By their very nature, call centers have to rely on voice and speech. Agents must be able to effectively communicate verbally with callers, whose speech is commonly used for identity verification, call routing, and more. In fact, voice recognition works together with accent translation, which helps to make offshore representatives sound clearer, mitigating frustrations and ultimately improving bottom lines. Here’s how the technologies complement each other to enhance customer interactions.
What is Voice Recognition?
Also called speech recognition, voice recognition is a technology that permits devices to understand and respond to human speech. Such systems use algorithms and artificial intelligence to analyze spoken words and convert them into digital signals. They subsequently compare the signals to a database of known words and speech patterns.
In addition to call centers, the technology is frequently used in hands-free requests; users can interact with electronic devices by speaking to them. It’s also used to personalize gaming experiences by recognizing players’ voices, and to identify users on streaming devices to tailor content recommendations. Further, voice recognition is used to verify participants’ identity in confidential calls to protect communication security.
What is Accent Translation?
Accent translation is a process through which non-native speakers speak more clearly by altering their pronunciation, rhythm, and intonation. It can help individuals communicate verbally more effectively and is particularly beneficial for people in technical roles or customer service. The technology is increasingly popular with call centers.
Rather than providing an entirely new accent, accent translation results in a more neutral speech. It generally involves identifying the differences between the target dialect and the non-native speaker’s current speech. It also involves determining the language of the speaker’s melodic intonation and sound system. The net result is reduction of the influence of the non-native speaker’s mother tongue on pronunciation. Three predictions, for contact center executives to consider, on how AI will shape the future of contact centers
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Voice Recognition and Call Centers
In call centers, voice recognition is mainly used to transcribe customer interactions automatically, improving efficiency, enhancing the customer experience, providing data-driven insights, and reducing costs by reducing the need for excessive call transfers.
Here’s a closer look at key applications of voice recognition in call centers:
Speech analytics
In addition to caller sentiment, the technology analyzes call recordings to ID trends and areas for agent improvement.
Call routing
Voice recognition analyzes the caller’s first statement to forward the call to the appropriate representative.
Customer authentication
Voice biometrics — analysis of unique vocal characteristics — are used to verify a caller’s identity.
Automatic transcription
Words spoken during calls are converted into text, relieving agents from having to take notes.
Quality assurance
Agent interactions with callers are monitored to evaluate customer service skills and identify areas for improvement.
Interactive voice response systems
Allows callers to interact with the automation by, rather than pressing buttons, speaking their requests.
Accent Translation and Call Centers
An accent is how someone enunciates a language. It’s how they pronounce words. Everyone has an accent, even though they don’t think so. If you were raised in Massachusetts, for example, imagine how you must sound to someone from Alabama.
Accents can reveal one’s identity, social class, and cultural identity. They can foster a sense of belonging and pride in one’s heritage. Problems can occur, however, when such inferences lead to preconceived notions and stereotypes, or accent bias.
Such prejudices tend to be more prevalent in roles that require a great deal of verbal communication. Call center agents, particularly those in offshore centers, are prime examples. Oftentimes, callers have difficulty understanding agents whose accents are unfamiliar to them. This can lead to frustration and cause callers to distrust the agents, doubt their intelligence, and generally treat them rudely.
Accent neutralization, such as the system offered by Tomato.ai, eliminates prejudices against those whose manner of speech differs from that of the dominant culture they inhabit.
Benefits of Accent Translation
Accent translation offers a number of advantages to call centers, including:
Improved productivity
Accent translation software facilitates faster first-call resolutions and lower average handling times. In turn, this leads to more call resolutions as well as fewer follow up calls. This improves center productivity.
Improved customer experience
Accent translation lowers instances of miscommunication and results in better-flowing conversations, helping to put callers at ease and improving customer satisfaction.
Reduced training time
Rather than spend weeks on voice training and pronunciation, agents in centers with accent translation can focus on issue resolution strategies, customer service skills, and developing technical knowledge.
Increased global scalability
Accent translation removes the need for region-specific communication training, decreasing localization expenses and streamlining operations.
Satisfied agents
The software all but eliminates stress and communication anxiety, improving agent confidence and performance, as well as agent retention.
Summary
Modern call centers are increasingly using accent translation to enhance communication, efficiency, productivity, and agent and caller satisfaction. Such platforms are used in tandem with voice recognition, which facilitates better experiences and efficiency, reduces costs, and provides data-driven insights.
The Tomato.ai Solution
It’s an unfortunate but pervasive fact of life: people are commonly judged by their speech patterns. Tomato.ai offers a groundbreaking AI linguistic filter that clarifies agents’ voices in real time. The result is improved perceived competence and intelligence, reduced frustration levels, and ultimately, more successful call centers.