Fraudulent behaviour plagues many industries, particularly in finance-related sectors. Constantly evolving techniques pushed by organised fraud have frequently sidestepped prevention efforts, pushing company fraud prevention strategies to the limit. Businesses must take a fresh, innovative approach, as outdated solutions cannot combat old problems. New ideas and software (driven by companies such as Intelligent Voice) integrated speech recognition technology with AI and machine learning to produce an updated and versatile option for fraud prevention. These technologies are the future of the fight against fraud.
What does this new application of speech recognition look like?
Speech AI utilises several processes, usually collaboratively, to produce and re-implement audio data. Conversational AI, Natural Language Processing (NLP), and Automatic Speech Recognition (ASR) are often applied. When combined with machine learning systems, Speech AI can consistently evolve alongside the constantly changing nature of fraud, minimising the gaps in a company’s anti-fraud strategy.
Audio data was previously viewed as more challenging than its written or numerical counterparts, with difficulties in quantification and the impact of human error. Speech AI sidesteps these issues, removing human error almost entirely from the equation and effectively processing, recording, and re-implementing audio data, without losing the ability to explain decision making, as increasingly demanded by regulators.
What is Speech AI capable of detecting?
Developed collaboratively in association with law enforcement, fraud and behavioural experts, companies such as Intelligent Voice have successfully implemented Speech AI technology to detect a vast range of features. These include the following:
– Speech characteristics
– Language features
– Behavioural features
– Semantics (including emotional cues)
All four of these features include potential indications of fraudulent intent, such as hedging, negation, hesitancy, exaggerated or over-emotional responses, and more. If the detection of such features were a burden left to customer service agents such as call handlers, it would be incredibly challenging to pay close attention to them while providing a positive customer service experience. The automated nature of Speech AI relieves this pressure, working in the background to detect and identify potential fraud from as early as the first phone call.
Aside from fraud prevention strategy, Speech AI is also significantly beneficial for the structuring and application of audio data. GPU-powered transcription (boosted by NLP) is generating new opportunities for businesses to utilise their previously neglected audio data. Presently, the application of this technology on the trading floor, in online meetings, and digital customer interactions is covering customer-facing contact centres with the most comprehensive fraud cover we have seen to date.
Why is it necessary to invest in Speech AI now?
Recent experiences such as the Covid-19 pandemic accelerated the previously gradual shift towards heavily digitised customer interactions. Currently, a significant percentage of customer interactions continue to take place online. Organised fraudulent operations have seized the opportunity to take advantage of businesses lacking fraud prevention cover. The speed at which the digitisation of customer interactions took place means that many businesses were unprepared for this increased vulnerability. The adaptability of Speech AI can help ensure businesses do not fall behind the curve again.
What additional services can benefit from the implementation of Speech AI?
The modernisation of fraud prevention strategy is certainly not the only use of Speech AI – there are several other areas of business that can benefit from its implementation. For example, customer protection, regulatory compliance, and sales enablement can all advance through speech recognition and its data.
Customer protection and regulatory compliance are both increasingly prominent in discussions surrounding the roles and responsibilities of businesses in today’s world. Shifts in public opinion have placed an increasingly strong emphasis on the offering of personalised, supportive customer service. Speech AI can also be utilised to detect customer vulnerability, identifying features such as hesitancy, confusion, or disorientation. Customers identified as potentially vulnerable can receive additional guidance from customer service agents to ensure they are not exploited or encouraged into agreements they may not understand. In addition, vulnerable customers can be reported to other authorities for a welfare check in more severe cases.
Accumulating accurate data from Speech AI can also be extremely important in demonstrating regulatory compliance. As restrictions and regulations become increasingly complex, audio data needs to be well-structured and organised to avoid unnecessary punishment.
The importance of Speech AI in sales enablement also cannot be overlooked. The ability to understand the semantics, reactions, behaviours, and intentions of customers assists significantly in identifying productive or unproductive sales methods. Businesses can also use it to determine which approaches specific customers would appreciate the most, generating better success in sales.
The implementation of Speech AI is the future of anti-fraud technology. Its ever-evolving nature allows businesses to keep pace with the rapidly evolving nature of fraud without costing significant resources. Alongside this, Speech AI also assists in various other areas, making it the ideal investment for 2022.
