Speech Technology Research Validates High Caller Satisfaction

A new custom research study commissioned by SpeechWorks International  and conducted by Gartner Custom Researchconcludes that, overall, callers are satisfied with their experience using speech recognition technology.

The research found that the primary drivers for overall caller satisfaction with speech systems included convenience, speed and timeliness of information retrieval, recognition accuracy and a personal and friendly interaction.

For the study, Gartner Custom Research conducted interviews with 302 respondents who recently interacted with a speech recognition application. The caller respondents interacted with speech services provided by SpeechWorks International across four major industries spanning airlines, railroad, car rental and insurance. Callers were surveyed to determine their satisfaction with speech technology, their perception about the technology and their relative satisfaction levels between speech technology and other self-service channels.

Highlight findings include:

• 49  percent of caller respondents indicated they are extremely satisfied with their speech technology experience, with another 35 percent indicating neutral satisfaction.
• Most caller respondents indicated a clear preference for speech technology over both touchtone and Internet interfaces, with 47 percent and 49 percent respectively indicating they are much more satisfied using speech technology than the other interface and 36 percent and 27 percent indicating that they are equally satisfied.
• When asked to indicate their preferred interaction type for future interactions over the telephone, caller respondents preferred speech recognition over touch-tone by a factor of 6 to 1. In fact, 69 percent of callers rated touch-tone their least preferred method of self-service.
• 90 percent of caller respondents said they would be either more or equally comfortable the next time they used a speech recognition interface based on increased awareness of what to expect from the speech experience. 
• 43percent of caller respondents expressed strong preference for using the speech recognition interface to conduct business rather than waiting on hold for two minutes to speak with an agent.
• 69 percent of caller respondents strongly preferred speech technology over touchtone while driving and using a mobile phone. In general, caller respondents indicate strong positive agreement with individual components of the speech technology interaction in terms of clarity, pleasant voice, ease of use, quick and timely interaction, recognition accuracy, convenience and friendliness of interaction.

"This research clearly demonstrates that overall caller satisfaction with speech recognition technology is very high, and that most customers indicate a clear preference for using speech recognition over either touch-tone or Internet interfaces," said Scott Perretta, senior researcher who led the study at Gartner Custom Research.

The Gartner Custom Research study also probed for qualitative insights on speech technology, looking for callers' top-of-mind reactions to their experience. Respondents were given the opportunity to freely state their opinions, with top-rated comments including:

• It's quick (32 percent of callers);
• Easy to use (15 percent);
• Answers all questions, gets needed information (12 percent); and
• Don't have to wait or be on hold (11 percent).

"We chose Gartner Custom Research to conduct this research project because customers want objective, third-party data from a trusted advisor," said Steve Chambers, chief marketing officer at SpeechWorks. "Their findings demonstrate that callers have embraced speech technology, and that caller comfort grows with each speech interaction. This study is a wake-up call for companies who rely heavily on touch-tone services and is great news for companies with enterprise speech strategies who want to ensure their speech service not only attains target R.O.I. projections, but also enhances their callers' experience."