Cookie Preference Centre

Your Privacy
Strictly Necessary Cookies
Performance Cookies
Functional Cookies
Targeting Cookies

Your Privacy

When you visit any web site, it may store or retrieve information on your browser, mostly in the form of cookies. This information might be about you, your preferences, your device or used to make the site work as you expect it to. The information does not usually identify you directly, but it can give you a more personalized web experience. You can choose not to allow some types of cookies. Click on the different category headings to find out more and change our default settings. However, you should know that blocking some types of cookies may impact your experience on the site and the services we are able to offer.

Strictly Necessary Cookies

These cookies are necessary for the website to function and cannot be switched off in our systems. They are usually only set in response to actions made by you which amount to a request for services, such as setting your privacy preferences, logging in or filling in forms. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site may not work then.

Cookies used

ContactCenterWorld.com

Performance Cookies

These cookies allow us to count visits and traffic sources, so we can measure and improve the performance of our site. They help us know which pages are the most and least popular and see how visitors move around the site. All information these cookies collect is aggregated and therefore anonymous. If you do not allow these cookies, we will not know when you have visited our site.

Cookies used

Google Analytics

Functional Cookies

These cookies allow the provision of enhance functionality and personalization, such as videos and live chats. They may be set by us or by third party providers whose services we have added to our pages. If you do not allow these cookies, then some or all of these functionalities may not function properly.

Cookies used

Twitter

Facebook

LinkedIn

Targeting Cookies

These cookies are set through our site by our advertising partners. They may be used by those companies to build a profile of your interests and show you relevant ads on other sites. They work by uniquely identifying your browser and device. If you do not allow these cookies, you will not experience our targeted advertising across different websites.

Cookies used

LinkedIn

This site uses cookies and other tracking technologies to assist with navigation and your ability to provide feedback, analyse your use of our products and services, assist with our promotional and marketing efforts, and provide content from third parties

OK
[HIDE]

Here are some suggested Connections for you! - Log in to start networking.

EXECUTIVE MEMBER
Ikhwal Sidiq
Assistant Manager Trade and Remittance Services
408
MEMBER
R. Aju Eko Suprati
Ketua Subkelompok Program dan Anggaran
0
MEMBER
Firas Kurdi
Customer Service Director
0
MEMBER
Vijay s
Director
55

Article : A Look At Speech Recognition And Verification For 2005

The next step for speech technologyWireless connectivity has made things much easier for field workers. With a mobile device such as a personal digital assistant (PDA), Tablet PC or Pocket PC connected through a wireless connection (whether wLAN, Bluetooth, GPRS or one of the new 3G networks) a van driver, for example, has immediate access to information on all his or her customers – inventory, order status, credit status and more. Information is entered once, organised automatically and synchronised with the back office. Updates, changes and alerts can be pushed out to the field in an instant.

But the driver – or service engineer, or sales rep – probably still has to spend a few minutes at every stop retrieving each customer's invoice on her laptop, or several minutes filling out sales reports or invoices or other forms at the end of the day.

And that's where speech technology can really speed things up. Because it's a natural human interface, speech provides an expressive and convenient way to enter and send data, work with applications, and access information and services through just about any device. So, if a company's forms, for example, were Web-based and speech-enabled the representative could fill them out while driving to the next customer's location simply by speaking to the application. The application responds just as if the user is typing in the data, displaying the information as it's filled in, or reading it back if she desires.

Speech is also the only user interface mode capable of providing a consistent user experience across all devices, large or small. As mobile devices, wireless networks and Web services become standard tools for mobile workers, speech technology will undoubtedly put more power behind the benefits that wireless devices inherently provide.

How Speech Technology Will Change The Way Contact Centres Function
Although speech technologies have been available for several years and have made significant inroads in numerous markets, most contact centres today use simple touch-tone-based voice response systems for the majority of their calls. With the advent of standards like Voice XML, a powerful mechanism which separates an application from an underlying platform, and Speech Application Language Tags (SALT), and support from major vendors, speech recognition is quickly moving into the mainstream. Speech systems are poised to bring significant return on investment to contact centres through increased automation of customer calls, partial automation of agent-assisted calls and more accurate call routing within the contact centre.

To benefit fully from the capabilities of speech, companies will need to replace the user interface of their touch-tone systems with a new voice user interface (VUI). A good VUI design looks less like a simple flowchart and more like a complex process diagram, allowing advanced users to skip several steps forward at a time, while guiding less sophisticated users through the process.

