Operator is the first in Brazil to adopt neural voice technology, who uses the solution text-to-speech (TTS), feature of the Azure Speech service integrated with IBM Watson
TIM Brasil innovates once again to offer an even better customer service experience. From now on, TAIS, the operator's virtual assistant, will have a synthesized and realistic 100% voice, combining patterns of emotion and human intonation, in its telephone answering channels. The solution was developed using artificial intelligence (AI) from Microsoft Azure. In this way, customers who contact the operator will hear a human-like voice, produced using this technology. The company is the first Brazilian in the segment to adopt the technology through the channel, which uses the solution neural text-to-speech (TTS), an Azure Speech service feature integrated with IBM Watson.
The initiative is in line with TIM's goal of becoming the operator most loved by consumers, offering an even more agile and efficient service. With the TTS Neural solution from Azure AI, it is possible to transform texts into realistic natural dialogues, abandoning the robotic pattern. The technology enables a more humanized experience and is already in operation in all SAC services for mobile and residential service customers.
“We are a technology company and innovation is in our DNA. Azure Neural TTS is a fantastic evolution that will enable, through artificial intelligence, a personalized experience for each TIM customer.” comments Olímpio Fernandes, Director of the Cognitive Experience Center at TIM.
The project, carried out in partnership with the consulting team of IBM and Interactive Media, represents a milestone for service through AI. The novelty also allows for adjustments of locution, speed, tone and pronunciation, in addition to using more than 400 voices in 140 languages, allowing greater customization depending on the context and the target audience.
“Changing the voice of the Cognitive IVR is another important step in our tireless quest to deliver the best to TIM customers, making them feel closer and closer to TAÍS. It is the practical result of the application of artificial intelligence, making people's lives easier, which is what really matters to us”, emphasizes Argus Cavalcante, Associate Partner at IBM Consulting Brasil.
Until 2019, 100% of TIM's self-service channel had a human voice, which demanded more time and availability for the generation of thousands of audios needed to build the journeys. As of 2020, with the adoption of TAIS, 10% of the services started using synthesized voice. The following year, the number reached 26% and, in 2023, we started the year with 100% of calls using personalized neural voice in Azure AI.
Since its launch in 2020, cognitive service has already received more than 107 million calls in the Contact Center — more than 45 million in 2022 alone. The company's expectation is to evolve with new functionalities, in the most different AI disciplines and benefit, more, the whole of society in the use of services.
”The integration by TIM of the neural TTS of Azure AI is a great example of applying AI in relevant innovation for the business and for the final consumer and shows that the democratization of the use of technology is fundamental to benefit an ever-increasing number of people with AI-based solutions,” says Christiano Faig, Vice President of Technology and Solutions at Microsoft Brazil.
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