Written By: Katie Johnson
August 11, 2025
Reducing Facility Delinquencies with IVR and Past-Due Automation
Operators can simplify payment outreach, give tenants convenient self-service options, and relieve staff of tedious duties by implementing Interactive Voice Response (IVR) and automated past-due reminders. Learn how these tools can enable your facility to proactively contact tenants, expedite payment status, and increase recovery rates without overburdening your staff.
What IS IVR
IVR is often used to:
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- Allow tenants to make payments over the phone without staff assistance
- Provide automated account updates (e.g., balance due, payment received)
IVR eliminates the need for staff to answer repetitive payment-related inbound calls and gives tenants the flexibility to pay on their accounts anytime, even after hours.
Past Due System
Through the past due system, you can offload your facility workload. Using call and SMS reminders, the automated system can notify tenants that they’re past due and provide an immediate, convenient path to payment.
How Does It Work
The goal of Zion’s past due system is to expedite your payment recovery process. Our system operates by:
Eligibility: Only late, past-due, or locked-out units receive notifications. Tenants who are in collection stages will be excluded from notifications. These stages include pre-lien, lien, or auction status. Our system integrates directly with your FMS, pulling the status directly from the tenant’s account, ensuring notifications are reaching the right person at the right time.
Automated Calls: By default, past-due tenants may receive two phone calls per month from the system, promoting a simple way for the tenant to connect to our pay-by-phone system at the touch of a button. These calls are an informative reminder that a payment is due and are spaced out with two-week intervals. A third callcan be activated for owners who would like more frequent outreach.
Follow-Up Text Message: If the tenant has not made a payment and brought their account current after the 2nd phone call (or 3rd if applicable), the system will send a text message to the tenant asking them to call in and pay their bill if they are still past due.
Owners or facility employees no longer need to manually follow up with tenants regarding past due payments, thanks to automated outreach. By making it simple for tenants to take action, it not only saves time but it raises the possibility of a speedy payment.
Benefits to Operators
Time Saving: Operators and employees no longer have to spend hours every week returning calls or following up on past-due payments, thanks to IVR and past-due automation. It’s estimated that facilities spend 4+ hours a month making past due calls. With the time saved, your team can concentrate on higher-value duties, like on-site modifications, since the system takes care of these chores automatically. This centralized automation gives multi-site operators even more portfolio efficiency.
Better Cash Flow: Even tenants who have a history of late payments are more likely to pay on time if they receive timely reminders via text and phone calls. You can eliminate common payment barriers by providing tenants with easy, self-service payment options, such as pay-by-phone. Friendly reminders, fewer delinquencies, and an increasingly steady revenue stream are the outcomes. Zion has already helped owners recover nearly $25,000 in payments!
Instead of spending hours chasing down late payments and making outbound calls, you, as an operator, can rely on consistent outreach to tenants. By providing your tenants with convenient ways to pay, you can gain access to stronger cash flow, fewer delinquencies, and take back your time. It’s a smart and cost-effective way to stay on top without getting buried in busywork.
Stop chasing payments
Contact us to explore how IVR and Past Due Automation fit into your existing operations.