The real benefits come when you flatten the menu structure, allowing callers to quickly navigate to where they need to go. To do that, a company needs to change the way it asks for information. Since our short-term memory can handle only a few items at a time, long lists of options should be avoided. Instead, companies should ask callers a general question such as, "What product are you calling about?" or list a moderate number of choices and enable the caller to interrupt when they hear the option they want.

Although existing speech-enabling automation systems can yield significant cost savings, new applications can extend automation to more complex transactions and create even greater operational efficiencies. With current speech technologies, it is now possible to automate activities that touch-tone applications simply cannot address. Product availability lookups, literature requests, address change and capture, as well as a variety of other common transactions are still ill-suited to keypad input.With a speech system however, these tasks become quite practical. In looking for new automation opportunities, a company should examine its call volumes and look for high-volume, highly repetitive interactions. In many environments, these can be largely automated with a fairly standard speech application.

Technology And The Role Of The Contact Centre Agent
The implementation and deployment of speech technology does not mean the replacement of agents. On the contrary, for a company to reap the ultimate benefits the two must work in tandem, delivering improved service and higher satisfaction for customers and greater productivity for live agents.

As most contact centres use touch-tone systems for routing calls to correct queues, verifying caller identity and collecting other information up front so the agent does not have to spend time on these tasks, speech can further improve the accuracy of this process by reducing call length and improving service. The use of touch-tone input to route calls is very successful in simple call centres with only a few obvious choices. If the caller however, wants a replacement part, for example, should he or she contact sales or services? if the caller wants an airline seat upgrade, is that domestic reservations of the frequent-flyer service desk? Does a digital photo printer fall under the category of security of personal electronics or computer equipment?

Since touch-tone menus in these situations are often hard to navigate, a large percentage of calls must be transferred from one agent to another. When the number of queues is large, a deep menu with lots of choices may be needed. These choices tend to frustrate callers not only are these menus slow and cumbersome, but the customer may simply ignore the menus and "zero out" to an operator. All of these factors combine to make call routing in a complex call centre a significant cost factor.

Fortunately, speech systems provide a much better approach. By asking one or more open-ended questions, then statistically processing the answers, it is possible to achieve a very high rate of correct routing with a very flat menu. For example the system might say, "Briefly describe the purpose of your call", and based on the caller's response, route the call among dozens of queues with an accuracy of 80 per cent or more.

Important Aspects Contact Centre Managers Must Recognise When Choosing Or Deploying Speech Technology
Speech technologies can improve a company's operations in so many ways that it can be difficult to decide what to do first. There is often a trade-off between doing a strategic contact centre redesign and a tactical add-on to existing systems. When planning for a speech rollout, it is important for companies to remember that while there is a cost for implementing the solution, there is also a cost for not doing do.

Once a company determines, for example, that an address change application could save it £20,000 per month, the company's management should consider that amount as a cost for every month they delay implementing the solution. By rolling this application out quickly as a first phase of a larger project, a company could potentially save enough money to roll out a more complex phase later. Contact centre managers must, of course, acknowledge and address the realities of corporate guidelines and budgets, but should keep in mind that implementing a system with a high return on investment in a short period is a good way to prove the technology works.

Today's cost structure is driven by complexity – complexity derived from proprietary systems, non-standard integration scenarios into telephony infrastructures, custom application development, etc.

The more open standard speech platforms can remove or reduce these complexities and allow industry players to add value focused on a customer problem rather than add value on connecting disparate IT systems, the better off the industry and the customer will be.

"Speech systems cannot solve all of a business' problems, but they can bring great benefits and a very quick return on a company's investment, improving business and increasing its competitive position." – Corinne Steer, EMEA Marketing Director, Edify Corporation

 


Today's Tip of the Day - Utilize Time & Money Saving Tools

Read today's tip or listen to it on podcast.

Published: Wednesday, February 2, 2005

Printer Friendly Version Printer friendly version

About us - in 60 seconds!

Join Our Team

Industry Champion Award Leaderboard

Most active award (top 10) entrants in the past 48 hours! - Vote for Others / About Program
Submit Event

Upcoming Events

The 19th AMERICAS Annual Best Practices Conferences are here! Meeting Point for the World's Best Contact Center & CX Companies Read More...
 31743 
Showing 1 - 1 of 3 items

Newsletter Registration

Please check to agree to be placed on the eNewsletter mailing list.
both ids empty
session userid =
session UserTempID =
session adminlevel =
session blnTempHelpChatShow =
CMS =
session cookie set = True
session page-view-total = 1
session page-view-total = 1
applicaiton blnAwardsClosed =
session blnCompletedAwardInterestPopup =
session blnCheckNewsletterInterestPopup =
session blnCompletedNewsletterInterestPopup =