Call Center Data Security in the New World of WFH

by Alissa Pagels-Minor

There’s a global crisis in motion and businesses are adapting to new challenges they’ve never faced before, with little to no precedent. The way call centers handle their data is crucial, and now that many around the globe will have to rapidly switch to a telecommuting model, they are faced with a whole new set of challenges. 

Highly regulated industries have strict guidelines they must adhere to, and while some regulatory agencies are adapting these requirements, call centers still face additional hurdles. Implementing a speech analytics tool into your call center architecture can help organizations remain compliant and 100% secure. Utilizing speech analytics can help businesses maintain quality assurance for 100% of their calls while also ensuring their customer data is safe and secure. Features such as automatic detection and redaction, conversation metrics, and agent scoring can aid enterprises in managing a newly remote call center workforce while minimizing risk.  

What is PCI/PII Redaction and Why It’s More Important Than Ever

With an influx of calls, there comes an influx of information, and that data needs to continue to be protected. It’s not just customer credit card numbers that need protection, but all of their Personal Identifiable Information, or PII, such as their addresses, social security numbers, and more sensitive data that could be discussed in a phone call. The Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard Compliance (PCI DSS compliance) is a set of measures put forth to hold companies accountable for protecting their payment or credit card information. These strict standards hold hefty penalties if not adhered to, so they cannot be ignored. However, they don’t require a physical space to keep compliance.

Your enterprise can stay compliant and secure with a PCI DSS Level 1 certified speech analytics tool–the highest certification possible. It’s through automated detection and redaction that information is identified and secured.

PCI Redaction is a feature that identifies the specific start and stop moment of a phrase, and then removes sensitive information from both the audio and visual transcript, preventing any breach of information. Even managers reviewing calls manually for quality and coaching won’t accidentally view sensitive data. For audio, the API will return scrubbed recordings with flat tones where PCI info is detected, and for text redaction we will replace the sensitive data with the term [redacted]. By protecting the information of your customers, you are in turn protecting your own reputation as a company. There’s no additional training necessary, and these insights and recordings are accessible wherever your managers are.

Measuring Performance Metrics to Ensure Adherence

With a speech analytics tool, your call center leaders are able to quickly and visually see the metrics you need to be monitoring during this time. Agents will not have in-person guidance from supervisors to resolve performance issues, so it’s key to provide accurate and specific training to help them adjust. 

Managers will also need to check-in more often and have those performance metrics at their fingertips since they can’t walk the floor. How will managers ensure that agents are adhering to the script of reading the required disclosures? A cloud-based speech analytics solution can empower your managers to maintain visibility into the metrics that matter.

Overall performance metrics are always important, but now more than ever are they pivotal for businesses. Understanding what is in your calls–hour by hour–allows you to know what action to take and how to adapt. 

The Right Toolkit

Your technology stack will be key to adapting to a crisis, or even evolving industry needs.  Not only should you have a secure, reliable call recording solution but you should also consider a powerful speech analytics solution.  VoiceBase’s highly distributed, fully redundant, and self-healing platform is secure and reliable. We deliver 100% uptime, so you can rest easy knowing your data is safe and available where you need it most.

We believe data security for customer interactions will be a growing concern for enterprise businesses. With the right speech analytics technology with an automatic PCI redaction feature, you can ensure your organization remains compliant and your customer data is safe. We’re here to help. You can learn more about how to maintain your call center security by trying out VoiceBase’s speech analytics. Schedule a demo with one of our experts to receive guided support during your transition.

PCI blog image with desktop screen and security icons

Learn More About VoiceBase Compliance Features

More From the Voice analytics blog

Predictive Analytics for Strategic Insights

Predictive Analytics for Strategic Insights

Predictive analytics is an advanced form of data mining that leverages machine learning to identify patterns in voice recordings, intuit a speaker’s intent, and predict a future outcome — be it a sale, account cancellation, or one of many customized “X” signals your clients might request.

read more