Ask Eric: Questions & Answers

October 6, 2009 – submitted by Sue McGough of Albany, NY

Question: What is the common format of date fields used when developing IVR scripts?

Eric's response: Date fields are a bit painful in IVR. Therefore I always try to use a default. Like "If this order is to be placed TODAY, Press 1".

There is no international standard for entering dates (even in text). But if the facility is used infrequently you can provide an overview and then unpack the entry.

"Please enter your card's expiry date.
First enter the MONTH as a number one though twelve..." (and so on).
Be sure to have nice error management loops built in.

Of course providing a date is much easier. You can just use "Your payment was due June second two thousand ten". This works even if you are in a region where the number comes first. But of course try to go with your regional preference on day and month order.