Let’s face it: interactive voice response (IVR) has a bad reputation. While it may be unfair that old technology colors the perceptions about modern IVR, it is the reality and businesses need to understand that most callers are less than thrilled when they hear IVR on the other side of the line.

This bad reputation can be transformed into an asset, however, if the business understands the reputation of IVR and knows how to overcome caller skepticism.

Here are four ways that your business can improve its IVR.

Show callers that the information collected by IVR matters: We’ve all been there: After entering our information into an IVR system, we are transferred to a live operator only to have the operator ask us for the very information we gave to the IVR system. The solution this problem is showing callers that the IVR does pass info to the agent. A good way to do this is to have a screen pop for the agent that feeds them some information about the caller from the IVR, such as the caller’s name if they have already entered an account number. This will surprise and impress the caller.

Let callers reach an operator easily: Most callers know that pressing zero leads directly to an operator. Don’t subvert this knowledge in the name of forcing the caller through the automated menu system. All this does is frustrate the customer. If a customer wants to go directly to an agent, let them. It is better than the alternative.

Skip the marketing in the IVR system: While it is tempting to mention the company’s website or a promotion in the IVR system, resist the urge! Callers have reached out to the company for a specific reason, not to expose themselves to advertising. While a quick mention might be okay, avoid any lengthy marketing in the IVR system. There’s a time and a place, and the place for marketing is not during a customer service call!

Improve the IVR menu system through usability testing: What seems simple to you might not be as simple for the caller. One way to ensure that the IVR system works for callers is to have usability testing where you bring some callers in and watch as they progress through your menu system. This is the only way to see where callers are likely to get hung up or frustrated by the menu system.

IVR has come a long way, but many callers don’t know it. So it is important to make sure that the IVR experience is as easy as possible. These four tips will help your IVR system get there.