GlossaryVoice Biometrics
What is Voice Biometrics?
In short
Voice Biometrics uses the unique properties of a speaker's voice to confirm their identity (authentication) or identify them from a group of known speakers (identification).
These unique properties are a function of physical (anatomical facts like the length of your vocal cord) and behavioural (the language you speaks, dialect and accent) characteristics. These different characteristics change the frequencies and rate of change of frequencies produced by speakers as they say different words and phrases.
How does it work?
Voice Biometrics systems create a template (or voiceprint) from one or more samples of a speaker's voice captured during an initial enrolment and use this for comparison during subsequent sessions for authentication or identification. Generally, Voice Biometric systems are either text-dependent (also known as active), which require the speaker to say the same thing during authentication as during enrolment or text-independent(also known as passive) that don’t need the speaker to say the same phrase and are therefore more appropriate to conversational interactions.
Voice Biometric systems are probabilistic and therefore return results in the form of a probability that the current speaker is the previously enrolled speaker. Organisations implementing Voice Biometric systems must determine what an appropriate level of confidence is before using the authentication or identification resulting in their business processes.
How is it used?
Typical applications of Voice Biometrics in commercial organisations include self-service telephone applications, agent-based authentication, known fraudster detection in call centres, and remote employee check-in. Voice Biometrics can also be used for various purposes by law enforcement, public safety and national security agencies in the public sector.
Voice Biometrics and Speech Recognition
Voice Biometrics may also be known as Speaker Recognition (identifying who is saying something ), separate and distinct from Speech Recognition (identifying what is being said). As Voice Biometrics does not need to understand what is being said, just how it is being said, it is by definition language, accent and gender independent.
Learn More
You can learn more about Voice Biometrics by watching the Modern Security Community Video – Beginner’s Guide to Voice Biometrics: Transforming Call Center Security and Customer Experience
Mentioned in
- The Hidden Cost of Agentic AI CallersArticle
- Who Will Win The Voice Biometrics Race?Article
- Silicon Valley Misses the Call Centre Reality of Voice BiometricsArticle
- Call Centre Security Language: The Cost of Imprecise TerminologyArticle
- Voice Biometrics Partner Selection and MigrationArticle
- Navigating Microsoft Voice Biometrics ExitArticle
- What is Microsoft's Voice Biometrics Endgame?Article
- Deep Fake and Synthetic Speech: Threats to Call CentresArticle
- Who's better at detecting deepfakes, humans or computers?Article
- Is Apple's new Personal Voice and Live Speech a security risk?Article
- What are the latest deepfake speech tools?Article
- Is the latest attack on Synthetic Speech Detection 99% effective?Article
- Overcoming Challenges and Driving Voice Biometrics AdoptionArticle
- What are the implications of synthetic speech attacks?Article
- More data breaches, the darknet economy and generative AIArticle
- Security Insights for Voice AI with VUX WorldArticle
- Unlock Your Call Centre Launch WeekArticle
- Five years and 250 million better conversations laterArticle
- Intelligent Authentication and Fraud Prevention Intelliview 2022Article
- State of Intelligent Authentication and Fraud Prevention 2021Article
- Improving the Efficiency of your Call Centre Security ExperienceArticle
- Amazon Connect Voice ID launchesArticle
- Balancing Usability, Efficiency and Security in your Call CentreArticle
- Improving the Security of your Call Centre Security ExperienceArticle
- Improving the Usability of your Call Centre Security ExperienceArticle
- Intelligent Authentication and Fraud Prevention Intelliview 2020Article
- Using Conversational Voice Biometrics in Natural Language IVRArticle
- How Cloud Contact Centres Will Increase Voice Biometrics AdoptionArticle
- Voice Biometric Adoption challenges in the Call Centre IndustryArticle
- How Voice Biometrics significantly improves Call Centre securityArticle
- What Amazon’s Alexa Voice Profiles Mean for Voice BiometricsArticle
- Voice Biometrics Success - It's about people not technologyArticle
- Making the Business Case for Voice Biometrics in Contact CentresArticle
- Customer Attitudes to Security: The Perception and Reality GapVideo
- Improving Call Centre Security: ROI and Business Case ExplainedVideo
- Implementing Voice Biometrics: Realities vs MythsVideo
- 2023 Call Centre Security Report: Red Flags in Network DataVideo
- The Power of Mobile Authentication in the Voice ChannelVideo
- Battling Deepfakes and Synthetic Voices in Voice BiometricsVideo
- Understanding and Mitigating Voice Biometrics VulnerabilitiesVideo
- Beginner's Guide to Voice Biometrics in the Call CentreVideo
- 2023 State of Intelligent Authentication and Fraud PreventionVideo
- The Business Case for Better Authentication and Fraud PreventionVideo
- Network Authentication and Fraud Prevention 101Video
- How to Maximise Voice Biometrics AdoptionVideo
- Voice Biometrics and Privacy Regulations with Douwe KorffVideo
- Lloyds Banking Group: Voice Biometrics and Network AuthenticationVideo
- The Commercial Case for Intelligent AuthenticationVideo
- Getting Contact Center Authentication Right in 2021Video