Member Article

Employing a more frictionless approach to customer authentication

Can caller verification really become “frictionless”? Spending 45 seconds answering security questions is friction that can turn off customers and add to agent handle time. To aid in the reduction of friction and cost, mining phone calls for actionable intelligence can help easily and securely verify callers.

You probably know how this scenario goes. You call your bank, and after 45 seconds of providing your account number, mother’s maiden name, date of birth, street address and more, you finally hear “how can I help you today?” And, if you call back an hour later, you go through the same 45 seconds … a bit like “Groundhog Day.”

It raises the question … can caller verification become almost “effortless” instead? Spending 45 seconds answering security questions on each call is effort, effort that turns off customers. It also extends the call and cost. That’s where Verint can help. Using identity authentication technology, organizations can enhance the customer experience and help reduce effort and cost by mining phone calls for actionable intelligence that can help verify callers, ease customer effort, expedite service delivery, and create safer and more secure contact centre environments.

Using voiceprints for verification isn’t a new concept. Traditional voice biometrics technology asks callers to speak a passphrase, in many cases adding further friction to the customer experience than even security questions. Today, using the Verint solution, organizations can leverage “passive” voice biometrics technology that works during the course of a normal conversation between the caller and the agent.

Verint Identity Authentication and Fraud Detection for the contact centre can enrol or verify a customer’s voice in the background of a live call. After customers speak for a few seconds, the solution can match voiceprints and notify the agents interacting with them. Automated caller verification helps reduce both the average number of security questions and agent handle time.

Identity authentication is a win/win for today’s customers and contact centres.

And, as an added bonus, organizations are better positioned to identify and help prevent fraud. Security questions don’t stop professional fraudsters who attack the contact centre with stolen identities that can include card and personal information. However, they can be deterred by Verint Identity Authentication and Fraud Detection, which can enrol the voiceprints of fraudsters into a “bad guy” database. When a known fraudster calls, his or her voiceprint can trigger detection—no matter how successfully they answer security questions. Over time, this can become a significant deterrent to fraud, leading to better prepared and protected organizations and, as a result, better protected consumers.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Amit Desai .