To learn more about the history of Natural Language processing and how the technology has evolved and been adopted in call centers, check out the infographic below.

Natural language improves customer service by allowing customers to speak in context, rather than offering them pre-defined choices. In the call center, NLP combined with IVR systems:

1. Improves First Call Resolution by intelligently routing callers to the agents who can provide the highest level of support with respect to their specific issue.
2. Minimizes agent search time or script navigation through intelligent routing.
3. Enhances customer service by offering a self-service model, as well as an easy route to access superstar agents for help.

To learn more about the history of natural language processing and its use in answering services, we invite you to read our white paper.

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Introduction

Natural Language Processing (NLP)

• AKA Natural Language Understanding, Natural Language Technology, Natural Language
• Contact centers’ answer to developing high-end speech based solutions
• Improves customer service by allowing caller to speak in context rather than pre-defined choices
• Computerized analysis of natural text and speech
• Achieves human-like language processing for a variety of applications

NLP-Based Systems in Call Centers

• Used in speech recognition and interactive voice response (IVR) to provide natural interactions with callers
• Uses a rule base to define how the system responds to callers
• Guides calls through a transaction without restricting language
• Natural language engages callers in human-like conversation that is intuitive and smooth

A full-fledged NLP system can perform the following functions:

1. Paraphrase and input text
2. Translate a given text into another language
3. Provide contextual responses based on the text contents
4. Draw inferences from the text (still a challenge in many cases)

The Need for Speech Enabled Automation

• IVR systems reduce costs through automated customer self-service
• Initially, IVR only used touchtone, limiting callers to simple self-service tasks
• Today, speech-enabled IVR allows complex tasks as self-service transactions
• Success of self-service systems is determined by accuracy of speech recognition

However, noisy backgrounds, heavy accents, and unintelligible responses make transactions difficult.

Speaking the Customer’s Language

• Callers typically explain their problem in their own unique vocabulary
• IVR systems interpret the customer’s need by decoding their vocabulary
• Before NLP, speech recognition relied on pre-defined grammar (a list of acceptable phrases that IVR systems are programmed to recognize)
• Pre-defined grammar only works if callers stick to defined phrases
• Systems cannot correctly interpret speech that is out-of-grammar. This leads to caller dissatisfaction, increased call handling time, and increased expenses
• Out-of-grammar errors are almost 5x that of misrecognition errors.

NLP improves IVR accuracy, increases automation, and improves customer satisfaction by:

• Enlarging the grammar
• Spotting keywords

Statistical Modeling

• High-end NLP does not rely on pre-defined grammer based matching for recognition
• Instead, statistical modeling identifies key phrases and context, allowing the system to ask callers open-ended questions
• If the user gives an unexpected response such as “hamburger,” there will be no match. Note that systems can be configured to fall back to a traditional approach with a pre-defined set of alternatives

History and Evolution

Research dates back to the late 40’s.

• During war years, Machine Translation (MT) projects were initiated based on language analysis, obtained by breaking down enemy codes
• Early systems used dictionary look-up for word translation, then re-ordered the words to match the rules of the target language
• In 1957, Chomsky published Syntactic Structures, which introduced generative grammer
• Prototype systems were built to demonstrate the effectiveness of specific theories
• Theoretical contributions included:
  • Case Grammar by Fillmore
  • Schank’s Conceptual Dependency Theory
  • Wood’s Augmented Transition Networks
  • The Semantic Networks of Quillian
  • Kay’s Functional Grammar
• NLP has grown rapidly, due to an increase in electronic text, computational power and memory, and the internet

In-depth knowledge about language structure (vocabulary, how words combine to form phrases, meaning of the words, and how words combine to give meaning to sentences). Systems must have a practical knowledge of the world around us, and our reasoning based on language.

Levels of language define NLP systems

• Phonology: deals with interpretation of sounds within and across words
• Morphology: deals with morphemes, the smallest meaningful units in a word
• Lexical: the meaning of individual words are interpreted
• Syntactic: grammatical structures (syntax) is identified by analyzing words in a sentence
• Semantic: deciphers words with multiple meanings, focuses on meanings of a sentence by analyzing the interactions between it’s words
• Discourse: works with units of text that are larger than a sentence
• Pragmatic focuses on situational use of language; context of usage is more relevant that content of text

Technology

NLP has four approaches:

• Statistical Approach: uses statistical and mathematical models for NLP
• Connectionist Approach: develops generalized models from specific examples of linguistic phenomena
• Symbolic Approach: based on human’s language rules and lexicons; analyzes linguistics using knowledge schemes that represent facts about language

Advantages of NLP Based Applications

Contact centers can provide more targeted answers to customer queries without agents having to manually search for answers. This:

• Increases first call resolution
• Minimizes agent search time
• Improves collaboration
• Enhances customer satisfaction

The post Infographic: How Call Centers Use Natural Language Processing (NLP) appeared first on Specialty Answering Service.

