Emotions analytics software developer Beyond Verbal Communications is trying to analyze human emotion in the same way that many analytics programs already analyze data. According to a recent article at Tech Target (News-Alert), the Israeli-based software company believes that human emotions are readily available for analysis and that businesses need to know how people speak, not just what they speak.
Beyond Verbal has developed the Emotion Analytics Engine and partner iPhone (News-Alert) app for just that purpose. Tech Target explains the engine as a piece of software that plays an advanced matching game.
“The engine matches emotions with previously identified patterns that have been coded into the software — sometimes a complex series of emotions that may include ‘loneliness,’ ‘fatigue’ and ’emotional frustration,’” the article says.
The engine is much more advanced than that, however, and can work beyond a basic set of emotions. It reportedly can identify more than 400 variants of emotions to pinpoint exactly what people are feeling. This can be important for call center managers who wish to detect any emotional problems or situations arising with their employees or their customers.
Beyond Verbal has created several dashboards that correspond with its engine and display data the engine understands. One such dashboard can display the emotional states of two people speaking to one another in a phone call — a customer service agent and his immediate customer – and display their respective emotions on a computer screen. Managers can see such data on centralized servers, and the same data can be shown to customer service representatives in real-time.
Used correctly, reps can become better aware of their own emotions and adjust themselves accordingly. If they need to take a deep breath because they are becoming frustrated, for instance, they may be able to do so before a situation gets out of hand. In addition, they may see improved sales or more efficient customer solutions as a result of their enhanced emotional control.
Workforce management solutions provider AchieveGlobal found previously that customers were more satisfied when treated well rather than simply having their problems quickly resolved. Indeed, people may prefer speaking to humans rather than an automated system because they desire positive interaction in addition to finding solutions. It will not come as a surprise to many managers or employees that a positive attitude will take them far. A smiling face can work wonders, and an upbeat tone in a phone conversation can make the difference between failure and success.