ABSTRACT
Web sites can be thought of as rich-media interactive voice response (IVR) systems. Most people are familiar with IVRs — those devices that play a recorded menu of choices to telephone callers and prompt the callers to press keypad numbers to access desired information. If the caller does not get an option that helps to solve issues properly, the caller can “zero out” to reach a live person. However, the same button-pressing offers a much greater array of functions to the Internet user. Rather than accessing only audio information with the push of a button, the Internet user can access information-rich content with a click of the mouse. Although the basic Web site may have a significant amount of information, it cannot provide the degree of personalization that can be delivered by a live person. An Internet-enabled commerce center allows the online customer to receive a considerable degree of personalization by linking the customer to a live person.
