Bengaluru: The Kempegowda International Airport (KIA) is all set to upgrade its on-premises Interactive Voice Response System (IVRS) with a focus on improving passenger experience, automation and its scalability.IVRS systems involve an automated phone-in technology that lets callers get flight details and airport information by listening to pre-recorded voice menus and pressing phone keys or speaking commands.KIA currently operates an IVRS system for passenger enquiries, flight information, lost-and-found routing and general enquiries using agents through the phone numbers 080-6678555 and 080-47406666. According to Bangalore International Airport Limited (BIAL), the upgrade is being considered mainly because of the increasing passenger volumes, expansion of terminals and also to improve passenger engagement.The new system is also likely to reduce the current workload of call agents. Currently, the airport has the capacity to handle a maximum of 400 inbound calls a day and 100 calls in the peak hour. BIAL anticipates a 50% traffic growth over the next five years, highlighting the need for sufficient scalability.The upgraded smart IVRS system is expected to increase this capacity, helping BIAL handle at least 600 calls per day expected in the next five years and also increasing the peak-hour capacity to 150 calls.The project will be carried out by an external partner who will initially conduct a detailed study about the requirements of the airport and will supply all the necessary systems.Once the IVRS is upgraded, it will have the capability to resolve level 1 priority incidents within two hours. Critical incidents are expected to be solved in 15 minutes, while the least priority ones to be resolved within 48 hours.
