Sick of voice recognition systems that seem to be more trouble than they're worth? Systems that take your query then put you on hold, only to transfer you to a queue in order to wait for a human operator? What about systems that cannot 'recognise your request'? Well there is a solution, and it works. Just ask TAB NSW.

Australia's largest betting operator recently adopted a AU$12 million automated speech recognition system to compliment its existing operator-based PhoneTAB and touch-tone based PhoneTAB Keypad telephone betting systems.

PhoneTAB Express came to market in June, with one very helpful and pleasant staff member leading the charge. Her name is TABatha and she is the 'face' of the TAB's voice enabled e-commerce system, which uses natural language speech recognition technology.

The move to speech recognition technology was a brave one for TAB NSW but one it believed was crucial to -retaining customers and increasing customer service levels", according to public affairs manager Peter Fletcher. Complaints about queuing for operator assistance, as well as the rising costs of supporting a number of call centres and large staff numbers, forced the TAB to look into voice recognition solutions.

An organisation that relies on the volume of bets placed per day, it was losing money-â€"and customersâ€"-by not being able to support the sheer number of calls that came through, particularly at peak times, such as during major race carnivals. The growing number of customers making initial bets under $10 also meant that the cost of accepting and supporting these calls was outweighing any return.

According to chief wagering operator, Peter Kadar, TAB is the -only gambling operator in NSW which still accepts an initial 50c unit. -

-To continue to accept such small bets TAB had to consider the use of new technologies. Our phone centres could not otherwise cope with the huge demands placed on them at peak times," says Kadar.

After deciding voice technology was the way to achieve cost savings and increase customer satisfaction, TAB NSW sought a solution provider. They didn't have to look far.

VeCommerce, a supplier of natural language speech recognition (NLSR) and voice enabled e-commerce solutions, had previously rolled out a solution for TAB Queensland and therefore had the necessary infrastructure in place to cater for TAB's NSW operation.

-The company had done similar work for TAB in Queensland, which was an important factor. We wanted to go with someone that understood the market and what [requirements] they needed to meet," says Fletcher.

VeCommerce customised the system that was already in use in the Queensland TAB environment for NSW, adding in the phrases and betting terminology that are particular to NSW punters. In a rollout that lasted only six months, it developed the software and technology to create a 1000-port natural language phone betting system.

An incredibly complex system, PhoneTAB Express (as it has been named by TAB NSW) is a voice enabled e-commerce solution, combining natural language with facilities to complete transactions in one step, without operator assistance. It allows TAB to simultaneously deal with approximately 2000 telephone customers, an increase of over 100 percent from the original operator-assisted system.

The system is able to cope with over three trillion different combinations of key words and phrases and is fully transactional. This means you can log in, place a bet using any one of fourteen bet types, at any venue in Australia, with any number of runners, and the system will record your details, access your account and automatically debit or credit your account, all in one easy step.

The sheer complexity of this system has catapulted it onto the global stage, earning it a reputation as the largest enterprise site for voice recognition technology in Australia, and in fact, the second largest in the world, claims Nick Flude, marketing manager for VeCommerce.

And all it cost was AU$12 million, which according to Peter Fletcher, was "money well spent".

TAB gamble pays off
Already the system has garnered a return, with cost savings and an increase in the number of bet placements.

The introduction of PhoneTAB Express also allowed TAB NSW to cut down on costs such as labour and property resources.

-There have been a number of staff taking voluntary redundancies, due to the new service. Plus, this went hand-in-hand with the consolidation of our phone centres. We closed down all three of the phone centres based in Sydney and rolled them into a larger centre," says Fletcher.

-However, we have no plans to do away with any more staff. The voice system will complement our existing phone capacity."

The take-up of the new system has also provided a return, with nearly one million bets being facilitated through the system since it went live in June this year.

Capitalising on the market of smaller-bet placers (those spending under $10 per bet), PhoneTAB Express is the only voice-enabled option for TAB punters. However, it is an option also being taken up by punters spending over $10.

Fletcher claims the attraction is that by using PhoneTAB Express, customers don't need to queue as they would for the operator-assisted service. Also, given that the system adheres to all necessary security and privacy protocols, customers are quite happy to divulge their details to TABatha rather than an operator.

-Many customers like the anonymity of speaking to a computerised system rather than dealing with a physical operator", says Fletcher.

So, does it work?

If TAB's statistics are anything to go by, the roll-out has been an incredible success. TAB NSW claims that over 90 percent of bet placements are completed successfully on the first attempt.

They credit this to an extensive customer education program that it ran prior to TABitha's launch.

-A good lesson for anyone else [considering implementing a similar system] is to do everything you can to keep customers informed. TAB NSW ran an intensive media campaign as well as calling each of its registered customers individually to explain the new system and how it would work," says Flude.

Fletcher agrees, stating that the main reason for the 10 percent rate of unsuccessful attempts can generally be attributed to customers not knowing how to use the system.

Of course, some of the system failures can be attributed to TABatha. Any system reliant upon speech will be challenged by major variations in speech, such as customers calling in with speech impediments or heavy accents.

For customers experiencing genuine difficulty in using the service, TAB NSW has a facility to list these names and automatically transfer them to an operator upon their call.

Who's behind TABatha?
Given the nature of speech technology and its relative infancy, one of the biggest concerns for TAB upon implementation was manual back up and support.

A 'Third Try Situation' was implemented, which transfers callers to a human operator after three unsuccessful attempts. The operator then establishes the cause of the unsuccessful attempt and completes the transaction. Fltecher explains the need for this mechanism resulted from initial criticism from people not able to use the service.

-There was a bit of criticism in the beginning from people that were unused to using the system or were using it incorrectly, not using the correct keywords etc. Once they were transferred to the operator, and given brief training by the operator, nine times out of ten they were then able to make a successful bet."

Staff at TAB's phone centre have also received training to deal with any low-level system glitches as they occur. Higher-level faults or failures are the responsibility of VeCommerce under the maintenance and support contract.

What's keeping voice technology quiet in Australia?
With the documented cost-savings and return on investment that voice technology has the potential to provide, why aren't more companies embracing voice-enabled systems and services?

Flude claims that although costs and risks are a factor, he also believes past failures of other systems are to blame.

-We have to deflate the Telstra [Directory Assistance] media backlash and break it down into the application element and the speech recognition element. If it is done properly and done well, people will flock to it," says Flude.

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