Completely Automated Telephone surveys - IVR Surveys for Call Centers

CATsÂ® is a trademarked name for an automated voice survey collection system that was designed and built by Customer Relationship Metrics, L. C. (Metrics). Metrics created the CATsÂ® system as a low-cost alternative to CATI (Computer Assisted Telephone Interviews), in which a live person (interviewer) navigates a computer screen and asks an interviewee questions related to the specific research program. CATI surveys are conducted by thousands of companies across the globe.

CATI surveys have been used for hundreds of applications including: market research, political polling, opinion polling, customer satisfaction research, new product research, new product testing, service testing, competitive analysis, contests, lead generation, employee satisfaction studies, shareholder satisfaction measurement, citizen polling, impact studies, restaurant satisfaction, retail satisfaction, employee knowledge testing, consumer preference studies, and more.

Organizations spend several billions of dollars each year on research using CATI surveys. The dollar spend on research has increased every year with no decline in sight. However, the CATI methodology is increasing at a decreasing rate. The market for CATI surveys is growing, but other methodologies are eroding its usage. Why is this? The world is more technology rich and becoming more mobile. People as a whole are not available to participate in the interview process. This limits the amount of surveys that get collected in a given time period. It also means more dial attempts are required to get the target amount of completed surveys. This also brings the results into question on who the sample represents. Bottom line, many factors are causing the declining use of the CATI methodology.

IVR surveys are a methodology that is gaining in popularity. IVR surveys allow the interview to still be conducted in the most used form of communication. It also provides significant cost savings because a live person (interviewer) is not needed as part of the process. The live person aspect of a CATI survey creates a lot of expense in the research process and limits the amount of surveys collected for the given budget.