Telephone Voice Recognition

[naomi24]

I was recently asked by my bank if I would agree to them using voice recognition when I phone them. I said ‘Yes’, but then it occurred to me, what if I have a cold or a sore throat? In those circumstances does voice recognition still work, or is a change in the voice likely to create a problem? I have my doubts now.

[waterboatman]

Good question naomi. I don't know the answer sadly.

[Old_Geezer]

If so then surely they would revert to other means of proving identity. I'd have thought the voice recognition was a convenient first option only.

I think it is supposed to be ok if you've a cold, but I'm unsure how well it works over the phone anyway. Probably better on fixed lines, would be my guess.

[ummmm]

I would guess it would put you through to a human who will then go through your security questions.

[Ratty2E]

I think old geezer is right, they would have a back up means of identifying you. I wouldn't worry about it I doubt you'll be locked out of your own bank account just because you have a cold.

[naomi24]

ummmm, I always get straight through to a human who begins by asking my name, postcode, and a few security questions. The voice recognition thing is, I'm given to understand, an additional security measure - but I'm wondering what happens if that fails.

[naomi24]

Ratty, //I wouldn't worry about it I doubt you'll be locked out of your own bank account just because you have a cold. //

Failing to answer a security question correctly creates hassle so I imagine the same would happen if the voice recognition failed. I'm thinking I should have said 'No'.

[jim360]

Perhaps if you aren't convinced it's worth it you should just phone up and ask for the voice recognition security measure to be withdrawn. Hopefully that's possible.

[jackthehat]

HMRC is rolling out the same Voice Recognition system and advises you that it doesn't matter if you have a cold, or a sore throat, the software will still be able to determine that you are you.

[naomi24]

Really Jack? That's encouraging. I'll see how it goes and if it does cause a problem at any time, I'll ask for it to be stopped.

Thanks for all your answers.

[Old_Geezer]

Analysing waveform is probably different to recognising accents. Even hoarse you probably use the same voice pattern.