UK Water Companies Select Fluency Voice

LONDON - UK water companies, including Sutton & East Surrey Water, Bournemouth & West Hampshire Water, South West Water, and Bristol & Wessex Water, selected speech recognition solutions from Fluency Voice. 

These water companies are enabling customers to pay their water bills over the phone using speech recognition from Fluency Voice.

Fluency also released the results of the recent Consumer Perceptions of Speech Recognition Survey which highlighted that consumers are growing in familiarity and confidence with speech systems. Almost three quarters (74 percent) of the survey respondents reported that they used speech technology in the past. Over half (58 percent) of respondents have used a speech system recently, and almost all (88 percent) of those reported that they found it easy to use.

When asked if the technology had improved, notably, the vast majority (69 percent) reported that it had. These findings were especially pronounced among the younger users (92 percent). Meanwhile, around a half (58 percent) of participants endorse using speech as an alternative to the Internet for making purchases.

Confirming that the use of this technology is on the increase, a further two thirds of survey respondents prefer to use speech technology over the Internet if a better purchasing deal is in the offering.

The survey tested preferences for using speech technology for specific utility transactions and the overwhelming majority of respondents (91 percent) said meter reading; 84 percent of respondents cited getting a balance checked; and 76 percent service updates. Two thirds (64 percent) of respondents are happy to record a change of address/tenancy and 61 percent to report a leak.