Novel interactive voice message service boosts internal communications for companies and organisations of any size

It sounds a bit like the “how do you make an omelette without breaking an egg” challenge – how do you leave a voicemail for your field sales team or a large group of staff, without actually disturbing them with a call?

It is possible, but you might be wondering when you’d actually want to do this.

There are lots of occasions.

Maybe you want to leave them a quick verbal weekly news update, or alert them by voice to a cyber attack threat when other systems are down, or want them to hear you request specific information and enable them to reply instantly with just one click.

The solution to this challenge is a new service from UK-based CleverVoice, which enables a company to send out an identical interactive voicemail to thousands of staff mobile phones, which recipients listen to when convenient and then respond.

Plus, the rate and time of listening to the message is completely trackable, thanks to smart analytics.

One company that’s dramatically improved communication by using this system with its field sales team is global pharmaceutical firm Boehringer-Ingelheim.

Their UK sales director, Lee Gittings, was looking to improve his connection to his sales teams, which are spread across the country, and he also wanted to increase the “personal touch” to his messages, rather than use traditional email, which can easily become impersonal and overlooked in busy inboxes.

So how did CleverVoice help? Gittings was able to save time and money by recording just one voice message, which triggered a personalised SMS alert for as many staff as he needed to contact – highlighting they had a voice message from him, and what it was about. This they then listened to at their convenience.

It was so effective that since May 2016 weekly messages – from general updates to more specific topics – have gone out to the whole field force and the results have shown consistently very high listening rates – around 75% – and improved employee engagement.

What makes it even more attractive is there is NO COST to recipients for receiving the SMS notification, and now that calls from mobiles to 0800 numbers are free in the UK, there is NO COST for the recipient to pick up the voice message either. For the sender, CleverVoice offers a simple low pay-as-you-go price.

Messages can also be sent from outside the office, as the service is Cloud-based, so, for example, with very urgent messages, such as in an emergency, team members can be contacted without anyone needing to be in an office.

Gittings commented, “The CleverVoice service immediately enabled me to share regular and engaging weekly updates with my field-based colleagues, which in the past has been difficult due to their remoteness and the over-reliance on using emails, which may lose impact within a busy inbox. Having a voice message, which they can listen to on their mobile phones, means they can access the message at a time convenient to them throughout the day. 

“It’s easy to use for both me and the recipients of my messages. I particularly like how I can gather data – such as how many people have listened to my message. I have also sent out a survey using CleverVoice and the vast majority of the field force find this format of weekly updates very useful and engaging”.