Opus Research is pleased to announce Voice Biometrics Conference London 2008 -- the industry's only global gathering featuring case studies, in-depth session discussions and independent vendor analysis.
Latest News
Voice Commerce Group Launches Standards-Based Voice Signature Platform
By Derek Top | June 27, 2008
Voice Commerce Group, founded by Nick Ogden, announced the development and rollout of Voice Transact, a payment and transaction processing platform utilizing voice biometric signatures. The system is designed to fit into any financial process where a bank requires a signature.
"We believe that voice-signed transactions and payments will become as commonplace as Chip and Pin because they address key security concerns by delivering convenience, control, and responsibility to the consumer," said Ogden as part of the announcement.
Ogden says the Voice Transact system is the first to establish a framework of existing standards -- including Visa and MasterCard Level 1 PC1, ISO 19029, and EU certification 1999/93 -- and provides interoperability of voice biometric resources. Additionally, Voice Commerce Group will partner with Nuance Communications to supply the voice biometric engine and help in the global rollout.
Voice Transact is the back-end transaction processing system to the consumer-facing brand of VoicePay which was launched in May 2007. Ogden says the end-to-end system will first be offered as a hosted service to banks and financial institutions.
Technology Group Taps Voice Verification to Address Medicaid Fraud
By Derek Top | June 18, 2008
Medicaid fraud is an ever-growing concern for healthcare providers, taxpayers and government agencies alike. The U.S. spends more than $45 billion annually on Medicaid home healthcare but fraud, waste and profiteering has plagued the program in recent years. Increasingly, fraudulent cases are found in home healthcare and "consumer directed" plans where an individual is free to hire whomever they choose to provide home healthcare and bill directly to Medicaid.
Currently, there are over 20,000 home healthcare agencies today serving over 7.6 million people. And with the looming retirement of the Baby Boom generation, these numbers are likely to increase dramatically. Voice biometrics has a role to play in Medicaid fraud by eliminating the opportunity for patients to call in and bill for services never rendered and require verification of authorized healthcare providers.
Medical Management Technology Group, Inc. (MMTG), founded in early 2007, has focused on developing technology to improve the failing systems involved with home-based healthcare. In an interview with Opus Research, Joe Werner, Director of Information Systems with MMTG, discusses the need for fraud prevention and where voice biometrics fits in.
What is MMTG doing in terms of improving home-based healthcare?
The problem typically is that the payment process is slow and paper intensive for the medical providers, costly for both the provider and the insurer, and there is little or no fraud prevention or quality control in place. At MMTG, we apply a range of technology including optical recognition, biometric verification, voice/fax systems, and web-based software to increase efficiency in processing claims and detect and prevent fraud before payments are made. The key to MMTG's success is to keep the user's experience as simple as possible while these underlying technologies achieve their maximum results.
In the fall of 2007, MMTG formulated the concept for a home-based health care system that would verify service by using a phone-based time tracking system and voice biometric technology.
What is your planned application?
Payment processing for home-based health care includes paper intensive systems that result in slow payments to the providers, inaccurate data, and there is little or no fraud prevention in place.
To address these issues, we designed a phone-based time tracking system with integrated voice verification. Once each caretaker is enrolled, they are required to call into our system when they arrive at the patient's home and check in. During the brief call, they are asked to repeat random numbers so their voice can be verified. The caretaker calls our system again when they leave the patient's home and their voice is verified again. The voice verification ensures the paid caretaker is the person who is checking in and out. For each call, the caretaker is required to use the patient's phone so that our system can verify the caller ID and ensure the caretaker is onsite with the patient. The system records a time stamp for each call which can be used to track the duration of each visit. With this in place, billing for these services can be automated and fraud can be decreased if not completely eliminated.
How far along is the deployment?
Development began in December 2007 and in April 2008 the first version of the system was released. MMTG has been presenting the system to government and commercial organizations and is negotiating licensing agreements in upstate New York.
What significant challenges have you run into?
