Voice biometrics has grown considerably, particularly with Siri and Alexa enhancing the capabilities of voice technology. Two leading companies Auraya and Validsoft will invest in this space, to aid large companies in financial services and telecommunications, thereby minimizing fraud. They will offer a better level of security than PIN codes and passwords using voice biometrics to have a better user experience, eventually reducing risk and simplifying the verification process.
Similar to a fingerprint, iris, or face, voice biometrics is also unique to an individual. To create a voiceprint, a speaker provides a sample of their voice. “When you want to verify your identity, you use another sample of your voice to compare it to that initial sample,” Paul Magee, President of voice biometrics company Auraya explained.
Considering the cost and effort, voice technology is one of the underappreciated applications. Despite many hurdles, voice technology can be considered the epitome of verification and authentication processes for many organizations.
Magee said. “Nobody can steal my voice because you can’t steal what I’m going to say next.” When users are prompted to say their phone or account numbers or digits displayed on the screen, that’s active biometrics. “Passive is more in the background,” Magee said. “So while I’m talking with the call center agent, my voice is being sampled and the agent is being provided with a confirmation that it really is me.”
This voice technology system can be cheated by using recorded audio or creating deep fakes by producing a synthetic version of a person’s voice. However, such fraud can be overcome using live elements or identifying anomalies in speech.
The greatest barrier to voice biometrics is the legislative law of various countries creating obligations to use voiceprints. The future of this technology depends on simplifying the implementation process and getting regulatory compliance to come up with solutions that can give a return on investment, improve productivity.