#1. Users want immediate answers.

Auto-attendants are great at routing calls to the right agent, but they can’t do customer service well. As technology continues to evolve, consumers are becoming more and more accustomed to getting information with just a few clicks or a ‘Hey Alexa’ shout out. Like Veruca Salt, your customers want answers now. The longer your auto-attendant process is and the more options your callers have to press through to reach the end of the maze, the more likely they are to hang up. As an answering service business, we actually dig IVRs, but not as a single solution. We recommend using IVRs as part of a larger whole. If you’re going to use an auto-attendant, consider these tips:

• Make the greeting short and sweet so that your callers can get through to a live voice as quickly as possible. Limit your options in any menu to no more than 4 options, and ideally 2 or 3.
• If they’re calling for simple questions like your business hours and address, have an IVR option be a recording that will relay all of that information instead of having your callers sit through the menu options each time they call.
• Always have a press 0 auto-attendant option route to your answering service to answer simple questions via your FAQs so your callers can get the information they need from a real person. If your callers are asking questions the operators are not able to answer, they can at least take messages or transfer the call, whereas your auto-attendant would simply hang up. Rude!
• Have a live voice record your auto-attendant messages instead of a computer. The live voice gives your company a personal touch and will be easier for your callers to understand.

#2. Nothing compares to a live voice.

Sometimes auto-attendants are necessary, like when you want your callers to choose 1 to speak with an English representative or 2 to speak with a Spanish representative. However, nothing compares to speaking to an actual human being that can hear their concerns, understand what they are asking for, and ultimately come up with a resolution.

Even if you’re using an answering service and the agent isn’t able to immediately help the caller, they can still take a message and assure them their call will be returned in a timely fashion. This approach is a lot better than having your customers leave a voicemail, as they won’t be certain when or even if their call will be returned.

#3. Auto-attendants aren’t always right.

Technology is only as smart as it’s creator. If your business or answering service is using an auto-attendant, you’ll want to make sure it’s always relaying the most up to date information. For example, if you have an extension list for callers to choose who they want to speak with, make sure it has the most current employees. Sometimes callers will find that the staff member they wish to speak with no longer works there, but their name still appears as an option. Or, worse yet, if a new hire isn’t included in the dial by name directory.

In addition, businesses often times move locations or add temporary holiday messages but then forget to update their automated greetings. While small, all of these hiccups can give your business a bad look as customers may think you’re not on your game. I love Christmas as much as the next person, but having a business wish me a Merry Christmas in March just isn’t cool.

#4. Your customers don’t feel heard.

While IVR services (interactive voice response) can mean pressing different options on the keypad to get to a specific department or person, the true meaning of IVR means the caller is speaking into the phone to the machine to be directed accordingly. Often times you’ll see this option with telecommunication companies like Comcast or Verizon. While it seems like a more technologically advanced solution, it can be quite annoying if the caller has to keep repeating themselves because the attendant can’t figure what they’re saying, or if the callers’ option isn’t pre-programmed and the IVR is left confused.

When the caller does finally get through to a live agent, IVR hell has them worked up which makes for an unpleasant experience for the support rep on the other line. While CSRs are supposed to remain calm and collected no matter what the situation, no body likes to be yelled at, especially if it can be avoided with live operator love.

#5. Callers want options.

Relatively speaking, many people enjoy helping themselves and may actually prefer using an auto-attendant over having to speak to a real person. However, there are just as many people who still like the personal touch of talking to another human when they need help. You should give your callers the option to choose how they want to be assisted instead of just giving them one option over the other.

It’s helpful if your auto-attendant offers callers a choice on how they’d like to continue. For example, if they’d like to continue with the self service route, they can press 1 to be taken to the directory of options. If they would like to speak to a live person, press 2 or say ‘Operator’. It’s also a good idea to make it known that if they choose the self-service option and change their mind, they can press 0 at any time to either be taken back to the main menu, or be transferred directly to a customer service agent. While auto-attendants are helpful, they should not be the primary means of support for your customers. Ultimately, auto-attendants are the most effective when they are working in tandem with real agents.

The post 5 Reasons Why Fully Automated Customer Service Is A Rotten Idea appeared first on Specialty Answering Service.

Despite the ubiquitous nature of IVR, much like a technological pariah, IVR is shunned by many consumers. But IVR is not going away anytime soon. The goal is to develop IVR in such a way that makes it a plus instead of a minus. Here’s a great infographic giving you a glimpse into the history and evolution of Interactive Voice Response!

