What is Voice Authentication?

Voice authentication is a form of identifying someone based on the unique biometric characteristics of their voice. A voice is unique as a fingerprint and consists of a combination of characteristics such as dialect, pitch and speed. Voice authentication is harder to spoof than fingerprints and can't be hacked like passwords, making it an extremely secure method of authentication. Additionally, voice authentication is more convenient than other forms of biometric authentication (such as iris scans) because a person can authenticate remotely.

Banks and healthcare, two of the most security-minded industries, are adopting voice authentication because it's accurate and convenient for their customers to use. To enroll in voice authentication, a customer needs to call the organization so they can record a voice sample. The voice authentication software then uses the multiple characteristics of the caller's voice to create a voiceprint for the customer.

Once the system has a voiceprint, the customer will have an enhanced experience when they call customer service. For example, the interactive voice response (IVR) system can recognize and authenticate their identity, which enables the customer to access self-service tasks like checking account balances. If the customer chooses to speak to an agent, the authentication information can be passed to the agent, which saves time and improves the customer experience because they don’t need to repeat any information.