Editing Interactive voice response (section)

== Developments ==
=== Video ===
The introduction of [[Session Initiation Protocol]] (SIP) means that point-to-point communications are no longer restricted to voice calls but can now be extended to multimedia technologies such as [[video]]. IVR manufacturers have extended their systems into IVVR (interactive voice and video response), especially for the mobile phone networks. The use of video gives IVR systems the ability to implement [[multimodal interaction]] with the caller.

The introduction of [[full-duplex]] video IVR in the future will allow systems the ability to read emotions and facial expressions. It may also be used to identify the caller, using technology such as [[Iris scan]] or other [[biometric]] means. Recordings of the caller may be stored to monitor certain transactions and can be used to reduce identity fraud.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.nojitter.com/post/240171759/goodbye-ivr-hello-ivisuali-ivr|title=Goodbye IVR... Hello Visual IVR|publisher=No Jitter}}</ref>

=== SIP contact center ===
With the introduction of SIP contact centers, call control in a SIP contact center can be implemented by [[CCXML]] scripting, which is an adjunct to the [[VXML]] language used to generate modern IVR dialogues. As calls are queued in the SIP contact center, the IVR system can provide treatment or automation, wait for a fixed period, or play music. Inbound calls to a SIP contact center must be queued or terminated against a SIP end point; SIP IVR systems can be used to replace agents directly by the use of applications deployed using BBUA (back-to-back user agents).

=== Interactive messaging response (IMR) ===
Due to the introduction of [[instant messaging]] (IM) in contact centers, agents can handle up to 6 different IM conversations at the same time, which increases agent productivity.{{citation needed|date=July 2014}} IVR technology is being used to automate IM conversations using existing [[natural language processing]] software. This differs from email handling as email automated response is based on key word spotting and IM conversations are conversational. The use of text messaging abbreviations and smilies requires different grammars to those currently used for speech recognition. IM is also starting to replace text messaging on multimedia mobile handsets.

=== Hosted vs. on-premises IVR ===
With the introduction of [[web services]] into the contact center, host integration has been simplified, allowing IVR applications to be hosted remotely from the contact center. This has meant hosted IVR applications using speech are now available to smaller contact centers across the globe and has led to an expansion of ASP (application service providers).

IVR applications can also be hosted on the public network, without contact center integration. Services include public announcement messages and message services for small business. It is also possible to deploy two-prong IVR services where the initial IVR application is used to route the call to the appropriate contact center. This can be used to balance loading across multiple contact centers or provide business continuity in the event of a system outage.