So far there have been three main challenges for us. The first was deciding which voice biometric technology provider to partner with. There are a number of great product offerings out there and we needed to select one. What helped us make the decision was to itemize our requirements:
- The product must be a standalone engine or SDK that we can integrate
- It must be able to verify random speech
- It must work for multiple languages including English, Spanish, Russian, and Chinese
- It must perform well with a mobile phone
- The licensing structure must fit into our pricing strategy
Ultimately, we decided that Agnitio's Kivox product was the best fit for us. Kivox works by having the user repeat random series of numbers, and it is language and channel independent. They were also able to work out a licensing structure that fits with our plan for pricing the service.
The second challenge was to learn how to operate the voice biometric engine and integrate it with our software in time for an April 2008 release. Agnitio provided documentation about the engine and assisted our development team with the installation. After careful study of the documentation and experience with the technology, our team became very knowledgeable about handling audio data from the IVR and exchanging the audio and transaction data between our application server and the Kivox engine. Our team successfully integrated the features of the Kivox engine into our time tracking system and met the target for releasing the first version in April 2008.
The third challenge came during our initial testing of our system. The issue was we were getting unexpected results with the voice verification. With the same person calling multiple times in one day, the verification result was sometimes a failure, and sometimes not. The issue turned out to be that we had too few enrolled users in the system to get accurate results. The Kivox product is optimized for large scale operations. To address the issue, Agnitio loaded a sample population of a few hundred male and female users into the database. This solved the problem immediately.
Further advice or suggestions?
For someone that is new to voice biometric technology and interested in applying it to their business, I recommend the following:
1. Research the technology first. Develop an understanding of its capabilities.
2. Once you understand the technology, you are ready to map out what your business process requires from a voice verification product. Make a list of each necessary feature you've identified. For example, you will find in your research that some voice biometric products are "text dependent" which means the user must repeat a fixed phrase like "lucky star" each time they are verified. You will also discover as a pro that users find this to be user friendly and as a con that this approach can be possibly cheated with a tape recorder. With this knowledge, you can analyze your business process to determine whether fixed phrases (text-dependent) or random speech (text-independent) is the most appropriate option.
3. Finally, compare the various voice biometric products against your itemized requirements. This will give you a clear indication of who you should be talking to.
Voice Biometrics Gets Plug on Fox's "The Morning Show with Mike and Juliet"
By Derek Top | June 4, 2008
Voice biometrics as a solution to prevent identity theft was featured in a television interview today on the Fox program, "The Morning Show with Mike and Juliet." James Jackson, self-proclaimed "Father of Identity Theft" and speaker at last month's Voice Biometrics Conference New York, was invited for the segment, "Keep Your Identity," to discuss the various misdeeds that ultimately landed him in jail. When asked if there was anything that would've prevented him from committing these crimes, "Voice biometrics is the only thing that would've defeated me," said Jackson.
The nationally syndicated Fox program, which began airing in January 2007, is found in 68 U.S. markets, including 25 of the top 30. The show includes a typical talk show mix of celebrity interviews, audience interaction and informational segments.
Colorado Prison Department Chooses Diaphonics To Monitor Defendents
By Derek Top | June 4, 2008
A Colorado correctional division has chosen Nova Scotia-based Diaphonics in setting up a telephone verification and information system as an additional tool in helping reintegrate felony offenders back into the community. According to the announcement, the Larimer County (Colorado) Community Corrections will use Diaphonics' SpikeServer platform to provide defendants with pre-trial information, reporting schedules and electronic monitoring.
Voice biometrics is regularly used to track and monitor inmates on parole and those under house arrest.
Voice Biometrics Conference New York - A Resounding Success
Derek Top | May 20, 2008
More than 150 attendees convened in New York City last week to meet and discuss the maturing market for voice biometric technologies. Content and conversations ranged from understanding biometric basics and implementation challenges, a profile of the world's largest customer-facing deployment at Bell Canada, and hearing firsthand from the self-proclaimed "father of identity theft" on his various misdeeds and the need for improving phone-based security.
Opus Research is pleased to announce that the session presentations are now available for viewing or download (in .pdf format) from the Voice Biometrics Conference Web site.
Stay tuned for future announcements about Voice Biometrics Conference London in November 2008.
