"This call is being
recorded for quality assurance purposes.�
Anytime you hear
that oft annoying but legally necessary statement, chances are NICE
Systems, Ltd. (news
�
alert �
quote) is recording your call. NICE is a provider, obviously, of
telephone digital recording systems, and it offers a new technology that
detects emotion.
As we all know from
having become incredibly frustrated, frenetic, livid�nay,
wrathful�whilst speaking with our bank or our cable or phone company, a
manager on the other end of the telephone sometimes does and sometimes
doesn�t intervene on the conversation. NICE�s emotion detection informs
the manager, should he choose to intervene, of the �aggravation� before
it even hits its peak.
Cable Agent: But,
Mr. Poocher, we never received your bill payment.
Me: I know I sent it
last week. I know because I sent it out the day I got my paycheck.
Agent: It�s not in
our records, Mr. Mutcher.
Me: Dude, the cable
switched off right in the middle of �Six Feet Under.�
Agent: Ha. I mean:
Sir, I�m sorry to hear that. Maybe you should have sent us your check
more than three days before it was due.
Me: What? Listen! I
missed half the episode! I don�t even know if Keith �paid off� David�s
restitution to the lawyer guy by�
Manager: Hello, Mr.
Tutcher. I�m the manager. Is there something I can help you with?
Me: [Sigh] Your
company�s stupid.
When your voice hits
a certain decibel, NICE�s call monitoring system will issue an alert to
the call center manager that there�s a problem. An alert will also be
issued when harsh/foul language is used or if the name of a competitor
is mentioned (name-droppers). This alert can more quickly resolve the
potentially hostile issue, as it will bring a speedier intervention by a
manager.
Companies spend a
large amount of money to acquire customers, and the good companies will
do nearly everything they can to keep those customers and not undervalue
them. Like all recorded calls, the indignant call here will be digitized
and stored on a server, where it can be batched with other angry calls.
It can be searched by keyword and be e-mailed as a sound file among the
company managers, addressing the quandary system-wide; thus,
illuminating the managers to what embitters callers.
As well as being
recorded, the call will also be saved for training purposes and
corporate analysis.
The only adversity
this technology has, it appears, is that managers will not be able to
get their normal work done�these alerts of animosity are bound to be
going off every two minutes.
This innovation is
presently being used in beta testing by FedEx Custom Critical, as well
as other companies.
NICE Systems serves
67 of the Fortune 100, including 10 of the top 10 banks, capturing 50
million customer calls per day. Its corporate headquarters are in
Israel, with offices around the world.
David R. Butcher is the assistant editor for
Customer Inter@ction Solutions
Magazine.
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