Speech analytics in the contact center - what's driving adoption rates?

Ok, so many analysts have been talking about the growth rate of speech analytics continuing to accelerate through 2008 and beyond. While I will concede this is a reasonable prediction for this technology, the reality is that, while more and more companies are budgeting for, evaluating and even purchasing these technologies, the adoption of these solutions into core customer business practices, and more importantly the quantifiable business benefits delivered tell a story of fuzzy results and an ever-denser fog through which to see potential measurable results.

Over a series of posts on this topic, its my goal to offer insight from experiences working with over 100 clients, my view of effective and not so effective approaches and hopefully some practical remedies that can be applied to your business today.

I’m not going to spend time here revisiting the history of the world of speech analysis or take some dive into the weeds on the technology. If the title of this article resonated with you, I assume you’ve done your homework and have probably struggled with some of these same issues during a recent project. Or, you’ve postponed such a project because cracking the code on this technology has been too elusive to provide a level of confidence in moving forward. No. My mostly benevolent, and maybe a tiny bit self-serving, objective here is to share my experiences and opinions I’ve refined over the past five years working with these solutions.

If you want more details on the technology, there are plenty of sources out in cyberspace for all the facts and figurers, bits and bites you want; if you’re into that sort of thing. Do you’re research and then pick this back up and read through it before you make your next move.

Some of the headings under which the adoption rate of these solutions fall include:

-Value realized by early adopters
-Once bitten, twice shy
-Overwhelmed quality management functions
-The hype cycle - oversold rudimentary capabilities
-The “Toy in the Happy Meal® Syndrome”
-Fuzzy ROI
-Best Practices
-Managing organizational change

As this series progresses, we'll tackle each of these, individually and as they potentially influence eachother, in combination. I hope this series of posts stimulates others to contribute their experiences. I look forward to our journey.