Hands off in real time: the many advantages of call transcription for customer contact

Once again this year the Heidelberg-based IT company EML European Media Laboratory GmbH will have its own stand (Hall 2, Stand C19) at the telecommunications trade show CCW. The show will run from February 21 to 23 in Berlin and is expected to attract more than 7,000 visitors.

The Heidelberg speech recognition experts will present applications for telephone customer contact that transcribe incoming calls into text in real time. The recognition results can then be further processed, quickly and easily.

State-of-the-art technologies for speech recognition

The EML Transcription Server immediately converts incoming calls into machine-searchable text, automatically and speaker independent. “We use machine learning techniques like neural networks and deep learning,” explains EML’s R&D manager Dr Siegfried Kunzmann, “which enable us to achieve the highest recognition rates.”

The EML Speech Mining Server then classifies the results according to pre-defined categories, the frequency of certain expressions, and keywords; it identifies new terms that occur frequently and combines the results. Real-time speech recognition also makes it possible to verify and monitor compliance with conversation guidelines at the call center, simply and efficiently.

Automatic call transcription facilitates the efficient, extended search for certain keywords. With every new keyword search, conventional systems have to re-process and check all calls, that is, all recorded audio data. Advance Keyword Spotting, on the other hand, finds keywords in the converted text as quickly as a search engine. “Of course, we support traditional Keyword Spotting (KWS), as well,” Siegfried Kunzmann explains, “but Advanced Keyword Spotting does much more: you can connect the keywords with one another.”

Customized marketing tool

In addition, call center operators can adapt speech recognition to their own application domains. When a new product is launched, for instance, the product description and new keywords can be added to the language model. Immediate issues or emerging trends are thus quickly recognized.

Employing speech recognition also allows the call center to elucidate exactly how many callers have used a certain product name – interesting information for a company’s strategy and marketing departments: after all, the calls are authentic customer statements which can be used to adapt products, services and activities more quickly and directly. “This helps employees in call centers to be more efficient and customer friendly in their communication with callers,” says Dr Kunzmann.

Data protection

Another advantage of domain adaptation is that speech recognition and model adaption are conducted on premise, within their own four walls. “This means call centers can comply with the strict German data protection legislation,” Dr Kunzmann summarizes.

21.02.-23.02.2017: EML at the CCW, Berlin, Estrel Convention Center: Hall 2, Stand C19.

EML European Media Laboratory GmbH
EML European Media Laboratory GmbH was set up as a private IT company by SAP co-founder Klaus Tschira (1940-2015). EML develops software and technologies for automatic speech processing, focusing on the automatic conversion of speech into text (transcription) as used in telephony (speech analytics, voice mail) and mobile applications (voice texting, voice search. www.eml.org
Follow EML on:
Twitter: @EMLvoice
Facebook: /EMLEuropeanMediaLaboratory
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For additional information please contact:
Dr Peter Saueressig
Head of Communications
EML European Media Laboratory GmbH
Mathematikon
Berliner Str. 45
69120 Heidelberg
Tel.: +49 (6221) 533245
Email: saueressig@eml.org

http://www.eml.org/english/media/presse.php?we_objectID=205 EML press release