Voice Biometrics: it sounds like good material for the SyFy channel, but in the contact center? Really? Yes, voice biometrics is not only a real consideration for today’s contact centers, but there is a host of case studies available to demonstrate how it can help centers eradicate common, time-consuming, and therefore costly, processes. Even better, voice biometrics has proven to also elevate customer service satisfaction and improve close rates.
Contact centers that find the most benefit from voice biometrics are those where signatures are required to complete transactions—think healthcare, financial services, insurance, pharmaceuticals and government. With voice biometrics, specifically voice signature solutions, all of these entities can eliminate back-and-forth processes, such as e-mailing, faxing and mailing, that until voice signature solutions came along were necessary to close signature-requiring transactions.
Sounds good, but the question that has likely come to mind at this point is whether or not voice signatures are legally binding. According to a white paper from voice signature ad IVR solutions provider Angel, voice signatures are legally binding. The white paper says, “The Electronic Signatures in Global and National Commerce Act (known as the E-SIGN Act) is a United States federal law passed by the U.S. Congress to facilitate the use of electronic records and signatures in interstate and foreign commerce by ensuring the validity and legal effect of contracts entered into electronically. A voice biometric signature legally constitutes an electronic signature under E-SIGN.”
Not only that but the Angel white paper said, “The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) states that electronic signatures are sufficient provided they meet the standards adopted under HIPAA. They go on to say that the application of the E-SIGN Act fully covers such electronic signatures.” Voice signatures are even acceptable for physicians who request pharmaceutical samples as long as certain criteria are met.
How can voice signatures take the place of written signatures? According to Angel, “each person’s voice is their ‘spoken identifier,’ with unique characteristics such as pitch and rhythm, [and] these characteristics can be mapped and used to verify identity.” Furthermore, “there are more than 120 different touch points to an individual’s voice. A voice biometric will capture all of these touch points and, in essence, make a fingerprint of that unique voice.”
Deploying voice biometrics is also not an overly expensive proposition as it only needs existing phone systems and technologies and it can integrate seamlessly with existing CRM systems and security infrastructure without special hardware. In the case of Angel’s Voice Signature, it is part of a fully hosted solution: Angel’s IVR and contact center solutions are integrated with voice biometrics.
For callers, it doesn’t matter where they are or what type of phone system they are using (including smartphone-based processes), which makes their lives easier as they don’t have to go through the hassles of mailing and waiting by fax machines to provide a signature to complete a transaction. Consequently, they become happier customers.
That being the case, businesses and contact centers that have deployed voice biometrics have demonstrated great success. For one, a voice signature is obtained 100 percent of the time as opposed to getting the signature only 40 to 70 percent of the time using other methods. And Angel’s customers have reported a 25 percent close rate improvement along with over five percent more sales. Perhaps the biggest bonus they have received from their use of voice biometrics is the reported 80 percent reduction in administrative costs as a result of voice signatures.
So, far from being something only The Jetsons would be using, real businesses and contact centers are using voice biometrics and seeing results that include freeing contact center agents from paperwork overload and reducing the amount of time they need to spend on calls. At the same time, voice biometrics is making both callers and corporate executives happy because it helps to lower queue time and abandon rates, both on the telephone and in obtaining required signatures.
Want to learn more about the latest in communications and technology? Then be sure to attend ITEXPO West 2011, taking place Sept. 13-15, 2011, in Austin, Texas. ITEXPO (News - Alert) offers an educational program to help corporate decision makers select the right IP-based voice, video, fax and unified communications solutions to improve their operations. It's also where service providers learn how to profitably roll out the services their subscribers are clamoring for – and where resellers can learn about new growth opportunities. To register, click here.
Linda Dobel is a TMCnet Contributor. She has been an editor in the contact center space for more than 25 years, and has the distinction of being the founding editor of Customer Inter@ction Solutions (CIS) magazine. To read more of her articles, please visit her columnist page.Edited by Tammy Wolf