T3i Group Predicts Healthy Growth In IVR Market Driven By the Synergy of New Applications and Technology

According to T3i Group's latest research, the global interactive voice response (IVR) market, which includes speech recognition, will grow to $514 million by 2013, up from an estimated $431 million this year, due in part to the growth in voice XML (VXML) technology.

The new "InfoTrack for Converged Applications 2008 IVR Market Report" found global IVR shipments from the top 11 vendors exceeded 625,000 ports in 2008. The top three vendors based on ports shipped were Nortel, Genesys and Convergys; and the revenue leaders were Avaya, Nortel and Genesys. T3i Group said North America led all regions but with considerably less than 50% of the market, followed by the Europe Middle East Africa (EMEA) and Asia Pacific (APAC) regions, respectively.

T3i Group segmented the analysis in this report by technology, applications and vertical industry.

Among the key findings:

• 95% of IVR ports shipped in 2013 will support VXML, compared with less than 75% today. VXML enables Web sites to offer the same text-based applications, such as order entry, with speech recognition.
• The top three IVR applications are incoming call handling for contact centers; inbound self-service transactions; and outbound calling, such as appointment confirmations, collections reminders and repair notifications.
• As vendors and enterprises integrate IVR into more comprehensive customer-care solutions, IVR ports shipped specifically for inbound calls to contact centers will decrease nearly 10% each year to 2013.
• In comparison, IVR port growth will be driven by outbound applications at a rate of almost 12% annually through 2013.
• DTMF (analog voice) port shipments are declining, while shipments of speech ports, which recognize speech or convert text to speech, will hold an almost 2:1 advantage by 2013.
• IP/SIP port shipments are growing strongly year over year; by 2013, only 10% of all IVR ports shipped will be TDM, compared with 42% today.

Plausible Telephone Scam highlighted by Cambridgeshire Police

I don't usually forward scam information as usually they are spoofs or mis-informed, but this one has come from my local constabulary (the warning, not the scam itself of course :) ). This certainly has an air of plausibility about it - I particularly like the notion of getting the victim to hang up and pick up the phone again, while all the time the caller holds the line busy, in order to trick them into thinking the line is now dead.

Not everyone realises, but this is in fact a feature of the BT Phone Network - a phone line is held open for up to 2 minutes, even when the called party hangs up. This allows a called person to hang up one phone, go to another room, pick up the phone there and carry on the conversation. Of course, these days with mobiles and cordless phones not many people need this feature - but in the "olden days" it could be very handy!

Here's the message from Cambs police.

----- Forwarded Message -----

Norfolk Police have alerted a BT collection service scam
which is believed to be a National fraud.

The details are as follows:-

A professional sounding adult male phones the victim (victims chosen are
listed in the phone directory) stating he is calling from BT Collection
Service because money is owed to BT.

The caller states that the (victims) bank has stopped the Direct Debit and
that money is immediately owed, failure to pay will result in their phone
being cut off. The amount that is allegedly ‘owed’ has been less than £10
(typically £9 ).

The caller requires the victims credit card details so that payment can be
made. The caller also ‘proves’ he can easily cut off the victims phone
telling them to hang up and try dialling out, it is then believed he puts
them on ‘hold’ so that the line is still connected (but sounds dead) but of course the victim believes their line has been disconnected.
The offender then phones them back and again attempts to obtain their
credit card detail.

The main object is not the £9 but is to obtain the credit card data. The
caller is described as very professional sounding.

Please be aware and do not give any personal details out over the phone.

Eckoh plc: Vue Cinemas Renew Exclusive Contract for Three More Years

Eckoh plc is pleased to announce it has successfully renewed its exclusive contract for a three year period to provide a speech-enabled cinema information and ticket booking service and live contact centre to Vue, the UK?s leading developer and operator of state-of-the-art cinemas.

Under the terms of the contract, in Autumn 2009, Eckoh will deploy a completely new automated telephone service which is being designed to reflect the same innovative approach that Vue bring to the cinema market as a whole.

The service will allow callers to easily access information and to book tickets from the full and extensive range of ticket and performance types across the Vue network and to select where they would like to sit in the cinema auditorium and to keep this as a personal preference. It will also feature increased levels of personalisation so it will offer callers where desired, selections based upon their previous call patterns to make the call quicker and more intuitive.

The new service will also benefit from being deployed on Eckoh?s new state-of-the-art VoiceXML call platform which operates the very latest in speech recognition technology from Nuance. This new platform which goes live in the Summer will ensure that the technical performance of the Vue service and the accuracy of the speech recognition will be best in the market.

The 7 deadly sins of contact centres

Some contact centres are still getting the basics wrong in fostering a proactive approach to customer services.

1. Organisations say that they want to get closer to their customers and provide a personalised service, but their customers receive email responses that say ‘do not reply to this email’!

2. Companies still get their “valued” customers’ names wrong both on the telephone, and in writing. For example, Mr Eastman, Eastham, Eastern or even “Dear Easton…” or just “Easton…”

3. Requesting the same information from the customer over and over again

4. Outsourced contact centres not understanding the product or its context. For example, a customer calling up to renew a football season ticket who asks the call centre agent what he thought of last night’s game, and getting the response “what game?”

5. Customers are still finding their way through the IVR maze and are then confronted by an agent or ’script-hostage’ with no empowerment to help the customer there and then.

