ABSTRACT
Interactive voice response (IVR) systems are the unwearying workhorses of the telephone industry. Everyone who uses a phone is familiar with the ubiquitous “For sales, press 1, for service, press 2.” These systems provide answers to taxpayers preparing their tax returns at 2:00 a.m. on April 15th, send brochures via fax-on-demand to potential customers, use text-tospeech to provide the latest natural gas prices, and validate credit card numbers. Without IVR, the business (and nonprofit) world would be slower, less efficient, and far more manpower intensive. Without IVR, many firms would be forced to close.
