Why people are better at "hearing you", than machines.
Have you ever walked into a crowded room full of conversations and laughter and quickly picked up on a dialog of interest that seemed to catch your attention? Have you ever had a dialog with a person on a cell phone full of static and background noise, but you were able to understand what they were saying?
Researchers tell us that this ability to listen and discern context, meaning and dialog is a basic instinct that is hard-wired in all of us. From the animal world this ability is tied directly to survival, paying attention to the sound of a predator, or locating the next meal.
One aspect that is unique to humans is that we have the unique ability to adapt and "filter" based on the changing environment and can "tune in" or "tune out" certain sounds or irrelevant dialog. That's when you decide to move on to another conversation in the party, or know when the person on the other end of the phone is having a side conversation.
According to a paper just recently published by researchers at the University of Maryland, "...we believe that receptive fields of auditory cortical neurons change their selectivity to sound according to the specific demands of an ongoing task in a manner that promotes its successful execution." ( Changing Your Mind In A Cocktail Party Scene). "We still do not know for certain the mechanisms that give rise to this rapid plasticity, nor do we understand sufficiently the processes taking place to be able to encapsulate them in computer programs or build effective prosthetic devices. One day soon, however, we shall. Then, we will be able to mimic these abilities and build more effective hearing aids and cochlear implants, as well as automatic speech recognition systems that are robust to moderate levels of noise and clutter."
Is this the basic instinct that drives us to press zero to talk to a live call center agent when we call a company? When we reach the live agent, do we know when someone "hears" us, no matter if you are calling from your cell phone in a crowded room?
You probably can do a test of your own to figure out the answer. The next time you call an IVR while there is other noise around you and it says, "I'm sorry I didn't get that, can you please say it again?" - ask yourself, "Would that have been understood if a live agent listened to what I just said?"
While the answer is certain, as you can imagine, many callers deal with similar frustration when dealing with automation by itself. With the advent of agent assisted speech systems, specifically the Spoken Communications guided-Speech IVR platform, the frustration on the caller's behalf is drastically reduced. In many cases it just takes a human to listen and interpret only for a few seconds for the automation in order to have a successful call.
Tags:
Spoken, Call Center Agent, Speech Recognition, IVR, Guided Speech IVR, Agent Assisted Speech
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Researchers tell us that this ability to listen and discern context, meaning and dialog is a basic instinct that is hard-wired in all of us. From the animal world this ability is tied directly to survival, paying attention to the sound of a predator, or locating the next meal.
One aspect that is unique to humans is that we have the unique ability to adapt and "filter" based on the changing environment and can "tune in" or "tune out" certain sounds or irrelevant dialog. That's when you decide to move on to another conversation in the party, or know when the person on the other end of the phone is having a side conversation.
According to a paper just recently published by researchers at the University of Maryland, "...we believe that receptive fields of auditory cortical neurons change their selectivity to sound according to the specific demands of an ongoing task in a manner that promotes its successful execution." ( Changing Your Mind In A Cocktail Party Scene). "We still do not know for certain the mechanisms that give rise to this rapid plasticity, nor do we understand sufficiently the processes taking place to be able to encapsulate them in computer programs or build effective prosthetic devices. One day soon, however, we shall. Then, we will be able to mimic these abilities and build more effective hearing aids and cochlear implants, as well as automatic speech recognition systems that are robust to moderate levels of noise and clutter."
Is this the basic instinct that drives us to press zero to talk to a live call center agent when we call a company? When we reach the live agent, do we know when someone "hears" us, no matter if you are calling from your cell phone in a crowded room?
You probably can do a test of your own to figure out the answer. The next time you call an IVR while there is other noise around you and it says, "I'm sorry I didn't get that, can you please say it again?" - ask yourself, "Would that have been understood if a live agent listened to what I just said?"
While the answer is certain, as you can imagine, many callers deal with similar frustration when dealing with automation by itself. With the advent of agent assisted speech systems, specifically the Spoken Communications guided-Speech IVR platform, the frustration on the caller's behalf is drastically reduced. In many cases it just takes a human to listen and interpret only for a few seconds for the automation in order to have a successful call.
Tags:
Spoken, Call Center Agent, Speech Recognition, IVR, Guided Speech IVR, Agent Assisted Speech
