PerSay, long recognized as one of the leaders in the voice biometrics space, was acquired by Nuance Communications, Inc. late last year. In an article on tmcnet.com, Chuck Buffum, Vice President of Authentication for Nuance is quoted as saying “PerSay’s voice biometrics products are currently in use across a range of applications, including remote transactions via contact centers and the Internet, password reset, offender monitoring, voice mining, and time and attendance. Together, the companies can accelerate the growth and adoption of the emerging voice biometrics market segment.”
I wish Almog, Ariel and the rest of the PerSay team the best of luck!
Showing posts with label nuance. Show all posts
Showing posts with label nuance. Show all posts
Monday, January 17, 2011
Thursday, March 25, 2010
Speech Technology Voice Biometrics Webinar - Summary
This afternoon, Speech Technology hosted a voice biometrics webinar titled “How Verifying Your Customer’s Identity Can Save You Money.” The panelists were: Judith Markowitz (Consultant), Chuck Buffum (Nuance), William Morrow (CSIdentity) and Paul Heirendt (Trade Harbor). The moderator was David Myron (Speech Technology).
Judith Markowitz began the session with a review of voice biometrics basics. According to her, organizations deploy voice biometrics to:
• Combat identity theft and other fraud
• Protect personal data - privacy
• Comply with regulations
• Enhance convenience and simplify the authentication process
Judith also mentioned that voice biometrics has been deployed in the following sectors: financial services, healthcare, distance learning, telecom, transportation and government.
Chuck Buffum next presented an interesting overview of voice biometrics metrics. He discussed business, solution and technology metrics. Business metrics measure reduced operating expenses, improved customer experience/satisfaction and improved security. Solution metrics include: automated authentication rate, security rate (1 – imposter rate), offer acceptance rate, enrollment success rate, and re-use rate (opposite of opt-out after enrollment). Technology metrics include: false reject, false accept and enrollment success rate.
Chuck also discussed some of the factors that influence voice biometrics performance, including: richness of voice enrollment (i.e., broad and deep phonetic coverage), quality of audio sample (e.g., signal noise ratio) and environmental characteristics (e.g., background noise).
William Morrow stressed the growing rate of identity theft and fraud as a driver for deploying voice biometrics. From 2007 to 2009, there was a 37% increase in the number of victims. He said that the cost of identity fraud in 2009, in the U.S., was $54 billion. William ended by presenting a brief case study about the use of voice biometrics to ensure academic integrity for distance learning company “I DRIVE SAFELY” (IDS).
The final panelist, Paul Heirendt presented an overview of TradeHarbor’s voice biometrics product (VoiceSignatureService(SM)). He also addressed many of the benefits that organizations can realize by deploying voice biometrics.
When the presentations were over, the panelists addressed questions submitted by the participants.
The archived webinar should be available for viewing on Speech Technology’s Website.
Judith Markowitz began the session with a review of voice biometrics basics. According to her, organizations deploy voice biometrics to:
• Combat identity theft and other fraud
• Protect personal data - privacy
• Comply with regulations
• Enhance convenience and simplify the authentication process
Judith also mentioned that voice biometrics has been deployed in the following sectors: financial services, healthcare, distance learning, telecom, transportation and government.
Chuck Buffum next presented an interesting overview of voice biometrics metrics. He discussed business, solution and technology metrics. Business metrics measure reduced operating expenses, improved customer experience/satisfaction and improved security. Solution metrics include: automated authentication rate, security rate (1 – imposter rate), offer acceptance rate, enrollment success rate, and re-use rate (opposite of opt-out after enrollment). Technology metrics include: false reject, false accept and enrollment success rate.
Chuck also discussed some of the factors that influence voice biometrics performance, including: richness of voice enrollment (i.e., broad and deep phonetic coverage), quality of audio sample (e.g., signal noise ratio) and environmental characteristics (e.g., background noise).
William Morrow stressed the growing rate of identity theft and fraud as a driver for deploying voice biometrics. From 2007 to 2009, there was a 37% increase in the number of victims. He said that the cost of identity fraud in 2009, in the U.S., was $54 billion. William ended by presenting a brief case study about the use of voice biometrics to ensure academic integrity for distance learning company “I DRIVE SAFELY” (IDS).
The final panelist, Paul Heirendt presented an overview of TradeHarbor’s voice biometrics product (VoiceSignatureService(SM)). He also addressed many of the benefits that organizations can realize by deploying voice biometrics.
When the presentations were over, the panelists addressed questions submitted by the participants.
The archived webinar should be available for viewing on Speech Technology’s Website.
Friday, March 19, 2010
Voice Biometrics Case Study – Union Pacific Railroad
In 2001, the Union Pacific Railroad deployed a customer-facing voice biometrics system to automate the release of empty railcars. The system was powered by SpeechWorks’ SpeechSecure product. [Note: SpeechWorks was acquired by Nuance in 2003.]
