Speech Technology: We Bonafide
This week’s New Yorker has, of all things, a feature on speech technology. Unfortunately, only the abstract is available online, however the magazine is available on newstands throughout the week. As an added bonus, the magazine also has a piece by George Saunders, a fascinating profile on Keith Olbermann, James Wood reviews Rivka Galchen’s first novel (she’s a really interesting writer–exceptional at splicing technological conceits with great fiction), and David Denby reviews The Incredible Hulk (Surprise, he doesn’t like it).
But back to what interests us. The piece, by staff writer John Seabrook, appears in the Annals of Technology section and provides a general overview of speech technology for the uninitiated (towards the end, he starts to list various applications of speech technology, finishing with Nemesysco’s voice risk analysis technology). There’s some interesting material on the history of speech technology, as well as some explanation on the way speech and hearing work.
Implicit, however, in the New Yorker’s coverage is that speech tech is becoming much more mainstream, notwithstanding the IVRs that so many consumers know and still seem to loathe (from the article: “North Americans spent forty-three billion minutes on the line with an IVR in 2007; according to one study, only one caller in ten was satisfied with the experience”). Both Wired and the New York Times have in recent months offered coverage of speech tech advances. People–and by people I mean industry agnostics–are genuinely interested in it as an interface, and the amount of coverage it’s getting outside of the trade pubs can only bode well for the industry, and the technology it offers, as a whole.
It’s about time! There are a few key technologies that have really helped moved speech to the forefront. On the customer side, there’s speech recognition. Algorithms have become significantly more advanced in recent years, and the quality of automated interactions has vastly improved. Unfathomable years ago, customers are now having true “conversations” with voice solutions in much the same way they would converse with agents.
On the contact center side, speech analytics tools have made a huge difference. Companies are now running these applications on recorded calls to look for patterns or repeated words that customers are using throughout their calls, and utilizing the information to identify required fixes for product offerings or business processes.
The technology has come a long way, and so have speech self-service strategies, but companies should continue to focus on this area. According to this survey (http://www.aspectindex.com/index_na/), a consumer who is satisfied with how an automated system works is two-and-a-half times more likely to conduct future business with a company. There is clearly a lot at stake.
Comment by Susan V.
— June 25, 2008 @ 11:06 am