Interactions, the world leader in conversational artificial intelligence (AI), today announced that it has acquired another landmark patent. Extracting Natural Language Semantics From Speech Without the Use of Speech Recognition, Interactions’ 125th patent, introduces new technology for intent and entity recognition, including real-time sentiment understanding. This seminal development will empower today’s most forward-thinking brands to better understand and serve their customers with Interactions’ industry-leading AI.

The new patent addresses major deficiencies in the traditional speech understanding technologies that underpin many AI-powered customer experience platforms. Existing systems typically rely on a two-step speech understanding process: audio transcription first, and analysis second. This results in increased error frequency for virtual agents, and frustratingly long lag times for callers waiting on the other end of the line.

In contrast, Interactions’ breakthrough technology has transformed speech understanding into a one-step process, autonomously retrieving the audio and immediately extracting and labeling its meaning. By optimizing across both speech recognition and natural language understanding (NLU), Interactions unlocks real-world benefits for customers and companies alike.

Customers see greater efficiency, accuracy and seamlessness in their transactions. Businesses using Interactions’ solutions, including several of the world’s most admired brands, see significant cost savings due to the increased automation. Moreover, the patent’s capabilities can be broadened to identify any attribute from speech, including not only a speaker’s intent, but also their emotional state and select demographic information. This presents an unprecedented opportunity for companies to understand and adapt to their customers during each conversation.

“This patent is a watershed moment—not just for Interactions, but for every business committed to improving its customer experience,” said Dr. Srinivas Bangalore, SVP of AI at Interactions. “As consumers, we’re all too familiar with customer-service frustrations. Interactions knows that it doesn’t have to be this way. Our new proprietary technology helps some of today’s most impactful brands simplify and expedite their transactions, save money and get a better picture of how a caller is feeling at every step of the way. There’s huge potential here—and customers and companies alike are going to feel the difference.”

Already, Interactions is deploying the technology for name, email and postal address speech recognition for multiple companies. The resulting return on investment is significant, both for improving overall CX and driving cost savings for the business.

The win adds to Interactions’ impressive patent portfolio, which enables the company to deliver unparalleled customer experiences.

About InteractionsInteractions provides Intelligent Virtual Assistants that seamlessly assimilate conversational AI and human understanding to enable businesses to engage with their customers in highly productive and satisfying conversations. With flexible products and solutions designed to meet the growing demand for unified, optichannel customer care, Interactions is delivering unprecedented improvements in the customer experience and significant cost savings for some of the largest brands in the world. Founded in 2004, Interactions is headquartered in Franklin, Massachusetts, with additional offices worldwide. For more information, visit www.interactions.com.

Media Contact Lauren Wry interactions@launchsquad.com