Because people share sensitive data on the system — personal information, patient information, credit card numbers, and so on — IVR compliance is a rare consideration. The most effective IVRs come from regulations. Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) and the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA), but there are others.
In this post I’ll cover everything you need to know about IVR compliance and provide tips for finding vendors to help you reduce your regulatory burden and simplify compliance. Offer required features.
Managing risk with IVR compliance
When it comes to IVRs, a number of compliance risks are associated with using tools that automate functions to drive revenue — such as collecting payments and scheduling callbacks with potential or existing customers.
The top risks you will face as an organization are when Accepting payments through IVR Includes the following:
- Data breach: When your company accepts card payments and financial information, it becomes a prime target for hackers to steal credit card information. However, if the organization that is the victim of a data breach is PCI-DSS compliant, its compliance penalties are significantly reduced.
- Legal action: Data breaches can result in legal action by all affected parties (including credit card companies), which can be very expensive and punitive.
- Complaints and Disputes: Improper routing and long call wait times can lead to many unpleasant consequences, especially when money is involved. This dissatisfaction can cause customers to abandon calls in frustration or switch to competitors.
- Negative Brand Perception: One of the irreparable losses a business can face is the irreversible damage to its reputation, which can lead to a data breach due to carelessness of the IVR.
- Compliance Issues and Penalties: Failure to comply with PCI-DSS standards can result in hefty fines, increased transaction fees, or even the loss of the ability to process credit card payments.
The major credit card companies, namely MasterCard, Visa, Discover, and AMEX, formed the PCI SSC, and they pay fines for violations. For example, failure to meet PCI-DSS compliance requirements for more than seven months can cost up to $100,000 per month.
Additionally, more specific penalties include fines of $5,000 per month (for low-volume clients) and $10,000 per month (for high-volume clients) if noncompliance is between 1 and 3 months. If the non-compliance is between 4 and 6 months, the fines go up to $25,000 per month (for low volume clients) and $50,000 per month (for high volume clients).
It is important to note that these violations are not the same as violations imposed by government regulations. With IVR compliance, card brands will impose fines for violations on the payment processor, who in turn will fine the responsible merchant.
Keep in mind that most risks and penalties can be managed relatively easily by institutions like large banks, but if you’re a small business, it could lead to bankruptcy. To mitigate the risks, it’s a good idea to add or implement built-in compliance features of many IVR services.
Encryption and data loss prevention measures
You must ensure that credit card information is never transmitted across the network in plain text. Contact centers are required to mandate that financial data be encrypted in use, in transit, or at rest.
Additionally, Point-to-Point Encryption (P2PE) standards, which are a comprehensive list of security requirements, must be implemented by P2PE providers.
Follow PCI DSS and other security best practices.
IVR platforms should implement appropriate data retention policies that will not compromise your customer information. For example, when processing credit card payments, sensitive authentication data such as CVV/CVV codes may not be stored after authentication.
Additionally, call centers must not store any card data and therefore need to dispose of all stored credit card information.
Use IVR with built-in compliance solutions.
If you lack the resources or time to build a secure system infrastructure yourself, adopting an existing IVR compliant payment platform is a viable option.
You’ll probably want to look for a PCI-compliant hosted IVR service provider that implements secure payments – because, in addition to taking care of various delivery aspects, one advantage is that it handles sensitive card information live. Eliminates the need for agents. . In this granular environment, you eliminate the risk of data breaches caused by mishandling sensitive information.
Of course, you’ll also want your solution to be cost-effective and easy to deploy. Check mine Guide to IVR Pricing If you are unfamiliar with these products – it can be a bit confusing to assess the true value of these systems.
In any case, finding the right IVR provider for you involves investigating the following six potential features.
See: Learn why you should. Use a hosted IVR. Instead of hosting your own.
Six key features for IVR compliance
1. Certification of Compliance
I thought about not listing it because it’s common sense — but this is a post about compliance, so I’m not taking any chances.
It is very important to verify that the supplier has the necessary compliance certifications to ensure safe and legal operations. Key certifications to look for include:
- PCI-DSS (Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard).
- ISO 27001 (International Organization for Standardization – Information Security Management).
