The Balancing Act: Using Touch-tone And Speech

Speech recognition technology is advancing rapidly, and today companies are looking toward speech to provide a higher level of customer service than traditional touch-tone phone systems can offer. The acceptance rate of speech recognition among consumers is also growing. In fact, 85% of people say that speech is easier to use than touch-tone, and 90% feel that speech adds value to phone-based transactions. But many contact centers still rely on traditional touch-tone for customer interactions, even while implementing or migrating to speech. For some, touch-tone inputs are necessary for security or legal reasons; for others it's a matter of preference. Either way, using both technologies can be beneficial, but the key is knowing how best to marry these two different modes of input into one seamless automated customer experience.