How to Choose the Right Voice Over for Your IVR System and Voicemail

• Picking an experienced, professional voice for your phone system is important, as it can help build up your business and leave a good impression. Make sure your voice prompt is clear and effective.

• When selecting a voice for your phone system prompts, consider significant elements such as accent and diction, gender, tone, and pacing. Make sure to match these factors with the message you wish to convey as a business.

• Decide on the type of voice that’s appropriate for your brand, whether it be male or female, young or old, and other factors. And what is the purpose of your message? Set the goal ahead of time. This helps you in finding the right voice.

• It’s better to work collaboratively with a professional voice actor to get your desired result. They deliver quality. Be specific with your needs and expectations. Define the scope of your message and make sure to focus on your target audience.

Choosing the right voice actor for your recordings is essential. An effective voice prompt delivered by a professional voice talent can greatly affect how your customers view your brand. This can immediately set the tone for their overall experience when reaching out over the telephone. 

If the voice prompt is clear, pleasant, and delivers messages well, your callers are more likely to develop trust in your business and stay on the line. Otherwise, you might confuse a caller and leave a poor impression.

Picking the right IVR voice talent for your recordings can be challenging, especially if you're unsure of where to start. Here are some essential factors to remember when selecting a professional voice for your business.

It’s important to consider accent and diction when selecting a voice for your recordings. These two elements can immediately establish the mood of the entire interaction between your business IVR and your customers. 

Accent refers to a person’s way of speaking. Usually, this element is influenced by the speaker’s nationality, ethnicity, or cultural background. Selecting a talent with the right accent depends entirely on who you are targeting with your message. If you aim to target only a customer base belonging to a particular locality, look for a voice talent with the same accent.

On the other hand, diction refers to the style and manner in which someone speaks and articulates words. Clear and accurate pronunciation, emphasis on syllables, and appropriate pacing are critical components of good diction. In choosing the right voiceover artist, good diction is essential to ensure your brand or message is communicated clearly and effectively.

Gender is another essential factor that you need to consider. If you’re running a business that offers products for a specific gender, like feminine products, then it would be appropriate to pick a female IVR voice artist. Customers might feel uncomfortable asking about feminine products when they hear a male voice on the line.

Having the perfect scripts or messages for your IVR systems is not enough. How they are delivered matters. This is why you also need to consider the tone or mood of your brand’s voice. 

The tone of voice can greatly influence how your customers perceive your brand. For example, if you want your business to be viewed as casual and friendly, you should select a voiceover artist with a warm and welcoming tone. As for businesses that want to be portrayed as more formal and serious, a voiceover artist with a more confident and formal voice is the perfect option.

You can deliver a positive and memorable customer experience with the right tone of voice, further reinforcing your brand’s image.

Speaking at the correct pace is crucial for recorded messages. A voice that speaks too quickly may lead to confusion or frustration for the customers. Similarly, an overly slow voice may bore the customer. 

So, how do you determine the proper voice pacing for your business? Well, that depends on the message’s purpose and your target audience. For instructional voice prompts, you should aim for a slower, clearer pace to give ample time for your callers to listen and process what they're hearing. For promotional messages, you can use a faster, catchier, and more engaging pace instead.

Recordings for your IVR systems need to be recorded in a specific format. For example: wav 44.1khz 16bit or wav 8khz 16bit, mp3, G.711 u-law or A-law. If you work with a voice over agency like VoiceProductions you can be assured this won't be a problem. We will even take care of all the editing!

When identifying the right voice for your IVR, first come up with a list of your preferred voices. Do you want male or female professional voices? Should they be young or old? Have a jolly or serious tone over the phone?

You can narrow down your selection until you find the voice that aligns best with your brand. Here are 4 tips to keep in mind while listening to and evaluating voiceover samples:

Before listening to any voiceover sample, you need to think about the purpose of your message. Doing so will give you an idea or concept of how the voice for your telephone recordings should sound like. 

Is the message meant to guide or inform your customers? Or are you trying to promote your products? Asking yourself these questions can guide you and help you figure out the appropriate style and tone of voice you’re searching for.

Of course, you should always consider your target audience to choose a voice appropriate to them. For instance, if your clients are mainly elderly, it might be a good idea to choose a voice that speaks slowly. Meanwhile, if you're targeting a younger audience, you can go for a livelier and more engaging tone of voice.

