What is Speech Analytics and how is it carried out?

“You can have data without information, but you cannot have information without data.” — Daniel Keys Moran

 

The above quote can very well be related to speech analytics. The conversation between two people, let's assume one is a customer and the other one is a customer care executive did not hold much significance in earlier times. 

 

It just used to be some problem solving interaction and that is it. After the call was over either the complaint type was filed with the manager for future reference or none of it was done.

 

But since the age of technology, that conversation holds so much information just like what Daniel Keys Moran quoted above. These calls are recorded now and listened to and even analysed later on. 

 

A proper metric system is designed to get meaningful information out of it. It is interesting how meanings and information are derived from speech. There is a tool called speech analytics that is used to find this information. In this blog you will learn more about this tool and how it works. You will also find about its uses and which industry type gets the most advantage with it.

 

(You can read about marketing metrics to better understand how the metrics work)

 

 

What is speech analytics?

 

Speech analytics is a tool which carries on a process to analyse the phone conversations to derive meaning information, patterns, emotions and behavior from it. It is usually done with the customer calls to analyse it. 

 

This whole process can be further extended to various other customer interaction channels like social media, chats, emails, texts and others.

 

Usually the customer calls are recorded but this tool is like an add-on or a separate mechanism that is carried on either simultaneously or later on. It helps to decipher the conversations better. Customer patterns can help the businesses for future courses of action. It is like an insight for the future. You can usually find it in call centres.

 

What does speech analytics do?

 

Speech analytics can take up a lot of unstructured data effectively and it catalogues hundred hours of calls, maybe thousands. It can index thousands of call recordings. It also deciphers and delves into the lateral knowledge of it. 

 

Businesses usually have so much data but they are not able to tap it successfully. With speech analytics they can tap into the untapped data of phone conversations and utilize it for future insights.

 

Therefore, speech analytics gives a structure to the data. Managers can pinpoint the problem causing areas, compliance related issues, and various other trends including drivers. It is one of the best gifts of AI given to us.

 

(Suggested Read - What is AI?)

 

 

How is the speech analytics process carried out?

 

The whole process of speech analytics is divided into 3 sections as shown above. Let us learn about each section one by one in a simple way.

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Speech Analytics Process

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• Unstructured data 

 

Data is the source of information. In speech analytics the data is real time phone calls, recordings or any source that is required to be delved. 

 

• The speech analytics process

 

From this section the process of arrangement of data to its findings is done. Let us go through each step.

 

1. Structure Customer conversations 

 

First we need to structure the data and categorise it.

 

2. Create a file

 

Indexes and files are created using the structured data.

 

3. Augmentation

 

It is the creation of synthetic data from already existing data. We know that the speech analytics process is also called audio mining. Augmentation helps us to increase the dataset in order to find variances in data. It is an essential step in the process.

 

4. Analyze metadata

 

Metadata helps us in finding relevant data and ensuring that we have the data for future use so we can re-use it. Analyzing metadata will give us the information that we are looking for.

 

5. Present Findings

 

Once the data is analyzed and relevant information is sought. It is time to present the information and use it for multiple areas.

 

• Primary uses

 

The last section of the whole speech analytics process is using the information. Root cause analysis, trend analysis, quality assurance, script, compliance and others.

 

(Suggested read- Augmented analytics)

 

 

Speech Analytics in BPO

 

Business process outsourcing, referred to as BPO in short, is one of those industries that has used technology and its tools to better understand their customers. Speech analytics is one of those tools. 

 

This tool can better understand the human point of view while interacting and can help resolve the problems using AI. What does the customer really want? What is his intent? What is he implying? All these questions can be answered through speech analytics. Real-time experiences can be more interactive if the agents can pinpoint the exact issue.  

 

You must have heard the agent say- “This call will be recorded for future purposes” it means that later on all the conversations will be analysed to find out any red flags, compliance issues etc, that the business needs to work on.

 

BPO’s have struggled a lot in this area. Training humans to look for red flags and other issues can never guarantee that they will always be successful. But speech analytics can decipher 100% calls at all times, even the recordings. Even the performance of agents can be monitored with this tool. Many companies like Amazon, Myntra have been using this tool.

 

There are multiple companies that offer this service like- NICE, Genesys, Verint, Clarabridge, Dialpad. With speech analytics the BPO sector has been able to streamline the whole process. They have achieved better customer satisfaction as well. 

 

One can only imagine how tiring this job can be for humans. Eventually they will get tired and their own emotions can hamper the interaction. Sometimes they can even be blunt with the customer because of their personal issues. BPO’s have now successfully deployed this tool and removed such issues from their path. 

 

(Recommended blog - Emotional AI)

 

 

Speech Analytics in Telecom sector

 

Telecom sector is another one which has faced issues in handling the customer requests. But speech analytics has completely changed it. They no longer face issues to cater customer needs. 

 

Machines are able to understand the needs of the customers and all their queries are solved instantly. There are so many customers involved with a single telecom company that it becomes difficult for the company to cater everyone’s needs. Likewise the customers feel as if their complaints and voices are not heard.

 

The predictive analytics tool has helped the companies anticipate future issues that a customer can have and solve it even before it arises. This analysis is only possible due to deployment of speech analytics. 

 

It is powered through machine learning and AI. Because of machine learning and AI pre built intent models are made to satisfy the consumers at large. You must have heard a robotic voice asking to put random numbers to jump to various issues that you might face. For example- calling on helpline numbers and they ask you to press 1 for english.

 

Personalized messages are also built for customers so they love the whole experience and feel satiated. Attracting more customers, making sure they pay bills timely are crucial issues that the telecom industry deals with. Speech analytics has done a wonderful job in offering them insights.