6. Calling customers in the evening at home still persists - why not email the customer with a personalised email that they can read in their own time instead?

7. Having delivered excellent service via the contact centre, the parcel delivery contractors destroy the brand they represent by delivering when it suits them - not the customer, or by handling goods without care and attention.

Add your own!

SpinVox says humans are necessary for time being

We all knew it anyway, but following claims earlier this week by the BBC ( http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/8163511.stm ) Spinvox has come slightly more clean about the nature of their "D2 brain" for speech-to-text conversion.

“Having experimented with purely automatic speech conversion, SpinVox decided early on in its development that because its voice to text service converts real-life, dynamic and fast-evolving language and messages that we use and exchange every day (known in the industry as ‘free form speech’), it was essential that the system had the capability to evolve at the same rate, converting the latest words, phrases, brand names and colloquialisms to ensure a high level of accuracy. This is why it describes the system as ‘live-learning’,” the company said.

Live-learning combines SpinVox’s “rapidly evolving state-of-the art technology with human quality control and training,” to convert its messages. This seems to be an admission that humans are used in the message conversion process, and is nothing new from SpinVox, but it is still not a clarification on the extent to which humans are used. Although the company does admit that it works with five call centres for quality control purposes.

source: http://www.telecoms.com/12964/spinvox-says-humans-are-necessary-for-time-being

Of course, it's convenient for the PR machine to describe transcription by humans as "quality control" but that's rather like saying your car doesn't need servicing, but "quality control inspections" every few months. Different words, same meaning?

nik

O2 links with twitter to make tweets go mobile and free

To set Twitter texts up, head to Twitter, choose Settings then Devices. Once you've followed the prompts there, you can then choose which followers you want to get texts from. You'll then receive each of their status updates by text message - you can also choose to receive every direct message you get too.
From today you can also send Twitter updates to 86444 - texts to this number will cost your normal text message rate or be part of your inclusive bundle.

Q: How much does it cost to receive Twitter updates by text?
A: Nothing, it's free to receive Twitter updates by text message.
Q. What kind of Twitter updates can I receive?
A: You can receive status updates and @mentions from friends you have turned on device updates for, and direct messages.
Q. Is there a limit?
A: Yes, we have a fair use policy. People who receive more than 600 messages per month will be asked to moderate their usage. Otherwise, it's going to impact the experience for everyone else.
Q. Can you send tweets and reply to messages by text?
A: Yes, you can send updates, direct messages and control your device notifications by text message. Check out http://help.twitter.com/forums/10711/entries/14020 for a list of command codes. All texts are sent to 86444 and will be charged at the normal text message rate or come from your inclusive text bundle.
Q. Is there a limit on sending messages?
A: No, you can send as many as you're happy to pay for.

source: http://dnc.o2.co.uk/home/2009/07/twitter-goes-live.html

10 Dumbest mistakes network managers make

culled from Verizon Business analysis of 90 major security breaches

1. Not changing default password on all network devices
2. Sharing a password across multiple network devices (and departments)
3. Failing to find SQL coding errors 
4. Misconfiguring your access control lists
5. Allowing non-secure remote access and management software
6. Failing to test non-critical applications for basic vulnerabilities
7. Not adequately protecting servers from malware
8. Failing to configure your routers to prohibit unwanted outbound traffic
9. Not knowing where credit card or other critical customer data is stored
10. Not following the Payment Card Industry (PCI) Data Security standards

Nortel customers upbeat but anxious

Nortel customers remain optimistic despite the company's precarious situation, officials of Nortel's largest enterprise user group said this week.

Speaking for the Global Connect conference in Pittsburgh, leaders of theInternational Nortel Network User Association (INNUA)said the general tone among customers was upbeat despite the company filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection early this year. But attendance at Global Connect is down about 40% from last year.

Avaya Receives Highest Rating in Report on IVR Systems and Enterprise Voice Portals by Gartner

Avaya Inc. today announced the company has received the highest rating -- a "Strong Positive" -- in Gartner's recent "MarketScope for Interactive Voice Response (IVR) Systems and Enterprise Voice Portals, 2009"(1). The report evaluated leading vendors' voice response systems and applications, and rated vendors according to a number of criteria.

In the report, Gartner classified systems into two distinct platforms -- Interactive Voice Response (IVR) and Voice Portal -- and rated vendors based on evaluation criteria such as Market Understanding, Marketing Strategy, Sales Strategy and Overall Visibility. A Gartner MarketScope report provides specific guidance for users who are deploying or have deployed products or services. The report's evaluation is based on a weighted evaluation of a vendor's products in comparison with the evaluation criteria.

NAB tests voiceprint recognition

CUSTOMERS enrolled in National Australia Bank's new voice biometrics system for phone banking may be able to use the same system to authenticate their internet banking activities.

NAB is the first local institution to give customers an opportunity to enrol in a voiceprint recognition system, dispensing with the need to remember PINs and passwords or provide personal information when calling the bank.

NAB direct channels speech program manager Sam Jackel said voiceprints could be used as a second-factor authentication method for internet banking transactions independently verified at present via an SMS message sent to the customer's mobile phone.

Users had to open the message to retrieve a single-use passcode and enter it into the onscreen session, he said.

But, Mr Jackel said, using voiceprints would enable a simple phone call to authenticate the user against the unique voiceprint record.