Let me hear you!
Voice authentication differs from the other biometric technologies discussed here, primarily for three reasons:
First, it relies on behavioural as well as physical characteristics. It's not just the shape of your vocal cords, tongue and lips, but also how you use them that creates a unique voice print.
Second, it's the only biometric that can be used at really long distances. And third, it requires no special end-user hardwareâ€"just a phone
Nuance's Verifier 2.0 voice-authentication software was the breakthrough that Home Shopping Network (HSN) had been waiting for. HSN handles 160,000 shoppers' calls per day. All customers received ID numbers to safeguard their credit card information, but 30 percent of them couldn't remember their PINs when they called again. Those calls had to be taken by live operators who played 20 questions to verify a caller's identity.
With Verifier 2.0 installed, callers simply recite their phone numbers; the software verifies their voice prints and passes authenticated callers to HSN's IVR (interactive voice response) ordering systemâ€"which is also a Nuance product. Now only 5 percent of callers must be handled by live operators, saving HSN an estimated US$1.9 million per year.
Blocking unauthorised calls is the other side of voice authentication's coin. Companies lose millions of long-distance dollars annually as a result of personal calls made from phones that were not denied long-distance access, and of "phone phreaks" who hack into PBXes and call porn lines in Bangkok. By blocking people instead of lines, Verifier saves moneyâ€"and doesn't inconvenience the CEO.
And an CLECs see this as a value-added service for parents of teenagers? You be the judge.
Nuance sells exclusively through system integrators and software developers. A developer's network, downloadable software development kit and vertical-market applications support Nuance's partners.
