IVR Doctors

What IVR Doctors does

IVR Doctors is a boutique human factors and usability consulting firm specializing in the design, testing, and optimization of Interactive Voice Response (IVR) telephone systems for the North American energy utility sector. The firm operates as a DBA (doing business as) collaboration between Brandt Marketing Group, Inc. (Greenville, SC) and Camack Consulting, Inc. (Wheeler, OR), with three principals: co-founders Peter Brandt and Mark Camack, and team member Nichol Hibbard. Its core services include IVR Workshops (collaborative Zoom-based menu and call flow redesign), proprietary 'Wizard of Oz' usability tests (simulating proposed menus in a proprietary IVR test system before launch), and Live System Usability Tests (Zoom-based testing of production or pre-launch IVRs with real callers). The firm applies documented design principles—Clear, Concise, Mutually Exclusive, All-Inclusive—trained into client teams to enable ongoing IVR governance.

The company generates revenue through four primary streams: project-based IVR consulting engagements (custom-priced), the annual Energy Utility IVR Benchmark Report (19th edition in 2025, priced at $995 for IOUs and $495 for municipal utilities/co-ops, including a 90-minute consultation), specialized workshops on speech implementation and emerging technologies (chatbots, virtual IVR, AI), and recognition programs (Gold and Platinum Stethoscope Awards). Distribution is direct and consultative: co-founders personally drive business development through industry conference presence (CS Week, ICMI, AESP), webinars, published articles, and the benchmark report itself. Since 2025, the benchmark report is produced in partnership with Chartwell, Inc., a specialized utility industry information provider.

IVR Doctors serves investor-owned utilities (e.g., Versant Power, DTE Energy, Xcel Energy, Idaho Power), municipal utilities (Tacoma Public Utilities, JEA), electric cooperatives (LCEC, Ozarks Electric Cooperative), and Canadian utilities (Nova Scotia Power, Hydro One), with CVS Pharmacy as a non-utility client reference. Documented client outcomes include Oncor's 30% operational expense reduction, DTE Energy's $250,000 telecom savings within nine months, JEA's $430k+ estimated agent savings, and Southern Company's avoidance of approximately 17 FTEs through improved self-service containment.

Name

IVR Doctors

Legal name

IVR Doctors is a dba ("doing business as") business collaboration of Brandt Marketing Group, Inc., and Camack Consulting, Inc.

Website

https://ivrdoctors.com

Company type

Private

Operating status

Operating

Short description

IVR Doctors is a boutique human factors and usability consulting firm that designs, tests, and optimizes Interactive Voice Response telephone systems for North American energy utilities, offering workshops, proprietary usability testing, and an annual benchmark report.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Portland

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Others

Revenue model

1. IVR Consulting Services: Core consulting revenue derived from menu design workshops, usability testing engagements, and strategic advisory services. Services include IVR Workshops (2-day online sessions), Wizard of Oz usability tests, and live system usability tests. Revenue is project-based and custom-priced.
2. Benchmark Reports: Annual Energy Utility IVR Benchmark Report sales. IOUs pay $995 USD, Municipal utilities and Co-ops pay $495 USD. Includes a 90-minute custom consultation with purchase. Report is in its 19th edition (2025).
3. Move-to-Speech Workshops: One-day online workshops covering speech implementation in utility IVRs with audio and menu examples. Client menus are reviewed against criteria addressing contextual, non-contextual, and natural language systems.
4. Emerging Technologies Workshops: One-day online strategic planning sessions covering forward-looking technologies including speech, chatbots, virtual IVR, and artificial intelligence as they relate to IVR systems.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

IVR Doctors is a human factors and usability consulting firm that diagnoses, designs, and optimizes interactive voice response (IVR) systems for energy utilities. The firm sells structured workshops, Wizard of Oz and live system usability tests, and an annual Energy Utility IVR Benchmark Report to help utility clients improve their customer self-service experience.

Product overview

IVR Doctors is a human-factors and usability consulting firm offering a portfolio of services centered on evaluating and improving Interactive Voice Response (IVR) telephone systems. The core offering consists of IVR Workshops (menu and call flow design sessions), Wizard of Oz Usability Tests, and Live System Usability Tests, which work together in a three-step process: the IVR Workshop develops improved menus that are then validated through usability testing. Additional specialized offerings include Move to Speech Workshops and Emerging Technologies IVR Workshops that address speech recognition, chatbots, virtual IVR, and AI integration. The company also publishes an annual Energy Utility IVR Benchmark Report (the 19th edition in 2025, in partnership with Chartwell, Inc.) that rates 100 utility IVRs, accompanied by Gold and Platinum Stethoscope Awards recognizing top performers. Report buyers receive a 90-minute custom consultation. The company is a DBA collaboration of Brandt Marketing Group (Greenville, SC) and Camack Consulting, Inc. (Wheeler, OR).

