The flagship product moving forward will be PerSay’s broadly deployed text-dependent engine, now branded as Nuance VocalPassword(TM). Nuance Verifier(TM), the legacy, text-dependent voice biometric engine is on a roadmap to be integrated into VocalPassword going forward. Where customers are looking for text-independent or “dual engine” approaches, Nuance-branded FreeSpeech(TM) will be brought to bear. To round out the portfolio, Nuance S.P.I.D.(TM) is a platform for speaker identification and analytics that is employed by law enforcement and forensic specialists.

As I noted when Nuance’s acquisition of PerSay took place in December 2010, concentration brings coherence to the marketplace. Nuance has moved quickly to consolidate the product line and make its future direction clear. This is a very positive development as we enter a period when interest in voice biometrics has moved from “what is it?” to “how *exactly* do you implement it?” in the context of, identity proofing, secure customer care and protection of information made accessible through mobile phones.

Executives from Nuance and PerSay will join other technology providers and solutions providers as Opus Research convenes Voice Biometrics Conference – Amsterdam. It will be an assembly of folks from companies that are trialing and implementing voice biometric-based solutions as part of multi-factor authentication solutions, as well as system integrators, risk management, mobility and identity management specialists who are making voice biometrics part of their solutions sets.

For more information on VBC-Amsterdam visit the Conference Web site.

To ensure higher levels of security, West Corporation has purchased Anakam’s comprehensive suite of products, including voice biometrics, to provide authentication mechanisms in verifying the identity of home-based agents. West at Home, with more than 15,000 virtual agents, plans to use the “Anakam Identity Suite” to provide strong authentication of virtual private networks (VPN) between home-based agents and their platform. The product suite enhances West at Home’s current two-factor authentication by offering customers the ability to deliver a one-time passcode via phone, email or voice biometrics.

The partnership with Anakam – whose roster of customers include government and healthcare organizations utilizing identity proofing and verification technologies – underscores West Corporation’s commitment to provide secure, multi-channel communications. While the announced partnership focuses on the authentication process of internal West at Home agents, and does not necessarily require deployment of voice biometric-based authentication, we note that Anakam’s technological framework makes it very easy to add voice biometrics to perform such functions as “speaker change detection”, which could be very important for managing remote agents. We also note that many of Anakam’s deployments in support of healthcare, financial services and eGovernment demonstrate the ability for applications to scale significantly in support of customer and client-facing solutions.

Featured Research Reports are available to registered users only.

For more information on becoming an Opus Research client, please contact Pete Headrick (pheadrick@opusresearch.net).

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Last week, Dan York (Director of Conversations with Voxeo) interviewed Dan Miller (Senior Analyst, Opus Research) about the upcoming Voice Biometrics Conference on May 4-5 at the Hyatt Regency Jersey City. They spoke about the history of the conference, the kinds of presentations that will be at the event and what attendees will learn. Watch the interview:

Webcast On-Demand

Web-based search, commerce, and entertainment — coupled with the human urge to “go mobile”– is making our activity more virtual. In this always-on world, unwanted access to personal data stores is leaving transaction streams vulnerable to fraud. Join Opus Research and TradeHarbor for a discussion of how the two pillars of “something you know” (a PIN or Password) and “something you have” (a physical token, PC, or cellphone) can be easily augmented with unique aspects of “something you are,” in this case your voiceprint.

Sign-up to attend this global gathering (May 4-5, 2010 – Hyatt Regency Jersey City) showcasing voice biometrics solutions to support banking and financial services, contact centers, customer care, mobile payments, healthcare and government services.

Confirmed sessions include case study presentations from the banking and healthcare sector; panel discussions on “Seeding the Cloud: Authentication as a Service,” “Opportunities for Mobile Authentication,” and “Data Security and Information Services.” And hear how a North American law enforcement agency has deployed one of the largest known speaker identification projects to fight crime.

Click here for to register now!

In a series of video interviews, Voxeo’s Dan York chats with some of the leading providers of voice biometrics technology. York includes conversations with Bill Morrow, Chairman and CEO of CSIdentity; Peter Soufleris, Founder and CEO of Vocalect; Ariel Freidenberg, Executive VP of Sales and Business Development forPerSay; and Paul Heirendt, Co-founder, President and CEO of TradeHarbor. Each interview delves into the current trends for voice biometrics, barriers to adoption, and what makes each of these providers’ services unique.

To view the interviews, go to Voxeo’s Emerging Tech Talk podcast.

The podcast series coincides with announced partnerships from Voxeo with CSIdentity, PerSay, TradeHarbor and Vocalect in adding voice authentication applications for customers on Voxeo’s network. The companies have set up a trial process through Voxeo’s Prophecy platforms.

Webcast On-Demand
Watch below!

Since 2007, Australia private health insurer ahm (Australia Health Management) has successfully managed one of the largest public-facing deployments of speaker verification. With more than 400,000 yearly calls into its main contact center, ahm hss implemented an automated voice verification system to provide quick, accurate authentication of callers enhancing member security and improving the customer experience.

In this free webcast, ahm will discuss the project planning involved for voice biometric deployments including lessons learned and what the company would have done differently, enrollment strategies, challenges, benefits, and ROI savings.

Speakers:
Dan Miller – Senior Analyst, Opus Research
Rob Thomas – Manager Operations Business Systems, Australian Health Management (ahm)
Martyn Riddle – GM Marketing, Customer Contact Solutions, Salmat

To receive a copy of the slide presentation from the webcast, please email Derek Top, Director of Research, Opus Research.

Webinar On-Demand
Watch Below!

Opus Research and Nuance Communications provide insight into the current state of the voice biometrics market now that the debate is well-beyond “whether the technology works.” In recent months, high-profile financial institutions, government agencies, health insurance underwriters, and hosted service providers have integrated voice authentication into their self-service and ID-verification infrastructures. These deployments have helped solidify voice biometrics as a field-tested technology.

Dan Miller, Senior Analyst with Opus Research, and Chuck Buffum, VP of Authentication Solutions at Nuance, will engage in a wide-ranging discussion highlighting:

• Three primary drivers that lead to a voice biometric deployment
• Current case studies from across the globe
• ROI justifications and the primary metrics used to measure successful deployments

This webinar is the latest in Opus Research’s “Visionary Series” – a set of live, interactive webcasts that take a glimpse into the not-too-distant future of telephony-based services.

Speakers:
Dan Miller – Senior Analyst, Opus Research
Chuck Buffum – VP of Authentication Solutions, Mobile & Enterprise Division, Nuance Communications

Opus Research and Nuance Communications provide insight into the current state of the voice biometrics market now that the debate is well-beyond “whether the technology works.” In recent months, high-profile financial institutions, government agencies, health insurance underwriters, and hosted service providers have integrated voice authentication into their self-service and ID-verification infrastructures. These deployments have helped solidify voice biometrics as a field-tested technology.

Dan Miller, Senior Analyst with Opus Research, and Chuck Buffum, VP of Authentication Solutions at Nuance, will engage in a wide-ranging discussion highlighting:

• Three primary drivers that lead to a voice biometric deployment
• Current case studies from across the globe
• ROI justifications and the primary metrics used to measure successful deployments

This webinar is the latest in Opus Research’s “Visionary Series” – a set of live, interactive webcasts that take a glimpse into the not-too-distant future of telephony-based services.

To receive a copy of the slide presentation from the webcast, please email Derek Top, Director of Research, Opus Research.

Speakers:
Dan Miller – Senior Analyst, Opus Research
Chuck Buffum – VP of Authentication Solutions, Mobile & Enterprise Division, Nuance Communications