Why Do I need a Continuous Improvement Process?

Any speech application will degrade in recognition performance over time due to a variety of issues such as new content or changes in the way callers refer to a subject. The issue is more acute with complex customer care calls as technical jargon or synonyms introduced within marketing programs may not be covered within the speech recognition grammar. Complex customer care calls need a continuous improvement process to ensure that automated dialogs meet or exceed call completion metrics.

What is SpeechCycle “continuously improving?”

Speech recognition accuracy supported by content, (the words and phrases that will be recognized), voice user interface design, and speech models which make up the foundation of converting sound to meaning are covered. SpeechCycle captures thousands of what caller’s have said from each application with great frequency. These utterances are transcribed and analyzed to ensure the speech application and caller expectations are in alignment. Any statistically significant performance issues are addressed by modifying the grammar, changing prompts, or adjusting speech recognition parameters.

What is the difference between Continuous Improvement and Speech Tuning?

Frequency, cost, and coverage of all key elements of each speech application are the primary differentiators. Every organization deploying a speech application will tune it, especially in the deployment phase. Tuning however then becomes a discreet event, usually sporadically scheduled with a high cost associated to cover the expensive participation of voice user interface designers and speech scientists (if they are even available). SpeechCycle on the other hand programmatically optimizes each application without additional charge. Processes are in place for utterance capture, transcription and analysis and modification.

How does SpeechCycle’s business model support Continuous Improvement?

Established processes, unique tools and a business model that provides SpeechCycle with incentive to automate more calls combine to make the Continuous Improvement Process essential to successfully automating complex customer care calls. Transcription and analysis tools speed the process of pinpointing areas for improvement as well as quickly making changes. Automating an increasing percentage of calls provides SpeechCycle with economic incentive for an ongoing effort.

What effort is required by me to support the Continuous Improvement Process?

SpeechCycle has the staff, tools, and process in place to take care of everything “behind the scenes”. But, it is usually not a good idea to surprise callers with new equipment or marketing programs without initially providing support in the speech application for the new words, phrases, or call flows that might be associated with the changes. Effort generally amounts to establishing clear communication to provide SpeechCycle with detail on any new equipment, programming, or marketing programs as early as possible.

How do I know that it is working?

SpeechCycle’s web-based Business Intelligence Portal provides granular statistics to quickly assess call automation performance.