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Gold Stethoscope Award: Award recognition program by IVR Doctors recognizing top-performing IVR systems across various utility categories in their annual benchmark reports
• Platinum Stethoscope Award

Products and services

• IVR Workshop A structured diagnostic and design workshop for energy utilities that diagnoses current IVR performance and identifies menu improvement opportunities. Delivered as a fixed-fee engagement to utility clients.
• Wizard of Oz IVR Usability Test A simulated IVR usability test in which a hidden human operator replicates a redesigned IVR system behind the scenes to validate new menu designs with real customers before deployment. Sold to energy utilities seeking to de-risk IVR redesigns.
• Live System IVR Usability Test A usability test conducted against the client's existing production IVR system to measure real-world menu performance and identify optimization opportunities. Sold to energy utility clients for in-place IVR improvement.
• Move to Speech Workshop A focused workshop helping utilities transition from DTMF touch-tone IVR menus to speech-enabled IVR systems. Delivered as a fixed-fee consulting engagement to utility clients planning speech migration.
• Emerging Technologies IVR Workshop A workshop that briefs energy utility clients on emerging IVR and customer self-service technologies and their implications for utility customer experience. Sold to utilities seeking forward-looking technology guidance.
• Energy Utility IVR Benchmark Report An annual benchmarking report providing cross-utility IVR performance data and best-in-class menu design comparisons, compiled across 19 years. Licensed annually to energy utility subscribers.

Quantifiable outcome

• 30% reduction in operational expenses
• +4 more outcomes

Named customers21 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature4 records

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• Chartwell, Inc.coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2025Chartwell, Inc. is a specialized information provider for the utility industry that provides strategic research and facilitates issue-targeted forums. In 2025, IVR Doctors partnered with Chartwell for the 19th edition of the Energy Utility IVR Benchmark Report, with Chartwell contributing data from their 2024 Residential Consumer Survey and industry expertise. Chartwell Vice President Stacey Bailey was quoted in the press release. This partnership enhances the report's credibility and extends its distribution through Chartwell's utility industry network.

Scale indicators9 records

Recent moves4 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Broad incumbents

• Concentrix: Global CX and customer management services firm with utility and regulated industry clients. Comparable as a broad incumbent offering consulting-adjacent services that overlap with IVR Doctors' optimization mandate at greater scale.
• Genesys: Major contact center and IVR/cloud telephony platform vendor. Comparable as a counterparty to IVR Doctors' utility clients for IVR systems; IVR Doctors' vendor-neutral positioning is explicitly differentiated against platform vendors like Genesys.
• ICMI (International Customer Management Institute): Established contact center professional community and training organization with research, events, and consulting adjacencies. Comparable as a broader industry authority in the contact center space where IVR Doctors competes for thought leadership and conference mindshare.
• NICE: Large enterprise software vendor for contact center, workforce engagement, and CX analytics. Comparable as a platform incumbent whose IVR and analytics products are purchased by the same utility buyers IVR Doctors advises.
• TTEC Holdings: Large digital customer experience and CX outsourcing provider serving enterprise and utility-adjacent clients. Comparable as a much larger CX services competitor that bundles consulting, technology, and operations.

Direct peers

• DMG Consulting: Independent research and consulting firm specializing in contact center, CX, and analytics advisory. Comparable to IVR Doctors as a boutique, vendor-neutral advisory practice serving enterprise buyers with research reports and bespoke consulting engagements.
• Strategic Contact: Boutique contact center consulting firm providing strategic advisory and operational improvement services. Comparable as a small, specialist consultancy operating in the same contact center optimization category with utility and enterprise clients.
• ContactBabel: Contact center industry research and analysis firm publishing benchmark reports and buyer guides. Comparable as a research-led firm whose primary commercial asset is recurring benchmark reports used to generate consulting leads in the contact center space.

Emerging players

• SaddleTree Research / Saddletree Research: Independent customer experience and contact center research/consulting firm focused on technology and process evaluation. Comparable as a small, specialist advisory competing for similar thought-leadership and benchmarking mindshare in the contact center space.

Regional players

• Chartwell Inc. Specialized research and information provider for the North American utility industry. Now a strategic partner of IVR Doctors, but also a partial peer given its research-led engagement with utility CX and customer operations leaders.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles3 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about IVR Doctors