VOICE INTERACTIONS
Our goal is always to remove communication barriers to promote understanding, and any future application would need strong ethical guardrails to ensure the purpose remains grounded in clarity, inclusion, and understanding.
AI APPLICATION
WE UNDERSTAND THAT YOU USE AI IN YOUR SOLUTION. WHAT ARE ITS BENEFITS AND DE- SCRIBE HOW IT ACHIEVES THEM? HOW IS AI TECHNOLOGY DEPLOYED AND HOW ARE AGENTS TRAINED TO USE IT?
A: The biggest benefit is that AI improves clarity instantly, with no special training, months of coaching, or pressure to change how someone speaks.
With this technology, agents can speak naturally while the system improves clarity in the background, so they can focus on the customers, not their accents, thereby shortening handle times and reducing escalations.
Unlike traditional accent training, AI adapts in real time to each customer, accent, and environment. This leads to faster resolution. With a single click, AI-enabled accent translation runs on the agent’ s existing device, with low latency and no complex setup.
WHAT ARE THE DOWNSIDES OF AI-DRIVEN ACCENT TRANSLATION? ISN’ T AI PRONE TO ERRORS, LIKE THROUGH HALLUCINATIONS?
A: All AI needs is thoughtful design, and accent translation is no exception. It must be engineered carefully to avoid sounding artificial or overcorrected.
Unlike generative AI, accent translation isn’ t creating new words or meanings. Rather, it enhances the natural speech that’ s already there. And because it ' s speech-to-speech rather than speech-to-text or text-to-speech, there ' s no intermediate transcription step where meaning can get lost or distorted.
The real challenges are ensuring consistency across diverse accents and noisy environments, which is why real-world evaluation and continuous performance monitoring matter so much.
CUSTOMER ACCENT ISSUES
YOU’ VE DISCUSSED ACCENT TRANSLATION FROM THE AGENT END. BUT WHAT ABOUT FROM THE CUSTOMERS’ END? CAN IT BE USED THERE SO THAT AGENTS CAN UNDERSTAND THEM BETTER?
A: The technology could theoretically work in both directions: helping agents understand customers as well as the reverse. Sanas already offers omnidirectional noise cancelation, which removes background noise on both sides of the call.
TO WHAT EXTENT DOES ACCENT MODIFICATION OR TRANSLATION, REGARDLESS OF THE TECHNOLOGY USED, RISK CONCEALING CUSTOMER BIAS INSTEAD OF CONFRONTING IT?
COULD THIS METHOD ALSO CONTRIBUTE TO THE BROADER FORMS OF IDENTITY NEUTRAL- IZATION, INCLUDING GENDER OR REGIONAL OR NATIONAL DIFFERENCES?
A: It’ s important to acknowledge that accent translation isn’ t a cure for bias. The goal is to break down communication barriers without asking agents to speak in a way that doesn’ t feel authentic.
We designed this technology to enhance clarity, not erase identity. Our vision has always been to enable agents to speak comfortably in their natural voice while the technology simply adjusts the acoustic patterns that can create friction. It ' s about being understood, not being someone else.
" THE GOAL IS TO BREAK DOWN COM- MUNICATION BARRIERS WITHOUT ASKING AGENTS TO SPEAK IN A WAY THAT DOESN’ T FEEL AUTHENTIC."
RECOMMENDATIONS
WHAT STEPS WOULD YOU RECOMMEND THAT CONTACT CENTERS TAKE TO IMPROVE MUTU- AL UNDERSTANDING BETWEEN AGENTS AND CUSTOMERS? WHICH ACTIONS SHOULD THEY PRIORITIZE AND HOW CAN AI-DRIVEN ACCENT SOLUTIONS BEST SUPPORT THOSE EFFORTS?
A: I always advise to start with the basics: clean audio, reliable equipment, and agent coaching on pacing and empathy. Then add technology that reduces friction, such as real-time accent translation, for clearer speech.
We’ ve found the technology works best when it complements strong fundamentals, turning good conversations into effortless ones that help both agents and customers alike feel understood.
Brendan Read is Editor of Contact Center Pipeline. He has been covering and working in customer service and sales and for contact center companies for most of his career. Brendan has edited and written for leading industry publications and has been an industry analyst. He also has authored and co-authored books on contact center design, customer support, and working from home. Brendan can be reached at brendan @ contactcenterpipeline. com.
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