Japanese companies are creating AI tools to help protect call center workers from “customer harassment,” which includes unreasonable complaints and rude behavior by customers. These AI tools can change callers’ voices and train workers to handle angry customers better, helping to reduce the high turnover rates in call centers.
SoftBank and the University of Tokyo have developed a technology that can change the tone of a caller’s voice to make it sound less scary. The AI, trained with data from many voices, identifies “scary voices” based on their volume and tone. Initially, they wanted to block workers from hearing anger in voices altogether, but they realized understanding the customer’s mood is important for handling complaints.
SoftBank plans to offer this service next year. The technology can also alert workers if it detects disruptive behavior, like abusive language or unusually long calls. A company official said they hope the technology will serve as a “psychological shield.”
Another Tokyo-based company, Interactive Solutions, offers an app that allows call center workers to practice calming down angry callers. The app features an AI “complainer” whose personality and complaint type can be set by users. If workers respond correctly, the AI caller calms down, and the app scores the conversation and gives feedback.
Fujitsu is also developing a similar training tool that simulates real conversations by learning common speech patterns of combative callers. They plan to release the tool next year.
Despite the growing use of text-based systems in call centers, phone-based systems are still in demand, especially among older customers.
Source: japantimes
