声纹：你的新密码

    银行呼叫中心的话务员是优秀的审讯者，你叫什么名字？你的账号是多少？你的社会安全号码是多少？你母亲的娘家姓是什么？当然，这样做的目的是防止欺诈行为，但这没有让过程变得更方便。

    越来越多的公司正在寻找一种替代方案，以期解决所有恼人的问题。这些公司将放弃“审讯”，而使用一种对所谓声纹（voice print）进行分析的技术来验证客户的身份。软件将对呼叫者的语音跟存档的样本进行比较，在几毫秒之内，系统就能判定呼叫者是拥有合法身份还是冒名顶替者。

    巴克莱银行 （Barclay's）和先锋集团（Vanguard）已经在面向一些客户使用这种技术——它的正式名称是语音生物识别技术——其他金融机构和诸如电话公司这类倚重呼叫中心的企业也在考虑当中。不过，这种技术能否被广泛采用将取决于一些因素，比如客户的操作简易性，对防止欺诈的可靠性，以及技术成本。另外，客户也要能习惯于这样一种想法，即他们一生的积蓄和欺诈者之间只隔着自己的声纹。

    “我认为公众已经准备好了。”Enterprise Integration Group（EIG）公司的高级顾问苏珊•奥斯汀说道，EIG是一家帮助企业规划呼叫中心和技术的咨询公司，“我不认为它会在未来几年成为规范，但它会变得更加普遍。”

    语音生物识别技术已经诞生好几年了，但在该技术得到改进以及欺诈者的手段变得日益复杂之后，各家公司才开始更加认真地看待它。移动设备的普及同样增加了这种技术的魅力，举例来说，当人们打电话查询银行账户余额时，在智能手机上输入冗长的密码并不是很方便。

    几周前，巴克莱银行开始逐步引入声纹验证技术，马特•斯摩曼表示，该银行此前的客户服务很糟糕——斯摩曼是巴克莱银行财富管理部门客户体验团队的负责人。居高不下去的欺诈率让该银行损失大笔资金。此外，客户在回答呼叫中心话务员抛出的各种问题时也存在困难。所有呼叫者中大约有10%会无法进入他们的账户，其中很多拥有合法身份。“显然，我们的旧模式破产了，对此我们需要做一些事情。”斯摩曼在旧金山最近举行的一次声纹验证技术专题会议上如是说。

    巴克莱银行并非突然就决定引入语音生物识别技术。在上个月推出这种技术之前，该银行进行了广泛的测试。到目前为止，约有30,000名客户签署了使用协议，他们可以使用这套系统进行基本的查询，比如检查自己的账户余额，但无法进行转账或提款。

    Bank call center agents make good interrogators. What's your name? Your account number? Your Social Security number? Your mother's maiden name? Preventing fraud is, of course, the goal. But that doesn't make the process any more convenient.

    An increasing number of companies are looking at an alternative that would do away with all of the annoying questions. Instead of an interrogation, the companies would verify their customers' identity using technology that analyzes so-called voice prints. Software would compare callers' voices with samples on file. Within a few milliseconds, the system would determine whether the speaker is, in fact, legitimate or an imposter.

    Barclay's (BCS) and Vanguard are already using the technology, formally known as voice biometrics, with some customers. Other financial institutions and call center-intensive businesses like phone companies are considering it. Widespread adoption, however, will depend on factors like ease of use for consumers, reliability in preventing fraud, and the technology's cost. Consumers will also have to get comfortable with the idea of their voice prints being all that stands between their life savings and fraudsters.

    "I think the public is getting ready for it," said Susan Austin, senior consultant with Enterprise Integration Group, a consulting firm that helps businesses with their call center planning and technology. "I don't think it's going to be the norm in the next few years, but it will be more prevalent."

    Voice biometrics, as the technology is formally called, has been around for years. But companies are only now starting to take a more serious look following improvements in the technology and the increasing sophistication of fraudsters. The proliferation of mobile devices also adds to its allure. Entering lengthy passwords on smartphones isn't very practical when calling to get access to bank account balances, for example.

    Barclay's customer service was in bad shape before it started phasing in voice print technology a few weeks ago, said Matt Smallman, who leads the client experience team for Barclay's wealth management division. High fraud rates cost the company a lot of money. Moreover, customers were having trouble answering all the questions lobbed at them by call center agents. Around 10% of all callers, many of them legitimate, couldn't get into their accounts. "Clearly, our old model was broken, and we needed to do something about it," Smallman said at a recent conference in San Francisco focused on voice print technology.

    The company didn't decide on voice biometrics overnight. Extensive testing preceded the rollout last month. So far, about 30,000 clients have signed up. They can use the system to make basic inquiries like check their account balances, but not to transfer or withdraw money.