Businesses choose call avoidance techniques because person-to-person service calls are time-consuming[citation needed] and costly[citation needed] and should be accessed only when there is no viable option.
Voice calls can then be reserved for high priority customers, complex service requests, or emergency situations where the quick response of skilled phone agents is essential.
It is impractical[citation needed] and expensive[citation needed] for call centers to provide a live answer for every caller during peak demand periods such as certain times of the day, days of the week, or seasons.
With the spread of the Internet and email access, contact centers are moving toward self services[citation needed] via a searchable knowledgebase, Interactive Voice Response (IVR), or computer generated emails.
Password resets are the most popular[citation needed] form of website self-service where clients are asked pre-established confidential questions that verify credentials before the system sends them a temporary password.