Investment In Call Center Speech Analytics Set To Double



Global Call Center spending on speech analytics is set to grow from $95 million in 2009 to $180 million by 2014. A report by independent telecom analyst Ovum found that although still an early-adopter technology, speech analytic use will grow over the next few years, helping businesses to improve customer loyalty and processes.

The key functions of speech analytics are call categorization, emotion detection, and root cause analysis to find the key reasons that customers call a call center. Speech analytics can also be used to search for key words and phrases in order to determine whether agents are adhering to scripts. Calls can be grouped into categories such as repeat calls or cancellations. By using speech analytics to identify repeated issues, companies can work towards improving problem resolution strategies, create better processes, and improve customer service.

Aphrodite Brinsmead, the report author, said, “Spending on speech analytics will increase at a compound annual growth rate of 13.5% between 2009 and 2014. Companies have shown significantly more interest in the technology as they begin to understand the business case. Consequently they can now justify the costs despite tightening IT budgets.”