According to Dictionary.com, accounts receivable is a claim against a debtor carried on an open account, usually limited to debts due from the sale of goods and services.
Bill Collections in the Past
We know that businesses that offer a satisfactory product or service are worthy of compensation from their customers. In the past, companies collected this compensation via back-and-forth mailed bills and checks. After receiving the paper checks, the accounts receivables department had to process and tally them against expenses. However, with today’s instant-access technology, that method is virtually extinct.
Modern-Day Bill Collection with IVR
One popular bill collection method today involves picking up the phone, tapping a few numbers, or saying a few words, and voila! Account settled.
Interactive Voice Response, or IVR, is now a mainstay bill collection method in the business industry. Here’s how merchants use IVR call center technologies today.
“With IVR, if a customer has a bill to pay, they can call in and pay it from anywhere, at any time, without having to speak to a live representative,” said iCheckGateway.com’s vice president Chris Hall. “IVR is ideal for various industries like utilities, municipalities, doctor/dentist offices, landscapers, property managers, and more.”
iCheckGateway.com offers numerous IVR options, from the primary payment-only option to more advanced, data-driven versions. Here’s how merchants use IVR technologies to collect and manage payments.
The IVR Bill Collection Process
An introductory call to a merchant’s unique IVR number will begin with a query asking if the caller desires to initiate payment via a bank account withdrawal or a credit card. Easy-to-understand prompts guide the customer through a straightforward, streamlined experience.
“Advanced versions of IVR are fully customizable to meet a merchant’s specific needs,” Hall said. “We design these systems based on the amount of data merchants want to collect while the payer is on the call. We also let merchants upload invoices on the IVR system so that it exactly knows how much customers owe while they are on a call.”
All payments (including IVR) for iCheckGateway.com customers flow securely into the virtual terminal, allowing for efficient reporting and record keeping.
IVR technology by iCG supports English and Spanish by default, and merchants have the flexibility of adding support for other languages as needed. Download our catalog to learn more about the various modern-day innovative payment solutions.“Our IVR feature implements the high-security standards and data encryption,” Hall said. “When the customer enters their payment data via IVR, iCheckGateway.com securely processes the transaction while encrypting the sensitive payment data. iCheckGateway.com is also PCI-compliant.”
Date Originally Published: September 15, 2015
Date Updated: July 26, 2022