14. The machine-readable medium of claim 8 , wherein the system administrator is the IVR.
8. A non-transitory machine-readable medium having stored thereon a plurality of executable instructions to be executed by a processor to implement a method for providing a system administrator access to a target application, the method comprising: providing an interactive voice response (“IVR”) system for interfacing the target application and the system administrator; receiving a request for accessing the target application at the IVR in speech form; authenticating the system administrator by using at least one authentication parameter including speaker recognition, speech recognition, or natural language question/response; granting access to the target application to perform an administrative function including making program system modifications, obtaining diagnostics, and performing system maintenance, if the system administrator is authenticated; wherein the authenticating step further comprises using a secret phrase or a biometric characteristic.