Read our extended resource to learn more about how IVR works and how it’s used by call centers.

If you’re writing about IVR systems on your own website, please copy the code below to use this infographic:

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1. It’s personalized. Just because your callers are hearing a recording and not a live operator, doesn’t mean it can’t be personal. Record any sort of personalized greeting you want, and include the appropriate prompts to transfer callers to the corresponding department.
2. It’s error-free. If you have a receptionist answering your calls, there’s a good chance that in the hundreds of calls received daily, a couple of them will wind up in the wrong place. With an IVR auto attendant, the customer is responsible for where they are going.
3. Not everyone wants to talk to a real person. Some customers would prefer to get the answers they need by interacting with a recording rather than speaking to a live person. Giving customers what they want keeps them happy!
4. It increases productivity. Routing callers to the perfect department or staff member to address their issues means that less time is spent conferring with colleagues to find the right answer or transfer the caller around until they get what they need. The less time you spend trying to figure stuff out, the more people you can help.
5. Calls are resolved on the first attempt. When a caller is routed to the best employee to service their needs, questions are often answered and problems are resolved on the first try. That equates to satisfied customers and a more efficient customer service department.
6. It increases inbound call capacity. If your business uses IVR to direct callers, then more calls can be answered simultaneously. With traditional reception, there would be a flurry of please holds or funky hold music while customers awaited transfer. IVR allows for a higher call volume because customers transfer themselves!
7. Some people want to talk to a real person. While some customers aren’t interested in talking, others insist on it. Using IVR places callers in queue until the specified agent or department is free. It also gives callers the option to have their call returned rather than wait on hold. This small convenience has a big impact.
8. It can make your company look bigger than it is. IVR creates the illusion that your company is so huge, one receptionist couldn’t possibly manage your call volume. It contributes to a professional image, especially if you are working in a 3 person office!
9. It cuts down on answering service talk time. If you are using frontend IVR with your answering service, then giving callers the opportunity to service their own needs or promptly transfer themselves to the right person reduces the cost of operator talk time.
10. It’s affordable. IVR eliminates the need for additional reception staff, and its low cost means a higher ROI. That’s something every business owner will love!

Want to know more about pairing frontend IVR with SAS’ live receptionist services? Give our Sales team a call at 1-888-532-4794, or send us an email!

Want to know more about IVR? Check out our infographic on The Voder, the first electronic voice synthesizer. Without which, IVR wouldn’t be possible.

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In truth, Speech Recognition Technology likely can’t understand baby talk. But it can understand natural language. You call up for your bank account balance and the computerized technology recognizes your natural speech to get you the information you need. You dial your insurance company, tell the automated agent that you want to speak to a representative, and low and behold, it knows what you said and transfers you! Speech recognition has advanced considerably over the years, and now many providers boast a 90 to 98% accuracy rate. That *may* be a bit of a stretch, but we’ll take their word for it until we prove otherwise.

Meanwhile, this technology can be used by a variety of businesses and call centers. It’s not perfect; however, it definitely imparts a convenience factor to consumer interactions. Want to find out more about how it works? Hello – of course you do! So feast your eyes on this infographic.

Was it every bit as informative as you had hoped it would be? Don’t answer that. Just kidding. We think it’s fabulous. And we think our extended version is fabulous, too! For your reading pleasure, we submit the Speech Recognition Technology white paper. Take a gander.

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If you ever called your phone company or your bank and spoken commands to a computer, you are interacting with an IVR. When that “computer” responds to you, that’s actually a neat little piece of programming inside the IVR software that synthesizes human speech.

Like all things in the technology world, the natural voice synthesizer that you are most likely cursing at because you want to speak with a human being, didn’t just fall out of the sky.

“Watch Out Below! It’s a Voice Synthesizer!”

Much like how telephone evolution up to the iPhone is rooted in finding a better way to communicate over long distances other than just screaming really loud, human voice synthesizers as we know them today evolved from a crazy invention called “The Voder.”

The Voder was a manually operated speech synthesizer developed way back in 1939. Since Specialty Answering Service loves everything about communication, we thought it would be neat to make an infographic about the history of The Voder, which is really the history of speech synthesis, which is really the history of IVR, which is really why we love The Voder!

If you are hungry for more information, we’ve written a pretty extensive white paper on The Voder. It has all kinds of pictures and schematics for any telecommunications junkies out there.

And if you are thinking, “Hey. Specialty knows a lot about telecom stuff. I bet they are an amazing telephone answering service,” you’d be right!

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