#contactcenterworld

San Ramon, CA, USA, Dec 7, 2021 -- Five9, Inc. (NASDAQ: FIVN), a provider of the intelligent cloud contact center, announced it is adding a new capability to help businesses reimagine their self-service experiences using life-like conversational AI synthesized from human voices.

The new capability, Five9 Virtual Voiceover, will be available to Five9 Inference Studio 7 users at no additional cost. Studio 7 is currently in controlled availability and will be generally available in early 2022.

The partnership will also allow Five9 customers to create bespoke voice avatars based on their existing voice talent, such as a trusted company spokesperson. With the talent’s permission and a few hours of recording, WellSaid can create the custom avatar and provide guidance on scripting, recording, and audio specs to ensure the highest quality results.

"In our experience, the more life-like an IVA can sound, the better the reception it will receive from the customer who is speaking with it," said Callan Schebella, EVP, Product Management, Five9. "We’re continually looking for the latest and greatest technologies to enhance the Studio platform, and we are excited to partner with WellSaid to bring this new innovation to our customers."

Custom voice avatars for the digital workforce

Five9 used WellSaid’s technology to create its own custom voice avatar, enlisting the expertise of Alex Baratta, Ph.D., senior lecturer in language, linguistics and communication at the University of Manchester, and film and television voice coach Liam French Robinson. Baratta and Robinson selected a voice actor based on key vocal traits that the experts determined to be well-suited for customer service. Then they coached the actor to amplify those traits during the process of recording his voice for the Five9 avatar.

"We look at key elements such as pitch, volume, speed, and intonation," Baratta said. "And within those categories, there are micro-level details that contribute to whether a voice is perceived as warm, engaging, trustworthy, or any other judgements made regarding how we perceive people based on their vocal quality."

The custom Five9 voice avatar will be available in Studio 7, alongside WellSaid’s standard voice avatars. The custom avatar will also serve as the voice of Five9 New Hire, an IVA designed to help Five9 customers and prospects learn about deploying IVAs in the contact center to create a digital workforce. Implementing a digital workforce that can automate customer engagement is increasingly important as businesses deal with worker shortages and increased service demand, both of which are expected to impact businesses during this holiday season.

#contactcenterworld

Posted by Veronica Silva Cusi, news correspondent
Source: https://www.businesswire.com

Date Posted: Wednesday, December 8, 2021