How does Voice Risk Analysis work?
Is Voice Risk Analysis technology a “lie detector”?
How do I gain as a consumer from this solution?
Will I really benefit from improved customer service?
Could VRA lead eventually to a reduction in insurance premiums?
Can AVS results be used as evidence in a court of law?
When reporting an insurance claim or applying for a loan, shouldn't you assume I will be under a lot of stress?
Do you think insurers should be allowed to refuse a claim on the back of VRA results?
Do you think using this type of technology could be perceived as an infringement of civil liberties?
What other methods of combating claims fraud might be more socially acceptable by consumers?
 

How does Voice Risk Analysis work?
 
The unique Voice Risk Analysis technology utilised within our process doesn't just measure stress, it seeks to interpret the complete emotional structure evident in individually assessed conversations (excitement, pain, fear, cognitive activity and more). The correlation between these various emotional stress characteristics enables us to determine whether a statement was, amongst other things, truthful, deceptive, uncertain and inaccurate. It does this in every sentence your subject says and independently analyses each one against baseline measurements taken in a short phase of anodyne questions that individually calibrate the software at the beginning of the conversation.
 

Is Voice Risk Analysis technology a “lie detector”?
 
It must be understood that lying is not a unified set of feelings. Lying occurs as a result of a deep, conscious and logical decision making process that manifests as a result of a person's intention to deceive. One person may lie to protect themselves from harm, while another may lie to gain profit, or even just to make a joke. There is no fixed set of characteristics (physiological or psychological) that differentiate lies from truth. However, VRA uses a patented and unique technology to analyse the emotional structure of what is being said, deploying a wide range spectrum analysis of micro-changes in the speech waveform itself (not micro tremors) through which we can learn about the relationship between emotion, stress and cognitive activity. For example, measurable, anomalous relationships occur when there is conflict between what the brain knows to be true but what it is instructing the subject to say. This is particularly true when the subject has a price to pay were the truth discovered. When combined with the powerful questioning techniques and NIA skills within DigiLog's AVS, we open up an incredible window into truth and risk of deception.
 

How do I gain as a consumer from this solution?
  
The primary objective of our solution is to identify genuine customers swiftly and in real time, thus enabling companies to fast-track through to their desired settlement or resolution. Please be assured that providing enhanced service levels to the genuine customer is at the heart of our AVS process.
 
In reality, this is good news for everyone except cheats and thieves. All good fraud prevention strategies aim to eliminate the costly risks of fraud that are ultimately paid for by honest customers. By empowering companies and other organisations to detect and defeat higher rates of fraud, DigiLog's Advanced Validation Solutions have the potential to greatly reduce the estimated £1872 per annum that fraud is currently costing every UK household.
  

Will I really benefit from improved customer service?
 
First and foremost, DigiLog's AVS is aimed at identifying honest customers quickly and efficiently - removing the need for often complex, frustrating and time-consuming validation. This is achieved within an intelligent and engaging conversation that genuine customers genuinely enjoy! Further, you are far less likely to be judged on historic issues that may no longer apply to you now (such as bad credit history, prior claims history, criminal record, etc).
 

Could VRA lead eventually to a reduction in insurance premiums?
 
In short, it is the right combination of methodologies and technology that is now hauling investigation and validation out of the dark ages and into the 21st Century. VRA very definitely is already playing a major role in this - whether it is in helping to quickly identify the genuine, quickly spotting the deceptive or both. Either way, we are very confident that solutions incorporating VRA and DigiLog's other AVS elements will contribute to lower costs and begin to stabilise the annual premium hikes and ultimately deliver the margin that will subsequently drive them down.
 

Can AVS results be used as evidence in a court of law?
 
In the UK , the Financial Services Ombudsman underlines our approach via statements in the British press, publicly accepting the validity of VRA results as evidence within a case provided it is supported by other, corroborating evidence. However, cases presented at court require real, tangible evidence to prove a case. DigiLog's main contribution in this area is to help identify precisely what evidence may be available and point to how it may be found.
 

When reporting an insurance claim or applying for a loan, shouldn't you assume I will be under a lot of stress?
 
At the start of every conversation, the Voice Risk Analysis technology calibrates itself against the caller's voice, to determine the current levels of various stress a person is experiencing. The technology will then use this individual baseline as a guide to determine whether a person's stress levels fluctuate when talking about a particular subject. Only meaningful deviations from this baseline are used to determine the integrity of the conversation – via in-depth analysis of patterns found within the voice.
 

Do you think insurers should be allowed to refuse a claim on the back of VRA results?
 
On the basis of VRA alone? No – that is not until VRA analysis are proven to be accurate ‘beyond reasonable doubt', as per the burden of proof in criminal cases. That may happen in the future - but we are not quite there at the moment. Human beings remain owners of the decision making process – albeit they are now highly trained by DigiLog and highly focused by the variety of techniques embraced by AVS. Their decisions are made on a case-by-case basis and according to the evidence available.
 

Do you think using this type of technology could be perceived as an infringement of civil liberties?
 
Currently, it is the civil liberties of genuine customers that are being infringed by the increasing numbers of fraudsters whose activities dictate that everyone else must foot their bill.
 
With the UK fraud bill estimated to be at least £14 billion, organisations would be failing in their duties to their stakeholders, including genuine customers, if they did not test new and emerging methods and technologies that can assist in reducing this exposure. If used in the right way and for the right purpose, we are sure that only those with criminal intent will perceive it as an infringement upon their liberty, i.e. their ‘freedom' to commit crime. Just as with shoplifters and CCTV, only cheats and thieves have anything to fear from sensible crime prevention measures that take advantage of scientific progress.
 

What other methods of combating claims fraud might be more socially acceptable by consumers?
 
Since early 2002, some of our clients have publicly announced their use of DigiLog, attracting a great deal of media attention world-wide.  Despite this, we have yet to see any evidence at all that suggests VRA as being socially unacceptable to consumers. In fact quite the reverse. Our clients have received highly positive feed-back from their customers. Even the 10% of customers that the ABI suggests are fraudsters seem to have quietly accepted that their days are numbered – withdrawing or accepting declination of their claims without fuss.