Compliance is an increasingly important aspect of call centre operations, with UK companies under rising pressure to ensure they are meeting standards and regulations. With Ofcom and the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) regularly auditing companies and the FCA (Financial Conduct Authority) introducing its new Consumer Duty regulations this year, it is vital that organisations get ahead of compliance risks and stay on top of regulatory changes. However, this is a task easier said than done. 

With some processes like manual transcriptions and audits, it is difficult to keep up with the ever-increasing volume of customer calls coming through. Plus, most companies are forced to adopt a reactive approach to compliance, meaning they are often responding to risks post-call rather than proactively preventing them in the first place. This is where real-time speech analytics comes in. 

What is real-time speech analytics? 

In a nutshell, real-time speech analytics is a technology that enables the real-time analysis of audio data, such as call centre interactions, to provide immediate insights and reports as the call is still in progress. This means that organisations can detect potential risks and compliance issues while the customer is still on the line, instead of reactive measures taken after the conversation has ended. 

Real-time speech analytics leverages machine learning and natural language processing to identify keywords, phrases or intonations in customer interactions that could indicate a compliance risk. It can detect not just specific words but also the context in which they are used, meaning it can identify customer sentiment, and can also pick up whether agents are adhering to company procedures or policies. 

How real-time speech analytics can help you stay ahead of compliance risks

Now that you understand what real-time speech analytics is, let us look at how it can help you stay ahead of compliance risks across your call centre operations. 

Proactive measures to prevent risks

As mentioned, rather than waiting to respond to risks post-call, real-time speech analytics enables organisations to proactively detect, manage and mitigate compliance issues. This means that companies can act before any risks become major issues, protecting their reputation, bottom line, and customer relationships. 

To give you an example, if an agent fails to take a customer through the necessary verification process during a call, real-time speech analytics would pick this up and alert the call handler directly through their CRM (Customer Relationship Management) system. Some speech analytics platforms also generate notifications. This not only prevents potential customer data breaches but also helps the organisation to keep up with regulatory changes, such as GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation). 

Improved agent performance

Real-time speech analytics solutions can also be used to help agents improve their performance. With real-time feedback, agents can understand where they are making mistakes and what they can do to ensure compliance. With poor customer service and complaints costing UK firms over £11.4 billion per month in lost productivity, it is essential that organisations do all they can to ensure their agents are well-trained and informed – and real-time speech analytics is the perfect tool to achieve just that. 

On-call coaching and assistance

With real-time speech analytics solutions, organisations can also provide on-call coaching and assistance to agents. This helps them address any risks or issues in real-time, ensuring that the customer’s needs are being met and compliance is maintained. For example, if an agent is going through a cross-sell or an up-sell process that includes certain terms and conditions, the software can detect this and notify the team leader who can monitor if it is all being explained and communicated correctly.

Automation of risk detection

In many cases, compliance teams are overwhelmed with manual processes and tasks. This could be anything from manual transcriptions to audits, which can be both time-consuming and costly. With real-time speech analytics, however, organisations can automate the process of risk detection, meaning teams can focus on strategic compliance initiatives instead – thus streamlining the process and helping companies to save time and money. 

Final thoughts

Real-time speech analytics is revolutionising the way companies approach compliance risk management. By providing an automated, proactive solution that can detect potential issues while the customer is still on the line, organisations can ensure they stay ahead of risks and protect their bottom line. Armed with instantaneous feedback and actionable insights, agents can enhance their performance and improve customer service while giving the compliance team peace of mind that customer data is always being handled securely. 

Get in touch for a chat with one of our consultants. We will take the time to understand your challenges and unique needs. Then, we can pinpoint where exactly real-time speech analytics would make the biggest difference and how it could improve your operations.