Rail enquiries to use automated speech recognition

BT has won a contract to provide automated speech recognition technology for the UK's National Rail Enquiries telephone service.

The contract value was not disclosed but it is an extension of BT's existing deal with the Association of Train Operating Companies (ATOC).

Earlier this year ATOC split a £100m contract between BT and Ventura for the National Rail Enquiries call centre operations, which resulted in a chunk of the work being offshored to Bangalore and Mumbai in India.

Chris Scoggins, CEO of National Rail Enquiries, said that apart from allowing callers access to train times, the new automated voice recognition service will be used to handle the overflow during times when there are severe train disruptions or unforeseeable events that result in call centres struggling to deal with the increased volume of calls.

BT is working with Eckoh on the service, which is expected to be fully operational by the end of the year.