Natural Language Understanding and Voice Biometrics in both French and
English is a first in Canada
Market-leading technology from Nuance centred on customers' voice
C$ unless otherwise stated TSX/NYSE/PSE: MFC SEHK:945
TORONTO,ON and MONTRÉAL, PQ, Sept. 1, 2015 /CNW/ - Manulife today
announced that it has enhanced its contact centre customer experience
with the deployment of natural language understanding (NLU) and voice
biometric technologies. Manulife is the first company in Canada to
introduce voice biometrics as well as natural language understanding in
a single interactive voice response (IVR) system offered in both
English and French.
First introduced in July 2015 to Manulife Bank customers, the new IVR
system provides customers with a secure system that recognizes natural
conversation. For customers who choose to enroll in the voice
biometrics option, they can now simply say "at Manulife my voice is my
password" to access their accounts without the need for additional
passwords, PINs and security questions, for subsequent calls. Manulife
is also providing this service to its retail advisors who contact us
for obtaining product information, placing new business or checking on
existing business on behalf of their customers.
Manulife serves 1 in 3 adult Canadians and its customer contact centre
receives almost 28, 000 calls a day. With these new combined
technologies, Manulife is enhancing customer security while eliminating
up to four steps in the authentication process which will streamline
the amount of time spent by customers on calls with us in a meaningful
way.
"This customer-focused technology provides a more natural, faster, and
more enhanced customer experience within our call centres," says
Marianne Harrison, President & CEO, Manulife Canada. "No more PINs or
passwords to remember - customers just use their voice as their
password. The introduction of these enhancements is another example of
Manulife's commitment to providing customers with innovative,
forward-thinking solutions for a superior customer experience."
A video illustrating our customer experience can be accessed here.
Customer experience and security
To offer this technology to its customers, Manulife partnered with
Nuance, a global leader in the development of NLU speech,
conversational interfaces, and voice biometrics technology, which are
at once convenient and secure. There is a series of security measures
built into this technology to protect customers' information and
accounts. Manulife's solution analyzes more than 100 unique voice
characteristics to create individual voiceprints for customers, each
unique, much like a fingerprint. When a customer calls in to access
their account, their voice is compared against their voiceprint and, if
matched, access is granted.
"When it comes to improving the customer experience, few things gain
traction as quickly as services that reduce hassle. Natural user
interfaces offer new methods for interacting with software, data and
services, and inputs like touch, gesture, and voice can deliver
contextualized, individualized, and more secure customer experiences,
enabling companies to meet their customers' needs in easy and enjoyable
ways," said Allegra Burnette, Principal Analyst, Forrester.
About Manulife
Manulife Financial Corporation is a leading international financial
services group providing forward-thinking solutions to help people with
their big financial decisions. We operate as John Hancock in the
United States, and Manulife elsewhere. We provide financial advice,
insurance and wealth and asset management solutions for individuals,
groups and institutions. At the end of 2014, we had 28,000 employees,
58,000 agents, and thousands of distribution partners, serving 20
million customers. At the end of June 2015, we had $883 billion
(US$708 billion) in assets under management and administration, and in
the previous 12 months we made more than $22 billion in benefits,
interest and other payments to our customers. Our principal operations
are in Asia, Canada and the United States where we have served
customers for more than 100 years. With our global headquarters in
Toronto, Canada, we trade as 'MFC' on the Toronto, New York, and the
Philippine stock exchanges and under '945' in Hong Kong. Follow
Manulife on Twitter @ManulifeNews or visit www.manulife.com or www.johnhancock.com.
SOURCE Manulife Financial Corporation
Image with caption: "Natural Language Understanding and Voice Biometrics (CNW Group/Manulife Financial Corporation)". Image available at: http://photos.newswire.ca/images/download/20150901_C9616_PHOTO_EN_44176.jpg
