How Speech Recognition Improves the Customer Experience in Call Center?

Speech is the most natural way of human interaction. Due to technological limitation, we started interacting with devices using buttons, keyboards, touchpads etc. but interaction with human voice is most convenient communication since ages. A large percentage of population in emerging market are not very literate thereby facing challenges while interacting with text, keyboard etc. While texting, one must have clear knowledge of script, grammar etc. but all of us know how to speak since childhood. Voice therefore is the most convenient way of interacting. Innovation with Speech Recognition: By 2021, Gartner predicts brands that redesign their website to support voice search will increase digital commerce revenue by 30%. With the pervasive mobile devices, short attention spans and endless online options, easy way to search is critical. The good news is that with the invent of AI technologies such as visual search or voice command search is more effective and engaging at converting sales.

Voice commands become more helpful at home and on the go with SIRI, Alexa, and Google Assistance. There are lot of exciting ways to use voice-based assistance like enquire the order status, return policy, local store inventory, re-order items and check-out via voice. There can also be other more complex use cases like searching/comparing products, asking for recommendations based on preferences/history, holding products at local stores etc.

On-going research in the field of speech analytics supports the prediction that technology will propel virtual assistants forward. In a report by Opus Research, 247 out of 500 decision makers (49%) deployed speech analytics at their organisations. Of those respondents 83% achieved expected return within 12 months with one-third received return in just 6 months.

Google reports that 27% of the online global population is using voice search on mobile.

Speech Recognition & Call Centre:

– This technology is widely used in contact centres across the globe to enhance customer satisfaction, cutting costs, improving productivity and so on. Today one of the key merits of speech recognition technology is the ability of dictation provided by it. It enables faster creation of documents, as software has an ability of transcribing words with same speed as they are spoken. Its capability can also be used by companies that require huge volume of transcription tasks such as producing legal and healthcare documents.

– It is now extremely easy for callers to input different types of information including reason of calling, account numbers, names via the capabilities of a voice recognition technology. All these can be done without any interaction with a live call centre agent. It impacts tremendously on the productivity of contact centre as callers need not have to remain idle while their calls are put on hold since agents are busy with some other calls. This is how a contact centre can do great cost cutting by making effective use of speech recognition technology.

– Improvement of security by doing away with the engagement of agents from job of data processing.

– Can transform a complicated IVR menu into an easy to use system. : When a customer calls to a call centre, if the IVR is having speech recognition, it naturally speaks to the caller and gathers information. So one can find it more pleasing. Also a DTMF based IVR can only take limited input while speech based IVR is limitless. Also, it does not have to have the old way of saying… Press 1 for X… which automatically puts off the caller. How many times, we miss out on pressing the right button and have to go thru the complete IVR flow. With speech its hassle free… likewise all such benefits that users get by speech based IVR.

– For calls initiated from Smartphones, it is very inconvenient to open the dialer screen and press the keypad, unlike fixed phones where pressing the DTMF number is not a hassle. With Speech based IVR the hassle of opening the keypad gets eliminated.

– Can ensure enriched customer service experience; improve customer satisfaction while bringing down operational costs.

– An easy alternative for callers who like to connect to agents rather than touch-tone menus.

– Normally compatible with operating systems.

In a country like India where there are 22 official languages and 1652 mother tongues spoken, it is very difficult and expensive to have skill based agents supporting multiple languages. C-Zentrix is in the process of making a difference where machine will understand combination of multiple languages (English/Hindi) as well as different regional languages thereby process the required task. We believe people should interact as naturally as possible.