First Choice Selects Fluency

LONDON - First Choice, an international leisure travel company, deployed Fluency Voice Technology's speech recognition technology to enhance customer service.

First Choice implemented speech recognition technology at its Manchester-based call center.

"The concept of using a virtual agent to efficiently and effectively handle the routine transactional calls makes good business sense," says Julia Sockett, head of call centers at First Choice. "The decision to offer our customers an automated and convenient service for routine calls is further endorsement of our commitment to enhance the customer experience and improve service levels through innovative and appropriate technology application."

The speech system uses Fluency's Prioritiser, part of the Virtual Speech Agent (VSA) Suite ™, which routes the caller to the appropriate agent depending on the service they require. Using Identification and Verification with Status (IDVS) technology, First Choice can identify and verify their direct holiday caller.  The caller is then given three options; to check a balance, make a payment or check ticket status. "Our own analysis showed that these were the most common, routine calls," said Sockett.

The Fluency speech recognition solution is now handling 600 of these calls each day, Sockett noted. "Customers have the option to exit the system and come through to an agent at any time."