- SOC 2 (System and Organization Controls 2).
- GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation).
- CCPA (California Consumer Privacy Act).
For healthcare use cases, HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act) compliance is especially important. A business phone service or IVR provider should be prepared to sign a Business Associate Agreement (BAA) to ensure the protection of sensitive health information.
If a vendor is unwilling to sign a BAA, it doesn’t matter how secure their systems or access controls are. But see my full post How to Find HIPAA Compliant VoIP A complete breakdown of these organizations needs to be considered.
2. Secure payment gateways
Ideally, the IVR should integrate seamlessly with the payment gateway your organization is already using, as this reduces implementation complexity and ensures consistency in handling transactions. is Familiar systems reduce the learning curve for your team and help maintain existing compliance workflows.
If the IVR needs to switch to a new payment gateway, make sure the provider offers strong support, clear documentation, and evidence of its PCI DSS compliance to make the transition as smooth as possible.
Using a different payment gateway isn’t necessarily a disadvantage, but it can present challenges. You’ll need to evaluate the gateway’s compatibility with your existing infrastructure, its ability to tokenize and store payment data, and the impact on discovery efforts. Additionally, verify that the new gateway can handle your transaction volume and meet the specific compliance requirements of your industry or region.
See: See Best Payment Gateways To learn more
3. PCI DSS Scoping Options
A compatible IVR system should offer features that facilitate “de-scoping” of sensitive payment data away from your internal environment.
In practical terms, decoupling simply means separating customer card and financial information from your company’s systems so that the excluded ecosystem is no longer “in scope.” It minimizes and mitigates the risk of card fraud by separating your company’s infrastructure from customer card information.
Using a payment gateway is a good start, but you can do a lot more, and it will be easier with some IVR systems than others. Key options to look for include:
- Call recording with redaction For call centers that can be configured to automatically reject or mask sensitive payment information.
- DTMF masking Obfuscation of payment details during admission.
- Fraud Prevention Tools To identify and block fraudulent transactions before processing payment data.
- Tokenization Replacing cardholder data with a non-sensitive token.
Be aware that IVR systems with limited integration options can complicate discovery efforts by requiring manual handling of sensitive data. Without seamless integration with secure payment gateways or tokenization services, these systems can increase compliance burdens rather than reduce them.
4. Audit and reporting features
Comprehensive logs should be maintained for all interactions, ensuring that every customer engagement, especially those involving sensitive data, is traceable and accountable. These logs provide a valuable audit trail for internal and external reviews, ensure transparency, and Maintaining GDPR compliancePCI DSS, and other regulations.
Look for IVRs that allow you to customize and automate reports, which will simplify the compliance process. You’ll be able to track exactly what you need, ensure adherence to security protocols, identify potential compliance risks, and highlight areas that need attention.
In a compliance-oriented environment, comprehensive audit and reporting capabilities are essential for IVR systems.
5. DNC Compliance
Do Not Call (DNC) compliant telemarketing or Automated customer outreach with outbound dialers. Under regulations such as the US Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) and similar laws around the world, companies must ensure that they do not contact individuals who have opted out of receiving marketing calls.
IVR systems can help businesses manage this compliance by adding features that screen incoming calls against DNC lists in real time. This ensures that no calls are made to numbers on these lists, helping to avoid significant fines and penalties.
While outbound IVR systems are primarily responsible for DNC compliance, inbound systems can also play a role in verifying whether a customer has requested to be added to the DNC list during a conversation. . For businesses that rely on automated call systems for marketing or outreach, ensuring DNC compliance through IVR features such as automatic list matching and real-time updates can reduce risk and improve customer relationships. is necessary to maintain
See: Find out why. Agents converting from outbound IVR aren’t crazy about it..
6. IVR Access Features
IVR systems must be designed to be accessible to all users, including those with disabilities, to ensure full compliance with accessibility standards. This will be more important for contact centers with IVRs that include channels such as live chat.
Ideally, the vendor you choose will offer tools that will help you ensure that the IVR system follows WCAG (Web Content Accessibility Guidelines) standards, such as voice prompts. , clear navigation, and screen reader compatibility, help meet legal requirements and provide a comprehensive user experience. Experience