Nuance Launches 9 Indian Languages For Speech Recognition

Nuance Communications, a supplier of speech, smart keypad and imaging solutions, has announced the availability of nine new Indian languages for speech recognition in the contact centre. The launch of these new languages will enable enterprises to offer their customers an enriched user experience and consumers will be able to conduct self-service transactions in the language of their choice. The new languages now available, in addition to Hindi and Indian English, are Marathi, Malayalam, Tamil, Kannada, Telugu, Bengali, Gujarati, Oriya, and Punjabi.

Being able to interact in the language of their choice is important to Indian consumers. A recent study commissioned by Nuance and conducted by the eTech Group@IMRB International showed that while Hindi and English are the languages spoken or familiar to a majority of customers, their preference is to use their regional language given the choice. Up until now, Indian consumers have mainly only been able to experience speech recognition in their native language through VAS from mobile service providers. Now, with the availability of a total of 11 Indian languages for the enterprise, organisations will be able to offer their customers that same choice and enriched user experience when they contact the call centre.

Additionally, Nuance has announced the availability of local consulting support and expertise in the areas of customer experience management and user interface design to assist both customers and partners deploying the new languages.

Sunny Rao, general manager, Nuance Communications, ASEAN and India, said, “With Nuance speech recognition, Indian customers can simply state what they are looking for without the frustration of having to navigate long touchtone menus. Now, with the added ability for customers to experience automated speech self-service in the regional language of their choice, their experience will be further enhanced. Speech recognition can be used in the call centre for simple to complex tasks. Optimising the call centre experience using speech technology leads to better service for customers and value for the enterprise deploying it”.

The new language packs are available for Nuance Recogniser v9 supplementing the previously available Hindi and Indian English packs.