A 2004 whitepaper issued by the SANS Institute, provided the following description of the railroad's application:
“Union Pacific moves railcars back and forth across the United States every day. The railcars travel loaded in one direction and empty on the way back. When the loaded railcar arrives, the customer is notified to come pick up the contents. Once emptied, the customer needs to alert Union Pacific to put the railcar back to work. Union Pacific now has an automated system that utilizes voice authentication to allow a customer to release empty railcars. Customers enroll in the voice authentication system over the phone. When they call back to release an empty railcar, the system authenticates them and allows them to release their railcars. In this case, voice authentication has allowed customers to get off the phone faster, and Union Pacific to guarantee that a customer is not releasing a railcar that doesn’t belong to him.”
When a customer called the railroad's IVR, they were given the option to enroll in the system (i.e., provide a “base” voiceprint). Once enrolled, a customer could verify their identity by providing a “sample” voiceprint. If the voiceprints matched, the customer’s empty railcar was released. If the voiceprints did not match, the customer was transferred to a live agent.
Does anyone know if this application is still in use by the Union Pacific Railroad?
A 2004 whitepaper issued by the SANS Institute, provided the following description of the railroad's application:
“Union Pacific moves railcars back and forth across the United States every day. The railcars travel loaded in one direction and empty on the way back. When the loaded railcar arrives, the customer is notified to come pick up the contents. Once emptied, the customer needs to alert Union Pacific to put the railcar back to work. Union Pacific now has an automated system that utilizes voice authentication to allow a customer to release empty railcars. Customers enroll in the voice authentication system over the phone. When they call back to release an empty railcar, the system authenticates them and allows them to release their railcars. In this case, voice authentication has allowed customers to get off the phone faster, and Union Pacific to guarantee that a customer is not releasing a railcar that doesn’t belong to him.”
When a customer called the railroad's IVR, they were given the option to enroll in the system (i.e., provide a “base” voiceprint). Once enrolled, a customer could verify their identity by providing a “sample” voiceprint. If the voiceprints matched, the customer’s empty railcar was released. If the voiceprints did not match, the customer was transferred to a live agent.
Does anyone know if this application is still in use by the Union Pacific Railroad?
Monday, March 8, 2010
Voice Biometrics Case Study – TD Waterhouse Canada
In 2008, TD Waterhouse Discount Brokerage Canada launched a client-facing voice biometrics application. The service, dubbed “Voice Print System,” is powered by Nuance Verifier™. According to TD Waterhouse’s Website, the Voice Print System provides the following benefits to clients:
• Enhanced convenience and speed – automates verification of client’s identity allowing quicker access to their accounts and transactions
• Improved security – voice biometrics verifies that the client is who they claim to be
Enrollment Process:
• Client calls TD Waterhouse’s contact center and, when prompted, says “I’m not enrolled.” The client’s identity is manually verified by a rep, who also explains the Voice Print System. The client is then connected to the enrollment system
• Client is prompted to speak their phone number
• Client is prompted to say the phrase “my voice is my password”
• Client is prompted to speak a secret date (month & date), as well as a hint
• This process creates the client’s “base” voiceprint and stores it in the database for future use
Verification Process:
• Clients call the TD Waterhouse contact center and, when prompted, say their phone number and secret date. This process creates the client’s “sample” voiceprint which is then compared to their “base” voiceprint in the database. If the voiceprints match, the client’s identity is verified
According to Nuance, most TD Waterhouse clients have elected to participate in the Voice Print System service. This may be due in part to their personalized approach of having a rep explain the process to clients. The Voice Print System has also allowed TD Waterhouse to reduce agent talk time by 30+ seconds.
• Enhanced convenience and speed – automates verification of client’s identity allowing quicker access to their accounts and transactions
• Improved security – voice biometrics verifies that the client is who they claim to be
Enrollment Process:
• Client calls TD Waterhouse’s contact center and, when prompted, says “I’m not enrolled.” The client’s identity is manually verified by a rep, who also explains the Voice Print System. The client is then connected to the enrollment system
• Client is prompted to speak their phone number
• Client is prompted to say the phrase “my voice is my password”
• Client is prompted to speak a secret date (month & date), as well as a hint
• This process creates the client’s “base” voiceprint and stores it in the database for future use
Verification Process:
• Clients call the TD Waterhouse contact center and, when prompted, say their phone number and secret date. This process creates the client’s “sample” voiceprint which is then compared to their “base” voiceprint in the database. If the voiceprints match, the client’s identity is verified
According to Nuance, most TD Waterhouse clients have elected to participate in the Voice Print System service. This may be due in part to their personalized approach of having a rep explain the process to clients. The Voice Print System has also allowed TD Waterhouse to reduce agent talk time by 30+ seconds.
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