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AboutIndependent adviser on call centre security

Hi, I'm Matt

My mission is to eliminate frustrating, time-consuming and pointless security processes from call centres, so customers get the service they need, agents can focus on helping them, and everyone is protected from fraud.

I have seen call centre security from every angle: leading enterprise implementations as the accountable executive, pioneering voice biometrics when it was considered impossible, advising solution providers on product strategy, and surveying the market as an analyst. That lets me bridge the gap between security theory and operational reality.

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Matt Smallman, chin resting on his hand

My story

How I got here

  1. 2000

    Early career

    As a British Army officer during the height of the "War on Terror", I found my niche developing and teaching techniques to help soldiers prevent terrorist attacks in Iraq and Afghanistan. It taught me that, given the right combination of technology, people and process, informed by a clear understanding of the enemy, anything is possible.

  2. 2006

    Into call centres

    After leaving the military I moved into financial services and was drawn to call and contact centres: complex places where technology and people meet at scale. Leading contact centre and customer experience teams at two major UK retail banks, I saw how traditional security undermined every dimension of performance:
    • Customers frustrated by lengthy questioning
    • Agents prevented from focusing on customer needs
    • Fraudsters still finding ways through rigid defences

  3. 2010

    Discovery

    After being laughed out of a few offices, I convinced leadership to let me try a different way: starting with the seamless experience we wanted for customers, finding technologies that could support it even if they were not perfect, and working out how to make them deliver together.

  4. 2012

    The first voice biometrics service

    We launched the world's first voice biometric service as the primary means of call centre authentication. The technology worked better than expected, customers loved it, agents could finally focus on helping them, and we won a string of awards.

  5. 2016

    Independence

    Five years later very little had changed across the industry. The technology was not holding organisations back; understanding its value and implementing it well were. I left corporate life, founded SymNex Consulting, and committed to eliminating frustrating, time-consuming and pointless security processes from call centres worldwide.

  6. 2022

    Unlock Your Call Centre

    I published Unlock Your Call Centre to share my methodology with organisations I could not work with directly.

  7. Today

    250 million better calls

    I lead the design and implementation of modern security for some of the most customer-centric brands in North America and Europe. My measure of success is the 250 million and more quicker, easier and more secure calls their customers have had.

Organisations I have worked with and for include:

  • Barclays
  • Lloyds Banking Group
  • Nationwide Building Society
  • Bank of America
  • Microsoft
  • NHS
  • Fidelity International
  • Danske Bank
  • The Co-operative Bank
  • General Motors

What I do

How I serve

Practitioner and innovator

Transforming security in the real world

I design and implement modern security solutions that work in the real world, not just in theory. Having led the world's first voice biometrics implementation for call centre authentication, I understand the practical challenges organisations face when moving from concept to deployment.

  • Leading end-to-end voice biometrics and network authentication implementations
  • Designing customer journeys that balance security with experience
  • Measuring and optimising security performance after implementation

Industry analyst

Shaping industry understanding

I help the industry understand the potential and reality of modern security technologies. As a contributing analyst with Opus Research, I evaluate solutions in the market and track adoption among implementing organisations.

  • Writing Unlock Your Call Centre to guide industry best practice
  • Speaking at industry events and leading educational webinars
  • Co-authoring the annual Intelligent Authentication and Fraud Prevention Intelliview

Independent advisor

Providing unbiased guidance

I help implementing organisations and solution providers navigate the call centre security landscape, with vendor-neutral advice that puts results ahead of any particular technology.

  • Advising solution providers on product strategy and market positioning
  • Helping investors understand market potential and technology trends

How I work

How I work with clients

My approach comes from implementing modern security in very different organisations. I balance data with observation and pragmatism with innovation, and keep the goal in view: better experiences for customers, agents and the business.

  • Data, with human context

    The numbers tell you what is happening; watching and listening tell you why.

    I go deep into your data: authentication times, success rates, fraud incidents. I also sit beside your agents and listen to real calls. Together they have repeatedly shown me what the data alone would miss.

  • Pragmatism over idealism

    The best solution you can achieve within the constraints you really have.

    Every organisation has legacy systems, compliance requirements and budget cycles. Rather than propose an ideal that cannot be built, I design the most effective solution possible today, with a roadmap for when those constraints change.

  • Outcomes, not deliverables

    I stay until the improvement can be measured.

    I do not stop at a strategy document or an implementation plan. I work alongside your team until the results show. When the unexpected happens, as it always does, I help you through it rather than holding to the original plan.

  • Integrity

    Your interests come first, with full transparency and confidentiality.

    I work with implementing organisations, solution providers and industry analysts, and keep what each tells me confidential. No vendor pays me to recommend its product, and I will always disclose a potential conflict of interest.

Unlock Your Call Centre book cover

The book

Unlock Your Call Centre

I wrote it to share my methodology with organisations I could not work with directly: why traditional security fails, how to make the case, and how to design, launch and improve a modern process.

About the book

Next step

Work with me

I work best with organisations that know their security process is not serving customers, agents or the business, and are committed to improving it. Whether you are starting to explore modern security or want more from what you already run, I shape the work to fit.

I am always glad to hear about the problems people face, so a call carries no obligation to take it further. Book a time, or email me at matt.smallman@symnexconsulting.com.

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