It is also essential to assess the quality of a voiceover sample. Does the talent have a clear, natural, and engaging voice? Are there any distracting background noises or static that could distract listeners? Is the voice able to effectively deliver the format and messages of your script?

If you want a professional, high-quality voice for your business, consider hiring voice artists from popular voiceover service providers like VoiceProductions.

Lastly, consider the image of your brand when evaluating voice recordings. Select the one with the best accent, tone, the right gender, and other elements discussed in the previous section. Remember that your IVR voice recordings are offering a service, so they should be easy to understand.

Professional voiceover artists can help you deliver the best results for your recordings. Communicating clearly and working collaboratively with an artist can help them easily understand your brand and the tone you want to convey.

Here are some tips on how to work with a voiceover artist to get your desired result:

It's important to provide your voiceover artist with a detailed brief outlining your expectations. A good outline should include essential details like the purpose of your message, your target audience, and the tone you want to communicate. This will help the artist align their performance to the needs of your brand and deliver the best possible result.

You also need to define your technical requirements. Let your voice artist know about the technical specifications of the voice recordings, such as the file format and bit rate. Providing the technical requirements in advance can prevent problems, such as the recording being incompatible with your system, or failing to meet your standards.

Voiceover artists require ample time to do their craft. Ensure that you provide them with all the necessary details like brief and a great voice over text, so they can deliver on time. Set a firm deadline, and avoid constantly pestering the artist for updates.

Providing feedback to the IVR voice over artist ensures that the result meets your expectations. Remember that the artist could have a unique interpretation of your script, and they might make creative choices that differ from what you had in mind. Be specific about your expectations and your feedback. In this way, you can learn from each other.

Need help selecting the right professional voice overs? VoiceProductions can help. On our website you will find a large base of professional IVR voices. VoiceProductions guarantees quality, speed and a personal approach!

Can't find what you are looking for? Please don't hesitate and contact VoiceProductions. We will help you find the perfect professional IVR voice.

Or discover these complete guides on finding the perfect voice over for your corporate video, commercial, e-learning, audiobook or animated projec.

Choosing the right voice and voice actor for your IVR and voicemail is crucial in establishing customer credibility and trust. A professional and pleasant voice can set the tone for the entire interaction. Consider factors such as accent, gender, tone, and pacing when selecting a voiceover artist. 

Evaluate voiceover samples based on the purpose of your message and who your target audience is. Checking out the voice quality and being mindful of your brand’s personality is also important.

To get the desired result you need to define the scope of your message, technical specifications and provide clear and productive feedback. You also need to respect the IVR voice artist’s time.

By keeping these tips in mind, you can select the best voice to appeal to your target audience and deliver effective customer communication and support.

A: IVR, which stands for Interactive Voice Response, is a technology used in automated phone systems. In voiceover, IVR refers to the recorded voice prompts that guide callers through a menu of options. Or help them complete a task without having to speak to a live operator.

A: You'll need a recording device, a script, and a quiet recording room to record on an IVR. Here are the steps in a nutshell:

1. First, create a script with your IVR system's desired prompts and menu options.

2. Then, use a high-quality microphone or digital recorder to record your voice prompts.

3. Be sure to record in a quiet environment to avoid any background noise.

4. Once you've recorded your prompts, you can upload them to your IVR system.

5. Or you can use VoiceProductions. This takes away all the hassle and a good result is guaranteed!

A: You can hire a professional voiceover talent or use text-to-speech software to make IVR voice recordings. Text to speech software or AI voices can come across as impersonal. Overall results are usually worse than using a professional voice actor. If you opt for a professional voiceover artist, VoiceProductions can provide a wide selection of experienced voice talents.

A: The cost of IVR recording can vary depending on several factors, such as the script's length, the voiceover's complexity, and the voice actor's experience.

VoiceProductions offers competitive pricing for IVR recording services. You can get in touch with VoiceProductions for a personalized quote for your IVR voice needs. You can browse their website and find the perfect match. There is also an option to calculate the costs of the recording yourself, super useful!

A: Different businesses have different needs and preferences, so it's hard to say which company has the best IVR. However, some companies often cited as having good IVR systems are Google, Amazon, and Apple.

It's also worth considering working with a professional voiceover company like VoiceProductions to ensure that the voice and tone of your IVR system match your brand and appeal to your target audience.