Are you who you claim you are? This is a vital question that must be asked to protect customers’ identities and corporate information and networks.

Nuance has developed new means to help provide the answers via Version 7.0 (v7) of Nuance (News - Alert) VocalPassword and Nuance FreeSpeech voice biometrics solutions, which are available now. Nuance's VocalPassword v7 targets automated remote verification based on an individual’s voice, while Nuance FreeSpeech v7 performs verification and fraud detection in the background of conversations between callers and contact center agents.

Both products are language- and accent-independent solutions that integrate with existing contact centers, VoiceXML platforms and monitoring centers.

Nuance's voice biometrics platform delivers an array of new capabilities, among them:

• Prevents identity theft via new fraud detection and its ability to mitigate interception and vhishing (voice phishing);
• *Delivers advanced tools for configuration and setup, system monitoring, and other day-to-day activities such as end-user support;
• Supports integrated security, with role-based authorization now containing an improved encryption mechanism that supports custom (customer-provided) encryption -- for increased security;
• Provides text-dependent, text-independent, and text-prompted engines to deliver higher accuracy and flexibility;
• Supports full multi-tenancy for hosters, enabling a single system to support multiple voice biometrics applications using different algorithmic engines and configuration setting.

There is also a new installation kit for the Nuance solutions that supports multi-server, multi-site and high-availability deployments, and a flexible licensing mechanism.

Nuance VocalPassword employs a multi-engine capability that will enable the support of the legacy verification product Nuance Verifier 4. It will also permit existing customers to seamlessly migrate their applications to the new product line.Nuance’s enhanced voice biometrics portfolio draws upon the innovation and technology leadership of PerSay (News - Alert), a voice biometric company that it acquired in 2010.  The combination says Nuance “accelerated innovation and the benefits that customers can achieve from deploying voice biometric solutions, including customer identification and verification across contact center, mobile devices and internet application environments. Further, these voice biometric solutions help businesses address critical security requirements such as risk management, regulatory compliance, and fraud and identify theft.”

“Enterprises have long been interested in the promise of voice biometrics to improve security and customer satisfaction,” said Ryan Joe, associate analyst, Ovum (News - Alert) Research. “By acquiring PerSay, Nuance has gained significant technology assets, bolstering its own capabilities to deliver solutions that ensure a personalized and secure user experience.”

Nuance’s new solutions are already getting marketplace traction. Bank Leumi is currently running VocalPassword v7.

“Through the new capabilities delivered in VocalPassword 7.0, we will be able to provide enhanced accuracy and secure all our customer interactions via multi-factor authentication,” says Zahi Ovdat, head of contact centers project administration, Bank Leumi. “The combination of Nuance and PerSay is exciting for us, as we are now able to deliver the next generation of secure voice biometrics solutions, the first of many to the market,” stated Dan Faulkner (News - Alert), vice president of product management and marketing, Nuance Communications. “Integrating the new versions of VocalPassword and FreeSpeech into the Nuance portfolio underscores our commitment to help businesses ensure secure, convenient interactions and transactions in the global commerce and customer service marketplace.”

Want to learn more about the latest in communications & technology? Then be sure to attend ITEXPO East 2011, taking place Feb 2-4, 2011, in Miami. ITEXPO (News - Alert) offers an educational program to help corporate decision makers select the right IP-based voice, video, fax and unified communications solutions to improve their operations. It's also where service providers learn how to profitably roll out the services their subscribers are clamoring for – and where resellers can learn about new growth opportunities. To register, click here.