6 Benefits of Real-Time Speech Analytics Contact Centers Cannot Ignore

From improving productivity to forecasting changes in volume, contact center analytics tools have come a long way and have evolved dramatically in the last few years. Today, collection agencies are not just analyzing voice recordings under their post-call speech analytics goals, but also digging deep into live calls via real-time speech analytics (SA) to gather actionable insights on items like talk-offs, compliance, consumer preferences and silent time.

Wondering how exactly to take advantage of real-time speech analytics in call centers to maintain the balance between increasing recovery rates and staying compliant with industry regulations to avoid hefty fines in the post-Reg F collection landscape? The answer to this important question is hidden in the first-hand benefits of real-time speech analytics.

Real-time assistance for agents

Real-time speech analytics platforms analyze customer calls as they are still ongoing, presenting actionable information in real-time with the right context. Real-time speech tools commonly flag compliance breaches and highlight words, phrases, and other verbal cues that could indicate an agent is faltering. This helps agents correct their mistakes most of the time before they move to the next call.

Many new-age SA tools such as ICAP also include real-time sentiment analysis that can evaluate the language used, as well as voice inflections, the rate of speech, and the amount of stress in the voice to decode the emotional outcome of ongoing interactions. It automatically mines calls for abusive language hence prompting agents to use a more upbeat, positive tone while the call is still on.

Minimized risk of noncompliance

Various regulatory compliances exist in the collections landscape to ensure agents do not barge into consumers’ privacy, integrity, or peace of mind. Real-time speech analytics is a great tool to combat any such violations that otherwise might be expensive and difficult to keep a tab on.

With real-time prompts, real-time SA makes sure collectors say the right things throughout the conversation. It tracks each call and alerts collectors when they deviate from the pre-approved script. The benefit? You end up ensuring that all your agents are reading the mini-Miranda, respecting two-party consent rules, and following other legal requirements within the FDCPA and Reg F framework. If an agent skips an important keyword or phrase that is mandated by compliance norms, real-time speech analytics flags it immediately. This way, agents get to correct themselves to avoid a compliance violation on the spot.

Productive managers

Supervisors often cannot personally coach every single call. This is where a good real-time speech analytics platform can help, giving supervisors a birds-eye view of how every call is going. With automated monitoring and scoring, busy managers can more easily identify the agents who may need additional training. By listening to live agent calls randomly, they also get to design effective training tools to help agents comply with regulations, deal with difficult conversations, and develop the knowledge and skills they need.

The sampling of good vs bad live calls

In addition to identifying specific calls with compliance issues, real-time SA also helps managers and QA professionals to uncover compelling conversation patterns that lead to stress-free debt repayments. Once you identify and sample these calls, they can be shared as examples to train agents with a low score. New agents who listen to good calls also get the right example from the beginning of their training. Trainers can always use these calls as real-world examples in compliance training to highlight:

  • Whether agents should introduce themselves and state why they are calling.
  • Whether they should verify a customer’s identity before disclosing sensitive information.
  • Whether they should provide accurate information about balances, due dates, and payment plans during each call.

Cost optimization

Real-time speech analytics tools prevent collection organizations from having to pay fines for non-compliance that ultimately ensure cost-effective operations. When agents take their performance feedback seriously (thanks to real-time SA), they tend to avoid unnecessary callbacks and are able to divert direct customer queries to cost-effective channels such as IVR or self-service. Not to forget the automation of certain processes facilitated by real-time SA also help businesses maintain a low headcount in the QA department (hence saving cost).

Data-led decisions

By having a vital window into ongoing interactions between consumers and agents, real-time speech analytics (when combined with post-call speech analytics) can reveal a treasure trove of data – something that enables your compliance team to focus on high-risk or low-quality calls along with improving training procedures. Developing better agent training tools directly impacts important metrics such as Average Handle Time (AHT) and First Call Resolution rates (FCR). The same insights can also be used by agencies to tweak or revise their overall collection strategies.

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