Five9 simplifies voice biometrics development for virtual call center agents

Five9 is extending voice biometrics and real-time speech analytics capabilities provided by its partners to its intelligent cloud contact center platform to support low-code development of Five9 Intelligent Virtual Agents (IVAs).

The enhanced no-code development platform Inference Studio platform now includes a new user interface designed to maximize developer best practices, faster IVA task loading and support for larger applications, a customized development process for WhatsApp and other messaging applications, and improved monitoring, reporting and maintenance for IVA tasks and call flows, according to the announcement. The tools also include pre-built IVA applications for healthcare and insurance providers.

Five9’s Studio now simplifies the integration of biometric authentication from ValidSoft VoiceID, and real-time voice transcription with Voci Transcribe from Medallia, as well as agent coaching and guidance. The services are provided through Five9 VoiceStream, which is a set of RESTful APIs.

VoiceStream was launched to give developers a cloud service to leverage real-time voice data last year.

“Reimagining the customer experience will require organizations to reimagine their workforces,” says Callan Schebella, EVP of Product Management for Five9. “Our new capabilities make it easier for organizations to build and manage AI solutions that will enable human and digital teams to deliver next-generation customer care.”

Panel discusses active and passive biometrics, different voice channels

Five9 VP of Marketing Richard Dumas was joined by Auraya CEO Paul Magee and ValidSoft SVP of Pre and Post Sales Daniel Thornhill for a panel discussion at the company’s Conversational AI Summit, part of VentureBeat’s Transform 2021.

They discussed how the technology works, and how banks, credit unions, and credit card companies are among those saving millions of dollars while reducing call handling time, which increases customer satisfaction, with voice biometrics.

Auraya is up to 10 million users licensed for its voice biometrics around the world.

“Nobody can ever steal my voice, because they can’t steal what I’m going to say next,” Magee said. He stated that voice biometrics are more secure and versatile than other biometric modalities, on his view, because the systems measure behavioral and physiological elements of speech.

He also noted that the technology is no longer only implemented by very large organizations with big budgets, and can now be deployed by even small businesses.

Thornhill noted the utility of voice biometrics across various channels, from apps to smart speakers to IVRs, as a usability advantage. He also emphasized the importance of layering fraud protections.

Cloud technology advances and regulatory requirements have also boosted voice biometrics adoption.

Magee also promoted the idea of using both active and passive to meet both security and convenience needs.

The greatest barrier to using voice biometrics, he said, is getting consumers to enroll. One approach to reducing this barrier could be to enable enrollment through the consumer’s channel of choice.

Article Topics

AI  |  authentication  |  biometrics  |  call centers  |  cloud services  |  Five9  |  no-code  |  Validsoft  |  voice biometrics