Artificial intelligence has already begun to replace the jobs of voice agents. Now, companies are exploring ways to replace existing computer-generated voice models with synthetic versions of the human voice. Truecaller, the well-known caller ID service, is the latest to adopt this approach by announcing that it will now allow customers to use its AI-powered Assistant to answer phone calls on mine voice.
The new experience comes via a partnership with Microsoft that allows the Swedish company to use the Redmond giant’s Personal Voice technology, which was unveiled in November as part of Azure AI Speech.
Using Microsoft’s Personal Voice, Truecaller’s Assistant, available to paid users, will be able to reproduce users’ voices to greet and answer callers. This is in addition to the predefined system-generated voice options available to users through the digital assistance feature that helps answer phone calls for you, screen unknown calls, receive messages, answer on your behalf, or even to record the call.
Truecaller users have to record a few-second script with their voice to create a digital copy after giving their consent. This allows the Assistant to start answering calls in the digital version of your voice.
Typically, Truecaller’s Assistant provides an option to edit the intro greeting template for callers. However, Truecaller confirmed to TechCrunch that it has limited the greeting template if you use your personal voice instead of a system-generated voice. This is designed to make it clear that callers are hearing a “digital” version of the user’s voice.
However, follow-up responses can be customized based on user preferences. Azure AI Speech’s personal voice feature, which is available in limited access by registration onlyit also adds watermarks to the speech outputs it generates to allow a detection tool synthetic sound identification.
“We strongly believe that the personal voice feature will revolutionize the way our users manage their calls and improve their overall experience with Truecaller Assistant. We look forward to further exploring the potential of AI-powered voice technologies in partnership with Microsoft and offering even more innovative solutions to our global user base,” said Raphael Mimoun, product director and general manager, Truecaller Israel, in a statement.
The personal voice feature in Truecaller’s Assistant will roll out in the coming weeks, starting in the US, Canada, Australia, South Africa, India, Sweden and Chile. It will initially be available to public beta users and later to all users in eligible markets.
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