What should an IVR set up cost?

[Hans G Hawrysz]

I am in the market for a hosted IVR solution. The primary purpose will be consumers to purchase a top-off code to add value to a prepaid parking device. As a result the IVR will need to interact with our database so some integration will be required. The estimate that I have received from out platform provider is $17,000 for set up plus $.20 a minute. I am trying to get feedback on whether this is a reasonable estimate or whether there are more cost effective solutions available.
We are a start-up organization and expect call volume to be low in the early stages.
Any feeback will be much appreciated.

[Daniel Kauppi]

With hosted services, the setup costs are generally low. Hosting services' value prop is generally ease of entry including low setup costs. Overall, the costs seem pretty good depending on one important consideration... your call volumes.

Ongoing variable costs are what will get you if you don't plan ahead. Consider the initial volume of calls vs. the projected future volume of calls and what you may be willing to commit to in terms of growth. It would be a good idea to negotiate some kind of stair stepped or tiered pricing approach on growth which will provide your company with discounts as you achieve certain volumes.

Fortunately (or unfortunately depending on your perspective), the current economic climate may make it possible for you to negotiate a tiered pricing structure without having to actually commit to achieving the tiers (very important).

At $.2/min, you will not break the bank if you are talking about several thousand calls per month at 120 seconds per call. However, tens-of-thousands of calls on a monthly basis at $.2/min can start to have an impact on your bottom line.

There may be other nuanced details of your business that you may want to factor in when you are negotiating with your vendor to either drive costs down or protect yourselves from burden in the future.

[Bill Haeffner]

A friend of our company does this kind of work. He said the post is too vague be able to compare the prices you have offered in the note. He would of course be glad to discuss the project a bit more if you care to call Don Denman at 952-832-3717. I know that in several quotes I have knowledge of they were the best price and won the business. They are a small shop working off internally developed software so they can be extremely competitive.

[Dan Bergstrom]

Hans,

I would love to talk to you about your needs. I sell the service that you are looking for. Let me know a good time (about 20 minutes) and we can see if we would be a good fit for you.

Dan Bergstrom
[e-mail]
801-386-8332