Show HN: A Haskell Library for Fluent Twilio IVR | Hacker News Reader

Show HN: A Haskell Library for Fluent Twilio IVR

github.com

36 pointssteven77740013 comments

According to Twilio, IVR is

> IVRs (interactive voice response) are automated phone systems that can facilitate communication between callers and businesses. If you've ever dialed your credit card company to check on a balance after responding to a series of automated prompts, you've used an IVR.

So this is the term for the prompts you have to suffer through while you're pressing "0" over and over again.

Are you sure you want to make it easier for people to build these awful things?

Why not instead invest in making your website better, training your telephone support staff to be more efficient, and polishing your product so it doesn't require your customers to call you so much?

In this case, my customer requires it. As in, if it doesn't have an IVR component, they're not interested, no matter what the price (e.g. $0). Their current solution is pure IVR, and I'm hoping to add a website and SMS interaction along with the IVR; then maybe wean them off the IVR. But I've already tried to sell a non-IVR (pure web) solution and it's absolutely no chance of consideration.

Appreciate your efforts in this regard!

This is someone providing a library--and many IVRs have useful purposes, including when a call center is offline. I'd rather have automated access to my Amtrak account or pharmacy than none.

Would you still use the IVR if Amtrak or your pharmacy could accommodate your needs on their websites?

If I'm on my phone, absolutely. I'd rather dial a number and go through a quick prompt than try to log in with my insanely log password to a mobile site.

That's not really fair. There's no reason for their site to demand more or different info than the IVR.

There are still large markets where people don't have easy/plentiful internet access.

You are right, and then it becomes a genuine question of accessibility. I wish the deployment of IVR were specially reserved for these markets - my sense is that IVR is still seen as a hip cost-saving measure even for companies in markets where internet access is easy and plentiful.

I just wrote a Twilio tool to get into my building with a text message, and needed a bit of voice guidance for the bit at the buzzer box. It's useful for more than just those "awful things".

Interesting, and the buzzer box doesn't have a touch tone keypad?

It does, and the app also supports that, but I have ~4 scenarios I want to support (in order: iOS app, sms, keypad entry, fall-through to call my phone) prompting the guest to enter a code (with a timeout of six seconds before it says tells the guest that it'll just call me). IVR made it very quick.

Neat, so the only functionality you are using is speak this message to user and await touchtone input? IE the person downstairs isn't encouraged to speak to the computer? Yes this is not awful at all!

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