Speech Technology - October 2008 - (Page 20) Speech technology may have difficulty conveying emotion, but it can certainly detect it By Jessica Tsai Everyone gets emotional now and again—the difference lies in how we choose to cope. For some, it takes a good cry to soothe the blues, or a dry martini, shaken, not stirred; for others, all it takes is talking to someone who understands and, hopefully, makes the situation all better. After being transferred from what seemed like one incompetent agent after another, then being put on hold only to have the line dropped, the call center agent is probably your least likely source for emotional solace. The problem is, your one-year warrantee is almost up, your computer just bluescreened, and your bank statement shows purchases from a store in Florida called Missterious. Customer service representatives (CSRs) may not be the best shoulders to cry on, but you’re counting on them, and it would certainly help if they knew how to respond to your torrent of emotional baggage. Necessity is the mother of invention, and seeing how customer calls have been notoriously emotional since probably the inception of call centers, speech analytics providers are beginning to incorporate emotion detection into their systems. The solution, however, is admittedly a new concept, becoming technologically feasible only within the last few years. Emotion detection in the contact center is this year’s hot topic, according to Donna Fluss, founder and president of DMG Consulting. In fact, Israel originally implemented emotion detection technology in 1996 for security purposes, akin to lie detectors, to combat terrorists. Now it seems the most obvious application is in a business- Emotional Intelligence 20 | Speech Technology OCTOBER 2008 www.speechtechmag.com http://www.speechtechmag.com
Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Speech Technology - October 2008 Speech Technology - October 2008 Contents Editor’s Letter Industry View Inside Outsourcing Interact Keynoter Highlights the Shrinking Technological World Former Hacker Tackles IVR and Biometrics ‘Press 1’ for Caller Thoughts Soundbytes Voice Vote A New Dragon Emerges Overheard/Underheard An Emotional Mess Emotional Intelligence The Case for Call Recording Unified in Care and Communications An Education in E-Learning Guest Column Standards Speech Solutions Voice Value Forward Thinking Speech Technology - October 2008 Speech Technology - October 2008 - Speech Technology - October 2008 (Page Cover1) Speech Technology - October 2008 - Speech Technology - October 2008 (Page Cover2) Speech Technology - October 2008 - Contents (Page 1) Speech Technology - October 2008 - Editor’s Letter (Page 2) Speech Technology - October 2008 - Editor’s Letter (Page 3) Speech Technology - October 2008 - Industry View (Page 4) Speech Technology - October 2008 - Industry View (Page 5) Speech Technology - October 2008 - Inside Outsourcing (Page 6) Speech Technology - October 2008 - Interact (Page 7) Speech Technology - October 2008 - Keynoter Highlights the Shrinking Technological World (Page 8) Speech Technology - October 2008 - ‘Press 1’ for Caller Thoughts (Page 9) Speech Technology - October 2008 - Soundbytes (Page 10) Speech Technology - October 2008 - Voice Vote (Page 11) Speech Technology - October 2008 - A New Dragon Emerges (Page 12) Speech Technology - October 2008 - Overheard/Underheard (Page 13) Speech Technology - October 2008 - An Emotional Mess (Page 14) Speech Technology - October 2008 - An Emotional Mess (Page 15) Speech Technology - October 2008 - An Emotional Mess (Page 16) Speech Technology - October 2008 - An Emotional Mess (Page 17) Speech Technology - October 2008 - An Emotional Mess (Page 18) Speech Technology - October 2008 - An Emotional Mess (Page 19) Speech Technology - October 2008 - Emotional Intelligence (Page 20) Speech Technology - October 2008 - Emotional Intelligence (Page 21) Speech Technology - October 2008 - Emotional Intelligence (Page 22) Speech Technology - October 2008 - Emotional Intelligence (Page 23) Speech Technology - October 2008 - Emotional Intelligence (Page 24) Speech Technology - October 2008 - Emotional Intelligence (Page 25) Speech Technology - October 2008 - The Case for Call Recording (Page 26) Speech Technology - October 2008 - The Case for Call Recording (Page 27) Speech Technology - October 2008 - The Case for Call Recording (Page 28) Speech Technology - October 2008 - The Case for Call Recording (Page 29) Speech Technology - October 2008 - The Case for Call Recording (Page 30) Speech Technology - October 2008 - The Case for Call Recording (Page 31) Speech Technology - October 2008 - The Case for Call Recording (Page 32) Speech Technology - October 2008 - The Case for Call Recording (Page 33) Speech Technology - October 2008 - Unified in Care and Communications (Page 34) Speech Technology - October 2008 - Unified in Care and Communications (Page 35) Speech Technology - October 2008 - An Education in E-Learning (Page 36) Speech Technology - October 2008 - An Education in E-Learning (Page 37) Speech Technology - October 2008 - Guest Column (Page 38) Speech Technology - October 2008 - Guest Column (Page 39) Speech Technology - October 2008 - Standards (Page 40) Speech Technology - October 2008 - Speech Solutions (Page 41) Speech Technology - October 2008 - Voice Value (Page 42) Speech Technology - October 2008 - Voice Value (Page 43) Speech Technology - October 2008 - Forward Thinking (Page 44) Speech Technology - October 2008 - Forward Thinking (Page Cover3) Speech Technology - October 2008 - Forward Thinking (Page Cover4)
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