IVR

Speech recognition also known as ‘speech rec’ or automatic speech recognition or ASR is a hot topic, which is why it was featured in the August 2008 issue of Customer Interaction Solutions.

 

For Domino’s Pizza, speech rec has proven to be a sizzling way to manage calls and serve customers.

 

Tellme, a subsidiary of Microsoft (News - Alert), has been delivering calls to Domino’s Pizza through its hosted speech rec application since 2005, for its English speaking customers. The partnership has saved the international pizza chain money over having calls handled by live agents, which helps its products price-savvy in a competitive market while delivering improved service.

 

The Tellme (News - Alert) application is fairly sophisticated; it is linked to Domino’s Web site and database. For example when customers call in the system looks up what they have ordered before, whether online or by live agent as well as speech rec and offers it again.

 

Domino’s now wanted to extend the speech rec capabilities to its Spanish speaking customers, a growing and underserved market. It had found that multilingual staffing was inconsistent across stores, making the Spanish ordering experience inconsistent and sometimes impossible. While customers could use the Tellme-provided service, which would connect them to a Spanish-speaking agent, many of them would hang up because Tellme would greet them in English.

 

Domino's then worked with Tellme to launch the first end-to-end Spanish-language national toll-free pizza ordering service, 1-888-DOMINOS in February 2008. The centralized ordering solution provides full ordering capabilities on a self-service basis, using customer data to make intelligent offers and shorten the total interaction length.

 

Tellme's network enables the transfer of caller information, phone order history, Web order history, and order status directly to Domino's team members when a Spanish-speaking agent is needed, delivering a consistent customer experience. Full integration to Domino's point of sale and online ordering systems further improves ordering experience.

 

The Spanish-language Tellme solution has been successful. It led Domino’s stores in Hispanic markets to grow their orders and the revenues per order while radically reducing queues and live agent opt-outs.

 

“Customer response to the new application has been very positive,” reports Brooks Crichlow, Tellme’s Director of Marketing. “Callers are greeted in the language they are most comfortable with, and they no longer have to wait for minutes on hold for a Spanish-speaking employee in the store to take their order. That means they get their meal faster and with more confidence than before.”