It's not what you say it's the voice that says it that's important - Voice Biometrics... is your voice your password?
John Camp, Business Applications Consultant - NSC Group
The last couple of years have seen voice biometrics go from a laboratory curiosity to a serious security technology protecting customers' accounts and information in banks, financial services and Government. We all have a sense that everyone's voice is unique. How unique? Well about three times more unique than your fingerprint. What voice biometrics does is to analyses the way we speak to confirm that you are who you say you are - in the same way that your fingerprint confirms your identity.
To understand why this technology has emerged so quickly it is important to understand the underlying business, commercial, security and customer service benefits delivered by the deployment of the technology.
Voice biometrics delivers four benefits which are compelling for both businesses and end-users.
1. It protects your customer's data and helps combat Identity Theft
We've all done it - answered umpteen personal questions - name, address, date of birth, telephone number, mother's maiden name and so on. And if it's self-service, then there is a PIN and password to remember. So how much easier would it be if you just spoke your account number (or telephone number) and that was that! No PIN's no passwords and no answering umpteen questions. This is one of the customer benefits delivered by voice biometrics.
The security shortcomings of PINs and passwords have been long understood. If I have your PIN or password, I have your account. The fact you know name, address and all the other answers, doesn't mean it is you. What is more, the explosion in social networking has "commoditised" personal information making it valueless as a security credential. On top of this has been the shift in identity fraud. As Internet security has been strengthened through the introduction of SMS, one-time-passwords, hardware tokens and other measures, crooks have shifted their attention to the more insecure channel - the telephone. Now with account numbers and victim's personal information, it is relatively easy to take over accounts and steal funds.
Even if the fraudster has stolen personal information, PINs and passwords, he or she does not have the correct voice characteristics to break into the account. Voice biometric systems are very good at detecting the incorrect speaker, even when they are saying the correct access information and this makes them an extremely powerful solution to overcoming identity theft and fraud.
2. It provides a compelling and easy to determine Return On Investment (ROI) by reducing Average Handle Time
The ROI for Biometrics is very simple to determine. A high level example is provided below:
| Description | Inputs |
| Calls Per Year From Existing Customers | 500,000 |
| Current Average Handle Time (seconds) | 300 |
| Time Taken To Ask Security Questions for Existing Customers (seconds) | 45 |
| New Average Handle Time (seconds) | 255 |
| Current Cost Per Call | $5.00 |
| New Cost Per Call | $4.25 |
| Cost Savings Per Call | $0.75 |
| Cost Savings Per Year | $375,000 |
As biometrics is often priced either per registration or per verification it makes it easy to understand where the cost savings are.
3. Knowing Your Customer = Intelligent Routing
Knowing exactly who your customer is can make a difference about how you treat them. Customers don't really like using IVR menus. They will often try to beat the system by just selecting option 1, option 1, option 1, knowing they will get through to an operator more quickly. This has implications for workforce planning, transfer rates and Average Handle Time. By knowing immediately who your customer is, you can change the way in which you offer services. Regardless of why the customer is calling, if they are in arrears you send them to the collections area first. If your customer is a concession customer you may want to send them to the same team every time as it's a more complex transaction. The high value customer might need to be given to a specific agent or team. All this can be done by knowing specifically WHO is calling rather than WHY they are calling.
4. There are privacy aspects too...
In the current process, when you expose your personal information to the contact centre agent you expose your identity. Anonymity is a fundamental tenant of privacy. Providing confidential and secure services that do not require you to expose your personal information is not only more secure it enhances privacy of personal information. Indeed, the two points go hand in hand. One of the largest frauds in the US was perpetrated by a contact centre agent writing down people personal information and then on-selling this to organised crime to enable them to take over the account with a guarantee there were funds available for theft.
So there you have it. Four value propositions in a single technology solution. Not only does NSC voice biometrics strengthen security, enhance privacy and protect client's personal information, it enhances caller convenience, eliminates the need for PINs passwords and repeating personal information. It also delivers a strong ROI.
In many ways voice biometrics can be seen as "an enabler" of voice self-service ensuring you know who is calling before providing that access.
If you'd like more information on speech recognition or biometrics please email speechinfo@nsc.net.au