Speech analytics tools, such as CallMiner’s MyEureka, allow our organization to easily measure the level of emotion on consumer calls. Measuring sentiments requires combining the acoustic characteristics of a speaker’s voice and the context of the conversation in to a single score, which can then be used to measure relative sentiment across various cross-sections of calls, agent groups, and time frames. Semantic building blocks within the software allow for the quick identification of word patterns or phrases as building blocks that can be reused in future scorecards or call reviews.

According to CallMiner’s website, “The acoustic characteristics measured during Sentiment Analysis include: the amount of physical stress in the voice, the changes in the stress, and the rate of speech. CallMiner Eureka seamlessly meshes these acoustic measures with the overall context of the conversation to determine true meaning behind the spoken words. For example, when the word ‘amazon’ means the rainforest and when its referring to the retailer.” When combined with TopicMiner – a feature that allows for the true discovery of frequent terms, phrases, and concepts for any set of conversations – State Collection Service has the ability to swiftly identify and take action on the root cause of an issue.

The reason State Collection Service measures sentiment and emotion on calls is to further develop our training program for telephone representatives. By learning trigger phrases that generate negative emotions, we are able to specifically train o the use of alternative phrases and empowerment language. Examples of empowerment language that our representatives utilize today include the following:

  • I’d be happy to assist you today.
  • I can help answer that question for you.
  • It’s important to me that your question is answered, I can help you.
  • I commit to following up with you by ____.
  • Thank you for asking, I can get that answer for you.

The future of measuring sentiments is the use of real-time alerting, a means of letting a representative know exactly, in that moment, when negative sentiments occur so they can perform a service recovery while the call is happening, leaving the caller with a positive feeling by the end of the call. By including risk language as a negative on an agent’s scorecard and rewarding empowerment language and account resolution, we know our representatives will leave the patient with an overall positive experience, reflecting well on the company and our employees.

About State Collection Service, Inc.

Since 1949, State Collection Service has provided quality collection service to countless healthcare organizations.

Through experience and innovation, State Collection Service has grown to become a tremendously credible and nationally-recognized collection agency offering services from pre-registration to bad debt. It is upon the basis of ethical behavior and a dedication to integrity that each State Collection Service employee works to uphold the company’s vision – Partnerships for a Lifetime.

*This article first appeared in “A State Collection Service, Inc. Newsletter Volume 21, Issue 3, Third Quarter 2015”