CaTS, PerSay collaborate on voice recognition

Voice biometrics is a relatively new technology which many see as essential to contact centres in today’s world of identity theft, fraud, and attacks on security and privacy. South African company CaTS has formed an alliance with one of the world leaders in the field of voice biometrics, leveraging its fast knowledge of voice-related applications, VoiceXML and MRCP integration, to deliver a working test platform in a short time span. The implementation of voice biometric measures will likely only increase, moving forward with the increased use and application of voice interfaces for financial and contract related transactions.

CaTS chose to make use of Israeli company PerSay (company’s motto: “Leave impersonators, frudsters, and identity thieves speechless”) its voice biometrics technology partner and has successfully developed and tested two avenues of integration, from a standards-based environment to the PerSay Voice Biometrics system. The voice biometrics database collects voice prints from clients or subscribers who have been successfully authenticated. These voice prints can be a content-specific password spoken or it can be any arbitrary phrase uttered by the caller. Each voice print is then, in turn, saved against that particular identity. As callers phone, their voice print can be taken at the agent’s request, or while they are in the process of greeting the agent. The first would be a content-specific password and the second would be a non-content-specific password. The latter allows for an unobtrusive authentication.

Johan Grobler, MD, of CaTS, stated: “we are very happy to have successfully conducted tests within the South African context and believe voice biometrics is the logical next step, when virtual authentication is required from a client.” With the introduction of voice biometrics, the caller’s experience is enhanced and the time spent by the agent on the call is also drastically reduced. Grobler concluded: “With theft of personal identity as something common today, an added layer of authentication is invaluable for any organisation that values a high standard of customer care and satisfaction. We also see this as an easy step for any organisation to differentiate its customer care experience.”