReading, Verizon and T-Mobile each expressed ongoing commitment to working on enhanced messaging. Toward that end, T-Mobile last month announced plans to establish Google Messages as the default rich messaging solution for its customers with Android smartphones. And, of course, Google remains committed to RCS messaging, available in in Android's default Messages app.

 

UCaaS provider Ooma this week announced that Continuous Voice, its patented automatic backup for voice calls, is now available to all customers of its wireless Connect business Internet service at no additional charge.

 

A user can enable Continuous Voice by “flipping a virtual switch” in the Connect mobile app for iOS or Android, Ooma said. Once activated, all Ooma Office calls transmit through two links at once — the organization’s primary hardwired broadband connection and the Connect wireless connection, Ooma added. The Ooma platform monitors both connections for quality of service, and Continuous Voice will automatically move the calls from one stream to the other in the case of congestion, dropped packets, or latency, Ooma said. Continuous Voice resumes monitoring both channels when full service is restored.

 

Previously, Ooma only included Continuous Voice in a few service plans.

 

Enterprise voice communications provider Pure IP this week launched Number Connect, a phone number management solution that gives businesses with multiple locations and widely dispersed workforces a single interface for managing all of their phone numbers, regardless of the platform or provider used for those numbers, Pure IP said. Users can manage number allocation directly within the application, while a single dashboard provides an overview of allocated and unallocated numbers, their geographic split, number ranges, usage, and total number of users at a glance, Pure IP added. Additionally, Number Connect has no limit on the amount of numbers stored and reduces manual management processes, Pure IP said.

 

Number Connect is available to existing Pure IP customers, with general release expected at a later date.