Three Good Reasons Why Call Centers Should Use Automated Speaker Verification

Call centers should all be using automated speaker verification (voice biometrics) in conjunction with their IVR systems. Here are three reasons why:

1) May reduce operating costs (e.g., eliminates the need for agent-led, manual verification of callers -- savings of 20-40 seconds per call)
2) Improves customer service (gets the caller to the service or information they need quicker)
3) Enhances security (reduces potential fraud due to social engineering)

Also, financial institutions and health care providers can satisfy multi-factor compliance by using voice biometrics.

Voice Biometrics – Text-Dependent vs. Text-Independent

Voice biometrics systems come in two flavors: text-dependent and text-independent.

Let’s explore the difference…

Text-dependent systems require a person to speak the same pass phrase(s) during enrollment and identity verification. The system compares the base voiceprint from enrollment with the sample voiceprint from verification. The majority of voice biometrics systems are text dependent.

Text–independent systems do not require a person to speak a specific pass phrase during enrollment and verification. The base voiceprint and sample voiceprint can be obtained in the background – even without the person’s knowledge (ideal for forensic applications). Text-independent systems usually require a longer enrollment process to ensure verification accuracy.

Advantages of Voice Biometrics

Before reviewing the advantages of voice biometrics over other biometrics (fingerprints, etc.), let’s take a quick look at the advantages of using any biometric to verify a person’s identity:

1) Only biometrics can verify that a person is actually who they claim to be
2) Passwords can be: forgotten, shared, observed and broken
3) Security tokens (smart cards, etc.) can be: lost, stolen, duplicated (some) and forgotten

Voice biometrics compared to other biometrics is:

1) User-friendly - speaking is natural and requires no special effort
2) Cost effective - verification is accomplished via telephone or microphone
3) Convenient - enables remote verification of a person’s identity
4) Secure – highly accurate