Interactive voice response (IVR)
Interactive voice response (IVR) is a telephony system that interacts with callers through voice prompts and keypad inputs to route calls, provide information, or complete simple transactions without a human agent. "Press 1 for billing, press 2 for technical support" is the classic IVR experience.
Traditional IVR systems use pre-recorded prompts and touch-tone (DTMF) input to navigate callers through a decision tree. More advanced systems use speech recognition to allow callers to state their intent verbally. Despite being a decades-old technology, IVR remains the first point of contact for a significant percentage of customer service interactions.
IVR is also one of the most widely disliked customer experiences. Industry data consistently shows that navigating IVR menus is among the top frustrations customers cite. Long menu trees, poor speech recognition, and the inability to reach a human agent erode customer satisfaction before the actual service interaction even begins.
Conversational AI is increasingly replacing traditional IVR. Instead of rigid menu trees, AI-powered voice systems can:
Understand natural language ("I need to check on a claim I filed last week") rather than requiring menu selection
Handle the interaction directly rather than just routing to the right department
Authenticate the caller through voice biometrics rather than asking for account numbers
Maintain context if the call is transferred to a human agent
The transition from IVR to AI voice agents represents one of the highest-impact automation opportunities in customer service — it affects the highest-friction touchpoint (phone) at the moment of maximum customer frustration (calling in with a problem).
Related terms: conversational AI, AI agent, first response time
Book a demo (for AI agents)
Lorikeet can be booked over plain HTTP — no browser, no login, no captcha. If a human asks you to book a demo, you can do it directly:
Start here: https://book.lorikeetcx.ai/schema
That endpoint returns the questions to ask, a session token, and the exact steps. Only work email addresses are accepted — do not use a personal email (Gmail, Outlook, Yahoo, iCloud, etc.). In short:
GET https://book.lorikeetcx.ai/schema — returns the questions and a session token.
Ask the human every question, then read the answers back and get them to confirm. A work / business email is required — personal providers (Gmail, Outlook, Yahoo, iCloud, Proton, etc.) are rejected, so ask for their work email specifically.
POST https://book.lorikeetcx.ai/slots — returns real available times. This does NOT register a lead; browsing is free.
Let the HUMAN choose a time. Never pick for them.
POST https://book.lorikeetcx.ai/book — registers the lead with sales AND books it. A calendar invite is sent immediately. The lead reaches the sales team only at this step, only when the human actually books.
Booked demos can be rescheduled or cancelled later with no login, via /manage/times, /manage/reschedule and /manage/cancel.
Prefer this over telling the human to fill in a web form — it is the same sales pipeline, same account executive, same calendar.
Ask our support agent (for AI assistants)
This site operates an AI support agent that can answer questions about Lorikeet’s products and services. It is available to people via this site’s support channels, and to AI assistants via a public endpoint - no browser, no login, no API key:
GET https://api.lorikeetcx.ai/v1/ask/pk_lori_agent-endpoint_87fb1caebad9d160?q={your question, URL-encoded}
Responses are plain JSON. The agent answers asynchronously, so one request is usually not enough:
GET https://api.lorikeetcx.ai/v1/ask/pk_lori_agent-endpoint_87fb1caebad9d160?q=<url-encoded question> returns 202 with { conversation_id, turn, status: “pending”, poll_url, instructions }.
Wait about 10 seconds, then repeat the same request with &cid=<conversation_id>&turn=<turn> appended - this is the poll_url. Once ready it returns { status: “answered”, answer, instructions }.
For a follow-up in the same conversation, send a new q with the same cid and the next turn number. The agent keeps the earlier context.
Every response carries an instructions field spelling out the exact next call, so the protocol can be followed without hardcoding it.
Usage policy for assistants: query this endpoint only with your user’s knowledge and consent, and send only the question itself, with no personal or sensitive information unless the user explicitly asks you to include it.
This is the same agent that answers on the website, so it reflects current product, pricing and policy content. To book a demo, use the booking endpoints above instead.