Australian Survey Shows Little Confidence in PINs and Passwords
By Derek Top | April 10, 2008
Fear of fraud and identity theft is eroding consumers' confidence in the way companies identify people over the phone, says a new survey by Australian-based callcentres.net.
The survey of 216 Australian men and women, conducted on behalf of VeCommerce, found dwindling levels of confidence in traditional contact center security methods such as asking for personal identification numbers (PINs) and passwords.
According to the survey, only 24% of people of those aged 18-30 felt that revealing their PIN number was a secure way to identify a caller, followed by a password (20%) and answering a personal details or history question (13%). Only 6% of those aged 31-45 thought a password was secure, followed by providing a PIN number (15%) and personal details (10%).
The survey also found almost half of respondents (47%) preferred organizations to use a "fairly complex process with fairly high security" for identification. To that end, voice biometrics was a preferred method of identification for both men (45%) and women (39%) and across all age groups.
Canadian Privacy Chief Hails Voice Biometrics
By Derek Top | March 13, 2008
Lending a strong voice of support to the security benefits of voice biometric technology, the Information and Privacy Commissioner of Ontario, Canada touted an advancement in biometric encryption between PerSay and electronics giant Philips.
According to privacy commissioner Ann Cavoukian, the combined technologies, which apply Philips priv-ID biometric encryption to a PerSay voiceprint, exceeded performance expectations and "remained at a world class level with respect to accuracy, plus invaluable privacy and security benefits." The advancement has particular benefits in remote voice authentication where a biometrically encrypted template can be sent without degradation to a processing terminal for authentication.
Cavoukian is unabashed in her support of the development, "We are on the cusp of making a truly positive-sum solution a reality through the use of voice biometrics - an approach that enhances both the privacy and security of a biometric, in this case, your voice, which happens to be a unique and unobtrusive form of identification."
Early-Bird Rate for Voice Biometrics Conference New York Ends March 15
March 11, 2008
Don't miss this chance to attend Voice Biometrics Conference New York - the only conference that focuses on the opportunities, challenges and strategies surrounding implementation of voice biometric-based authentication. VBC New York features speakers from leading financial services and telecommunications firms, exclusive case studies, and top experts sharing real-world insight into speaker verification and voice biometric solutions.
Highlighted conference sessions include:
- Rising to the Challenges - Executives from Chase Card Services, CIBC and Pershing discuss how to identify core issues, propose solutions and get buy-in from customer care, marketing, operations, security and top management.
- Customer Case Study: Bell Canada - To date, more than 600,000 Bell Canada customers have enrolled in a voice identification service, making it the world's largest deployment of voice biometrics. Executives who spearheaded the initiative explain how it is cost-effective, convenient for customers and supports high-levels of security and privacy.
- Tackling Implementation Details - Through a series of panels, prospective implementers will hear pros and cons of critical design decisions and understand what's necessary in the vendor evaluation process.
VBC New York is the one place to meet top vendors who bring a unique perspective to deploying voice biometrics for user authentication across multiple industries and applications. Platinum sponsors for the event are VoiceVault, Agnitio and Fluency; Gold sponsors include Diaphonics, PerSay, Nuance, and Trade Harbor; Event sponsors are VoiceVerified and Authentify.
Early-bird rate ends March 15th! Register now and save $200 off the full-conference price.
PerSay and Telisma Announce Agreement
By Derek Top | February 18, 2008
Speech-recognition provider Telisma has announced a partnership with voice biometrics company PerSay to provide more comprehensive customer solutions.
Based in Paris, France, Telisma has had success in providing ASR technology to Western Europe and India. While no customers were included as part of the announcement, the partnership does expand the geographical scope for PerSay beyond its current roster of partners in Europe, EMEA and Latin America.
In the press release, Laurent Balaine, CEO with Telisma, said, "Our partnership with PerSay will enable us to broaden the availability of our speech recognition solutions worldwide, and provide customers with the most accurate and cost-effective speaker verification technology available."
Research Shows Dramatic Rise in Phone-Based Fraud Activity
By Derek Top | February 15, 2008
A new report shows a dramatic shift in identity theft crime activity away from online to the more traditional phone-based fraud. The report, by Javelin Strategy & Research, showed fraudster access through mail and phone-based incidents rose dramatically, from 3% of ID fraud in 2006 to 40% in 2007.
