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Speech Analytics Role Seen as Growing

By TMCnet Staff

With call center use rising and more people seeking help for a variety of problems, it’s no wonder that contact centers workers are feeling the stress. Who wants to go to work where you’re berated and belittled all day long?

In an effort to deal with the problem head-on, savvy call center managers are taking a closer look at the nascent field of speech analytics, where what people say and what they actually might mean are carefully analyzed and parsed, to better help staffers deal with calls before they become a problem.

To that end, Gerald Sinclair -- Practice Manager with Uptivity, an inContact company – posted a blog taking a closer look at speech analytics and explaining how they can identify a caller’s needs so that help is immediately at hand for future calls addressing the same problem.

“In call centers, there are a lot of moving parts that need to work together collectively in order to provide a great customer experience, but also meet company metrics and goals,” Sinclair noted. “When this does not occur, or there is a breakdown in processes, it is often difficult to determine the root of the problem. Speech analytics can often provide this insight and operate like a ‘psychiatrist for your business’. Speech analytics is the process of analyzing recorded calls to extract intelligence and provide better insight into what takes place on call interactions.”

How your agents perform in the call center can have a long-lasting and far-reaching impact on your business. Think about it: One bad interaction with an agent can cause a caller to quit, then continually re-tell the story and bad-mouth your efforts. Studies have shown that people trust what their friends tell them, and there’s no way to stop that “bad press” once it takes on a life of its own.

Conversely, a good experience not only enhances the customer’s impression, but they’re more likely than not willing to share that story with friends as well.

Citing industry analyst Donna Fluss, Sinclair tells of a “’rapid three-to 12-month payback, high net present value and high internal rate of return’ for adopters of speech analytics.” He goes on to note that “by reducing operational expenses, improving the customer experience which leads to increased revenue, and lowering customer attrition rates, speech analytics is clearly a worthwhile investment.”

Then there’s the legal aspect as well. “With speech analytics we are able to confirm, validate and, in some cases, prove that agents are abiding by industry regulations,” Sinclair says. “We can also identify problem areas and training opportunities before an escalated or litigation scenario arises. This technology can save companies on fines and/or lawsuits when utilized as a risk assessment and management tool.”

In short, the careful application of speech analytics can provide untold benefits not only to your customers, but to your workers who must deal with them as well. With competition the way it is, what are you waiting for?