Today, our team at Tomato.ai is excited to introduce our initial two solutions, fresh funding, and momentum updates.
First, we are formally launching our flagship solution
the Tomato.ai Accent Softening — in beta. This is an application that is installed on a PC and works with any communications solution (Zoom, Teams, Meet, or Voice-Over-IP solutions). It embraces the beauty of accents while prioritizing the need for effective communication.
It is based on almost two years of research and development work by our team and uses the latest generative AI technology. To make the accent-softening solution work, our team pioneered ways of training machine learning models that can generate less accented speech in real time, which works instantly for any new speaker. Just as noise reduction has become ubiquitous on calls, we believe the Tomato.ai Accent Softening is poised to become the new standard, enhancing communication without compromising the integrity of unique voices, as each speaker still sounds like themselves, just less accented. Framework call center leaders can use to prioritize which AI solutions to implement first
Prioritizing Call Center AI Solutions
We’re also launching the Tomato.ai Noise Cancellation, which uses generative AI to recreate a person’s voice—while removing background noise. The Tomato.ai Noise Cancellation is available through the same PC application and is helpful for anyone on a call, regardless of whether they have an accent. The Tomato.ai Noise Cancellation has been measured to be more effective than other software-based denoisers and denoising headsets. It also works exceptionally well at removing other voices and music for customers on the other end—even if the sound to remove is right next to the main speaker.
I met my co-founder James Fan when we were working at Google, orchestrating some of the largest voice AI deals in the company’s history. Through our work on contact center AI, we saw first-hand how AI can improve customer experience. There is a delicate but achievable through-line between communication and culture—and with our expertise and firsthand experience, we built Tomato.ai to take on the challenges and nuances with cross-cultural communication. Every member of our team brings a unique perspective and firsthand understanding of the challenges and nuances of cross-cultural communication given that each member of the team was born outside the United States.
Our goal with these solutions is to empower call center agents, boost job performance, satisfaction and retention rates, and improve customer interactions. These agents will then be empowered to command higher rates, reflecting their increased value. Even without any linguistic barriers, providing a great customer experience can be extremely stressful. Clarity is essential in these environments and accents can present obstacles, especially during critical or stressful moments.
Propelled by advancements in generative AI solutions, the future of work in call centers and BPO (business process outsourcing) services stands on the brink of transformation. These tools hold the potential to bridge the performance gap between offshore and onshore agents, enabling a new era of efficiency and productivity. We’re excited to be a part of this next chapter.
With the launch of the Tomato.ai solutions, we’re partnering with global call centers—with Accent Softening we are focused on call centers in The Philippines, India, and Pakistan, and with Noise Cancellation more broadly on call centers across the World. Our solutions work on lower-end PCs and do not require upgrading to powerful PCs to run. Agents can install the app in five minutes and there’s no time-consuming upfront training.
We are also excited to announce an extension to our seed funding of $2.1M+, from existing investors Cardumen Capital and Recursive Ventures. In addition, from a new investor Gaingels, a firm that promotes inclusivity at work, a core value which lines up well with our company mission.
Just like the different variations of “To-may-to, To-mah-to,” we can express ourselves in diverse ways while still getting the message across. We’re proud to offer businesses a faster path to success, enabling them to streamline operations and enhance customer interactions with a high level of efficiency. To learn more about these two new solutions visit Tomato.ai.