Thursday, 15 May 2008

Consumers Open to Enrolling in Voice Verification to Protect Personal Data

Consumers in the US are increasinlgy opening up to the idea of using voice verification in protecting important personal information.

According to a study conducted by Harris Interactive for Nuance Communications, a supplier of speech and imaging solutions, suggest that voice verification is viewed as a business differentiator with nearly two-fifths of those surveyed agreeing they prefer to do business with a company that provides voice verification solutions.

After hearing an audio clip of a voice verification process, three-fifths of the respondents were likely to use voice verification as a form of security.

61% of respondents feel that voice verification is a secure form of identity verification for phone access to customer service data. And 83% percent of respondents agreed that institutions should require different forms of identity verification based on the types of transactions.

“Increasingly, consumers are looking for improved security and view voice verification as more secure than traditional means most often used today,” said Chuck Buffum, vice president, Caller Authentication for Nuance.

“This study suggests that consumers would prefer to do business with companies offering voice verification as a means to protect their personal data.”

Additional findings include:

• While consumers want improved data protection, they want it to be convenient. When asked “why would you use voice verification,” the top two responses were:

--combats identity theft (23%)
--do not have to remember password/PIN respectively (19%)

• Six in ten (60%) respondents feel that voice verification is a secure, very secure or an extremely secure form of identity verification

• Voice verification was viewed more secure than other methods that can be used over the phone, including home phone number, memorable information, password, PIN number and account information.

• After listening to an audio of how the voice verification process would work during a customer service call – 60% of respondents said they would be likely to use voice verification; 35% are “very” or “extremely” likely.