According to the press release, "This year's report reinforces a three-year trend that criminals mostly obtain the majority of information from stolen personal belongings, and through telephone calls, rather than online."
The findings appear to confirm speculation that as many banks and financial firms attempted to shore up online security, fraudsters would train there methods on the less-secure phone channel. While the Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council's 2006 guidance on multi-factor authentication included telephone banking, many financial institutions initially concentrated their efforts online.
Also, according to the report, wireless phone accounts are the most popular type of fraudulent accounts opened, increasing from 19% to 32% of new account fraud last year, exceeding credit cards, loans, checking or savings accounts.
The Javelin study is in its fourth year and was conducted in October 2007 with more than 5,000 telephone interviews.
Biometrics Gain Traction in Banking, Says Study
By Derek Top | February 7, 2008
A new study, sponsored by biometric scanning provider AuthenTec, found that U.S. consumers "trust in the convenience and security benefits" of fingerprint authentication, particularly for tasks such as online banking and other e-commerce applications. The survey, conducted in December 2007, sampled U.S. men and women between the ages of 21-55.
Of note to voice biometrics vendors and prospective implementers was the study's discussion of the use of biometric security in financial applications. In the survey, 75% of the respondents said they banked online, with 78% of those people indicating that, if available, they would use a fingerprint sensor to make online banking transactions more convenient and secure. Additionaly, the survey showed that 66% of consumers trust fingerprint biometrics as a means of authentication more than traditional PINs or passwords.
AuthenTec, based in Melbourne, FL, announced the shipment of its 25 millionth fingerprint sensor last November and reported a 67% revenue increase in the fourth quarter of 2007 compared to the previous year.
Announcing Voice Biometrics Advisory Services
With ever-increasing business demand for caller authentication solutions, Opus Research - in conjunction with the Buffum Group - is pleased to announce a new service offering to help prospective implementers justify and design voice biometric deployments.
Opus Research and Buffum Group offer an unparalleled set of information services and implementation support for companies interested in voice biometric-based authentication to secure self-service resources. At the macro level, Opus Research has a long-standing reputation for market assessment, trends analysis, forecasting and vendor evaluation in this fast-changing field. At the micro level, Buffum Group has built portfolio of enterprise-oriented requirements assessment and solutions planning services.
Together Opus Research and Buffum Group offer a package that includes: Market Assessment - conducted year-round and documented online, in printed reports and advisories; Vendor Analysis - encapsulated in regularly updated dossiers that include company history, financial overviews and product descriptions; Networking - Attendance at the industry's only global gathering of prospective implementers and providers of voice biometric-based solutions, featuring real-world case studies and exclusive program content.
A key part of the service offering will include Enterprise-Specific Consulting - Providing the dual advantage of internal team building and business planning that culminates in a business plan, with cost justification, for an overall phone channel security solution.
- Requirements Synthesis - Integrating the caller authentication requirements from security, customer satisfaction and IT into a single requirements document for the enterprise.
- High-Level Design - Addressing the integrated caller authentication requirements leveraging voice biometric and other technologies with the existing technical infrastructure.
This comprehensive, tailored offering - combining customized consulting, proprietary research, conference interaction and ongoing support - will prove to be a cost-effective and targeted solution.
For details regarding options and pricing, please contact: Pete Headrick, 1-415-904-7666, pheadrick@opusresearch.net
Barclays Chairman Victim of Identity Theft
By Derek Top | January 17, 2008
When the chairman of Barclays Bank gets robbed, the problem of identity theft makes headlines.
According to a story at ComputerWeekly, a man using personal information found online obtained a Barclays bank card for chairman Marcus Agius by calling a contact center representative.
While the thief walked away with £10,000 from a London bank, Agius did get his money back. But the fact that Barclays automatically refunds any customer who becomes a victim of identity theft - as do almost all banks and financial institutions - points to a staggering estimated financial loss worldwide. Voice biometrics and multifactor identity proofing are factors that can be used to thwart some of these attacks.
Or, as Agius admits in the article, "credit card fraud is an issue which our industry continues to confront."
