The days of pressing 0 to speak to an operator are over. Speech recognition telephone services are the hottest thing around, no matter what industry you're in, so it's imperative that you know about the software and what it can mean for your business. Whether you want to streamline customer service procedures or just give callers a new way to interact with your systems, voice recognition telecommunications are worth a close look.

When you first start evaluating different voice recognition telephone systems, it's easy to get tangled up in all the jargon until you don't understand the technology. The key to sorting through all the details is finding something that works with your business, and not the other way around. You may be interested in such services as:

1. Speech recognition directory assistance

2. Voice recognition command prompts

3. Speech recognition software that can help identify and classify customers

4. Voice recordings

5. Specialized speech recognition software to fit a specific need

Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done

Attend a conference to learn more about telecommunications speech recognition

If you're new to telephone speech recognition, one of the first things you need to do is understand the industry and the technology behind the software. You can learn a lot by reading articles on the different news sites, but for deeper understanding, attend a conference designed to show consumers and business owners the latest developments in the field.

I recommend: Sign up for a conference if possible. A few days at the Voice Search Conference or Speech Tek will have you talking like the pros. They offer different seminars targeted toward vertical markets like the telecommunications industry, and give you the opportunity to speak with different vendors who can help you get your phone lines set up with voice recognition.

Learn about the different speech recognition systems available

Because this technology is relatively new, many business owners aren't aware of all the things that speech recognition telephony can do. Make sure to talk with your sales rep about all the options, and ask to see a demo to try the system for yourself. When deciding on a system, find one that you can have professionally installed and tested to make sure it's set up properly. You also need a warranty and service plan in case of a malfunction.

I recommend: Look around for services backed by the newest technology. Calibrus, for example, offers a voice ordering system that can take your business to new levels. Their hosted services also offer you more freedom so you don't have to worry about technical problems. Nuance is another type of speech recognition software that many large companies use to handle directory and customer service requests.

Find a voice recognition system that can handle different languages and dialects

One major problem with many voice recognition systems is their lack of flexibility when it comes to different languages and speech patterns. If you have customers who speak Spanish, for example, you need to be able to route those calls accordingly using your software. More advanced technologies can even pick up on different accents within a language, which makes the customer service experience more pleasant for everyone involved.

I recommend: Choose a program that works with multiple languages. Lumen Vox can recognize English, Spanish and Canadian French. Voice Vault is another program that's specially designed to work with different accents and dialects, which can come in handy if you want voice verification services.

Tips & Tactics

Helpful advice for making the most of this Guide

• •  Most speech recognition software works with either Microsoft Windows or Linux-based systems, so make sure that you choose a system that's compatible with your computer system.