Whilst there is still a future in touch-tone based IVR systems, there is no doubt that Speech Recognition technology has opened up a greater range of telephone based self-service applications.Speech Recognition overcomes the traditional limitations of touch-tone entry i.e. digits 0-9 and so allows for more phone-based self-service applications.Simply put, Speech Recognition allows callers to use their own voice to navigate through the menu selections or nowadays, simply to say what they want e.g. “I want to fly from Heathrow to Boston next Thursday”.
Historically, and even still today in some organisations, Speech Recognition is seen as expensive ‘Bleeding Edge' technology that does not really work that well.This was a very true position five or six years ago, however, this is no longer the case.The technology is now extremely robust and increasingly affordable.For these reasons the uptake and use of the technology in the UK has increased in recent years and is now being used by many leading businesses including British Airways, Lloyds TSB, Powergen to name but a few.
The key to a successful Speech Recognition application is the User Interface design, an area that CC has a great deal of experience in.
