ZDNet Australia talks to vendors, users and the union about the actual impact of speech technology on local IT staffing levels. Australian companies are now turning to speech technology systems as a means of reducing expenditure and increasing cost-savings, especially within customer service call centres. A recent report conducted by ACA Research, entitled The 2001 Australia and News Zealand Call Centre Industry Benchmark Study ACA Research 2001, found that 32 percent of the 1,000 largest corporations in Australia and New Zealand are expected to be utilising speech recognition technology by 2003. This is compared with the four percent of respondents currently using the technology within Australia and New Zealand. With the growing interest in implementation, it is hardly surprising that debate has arisen over this technology and its installation into contact centres. With two of the country's most recognisable implementations -- that of Telstra and TAB NSW -- resulting in heavy job losses, it is also not surprising that human resource issues have been at the centre of this debate. However, according to James Organ, director at ACA Research, speech recognition is not actually having a negative affect on staffing levels overall. While he concedes that some installations have resulted in staff redundancies, he believes these are the exception, rather than the rule. "Sure, there have been job losses, for example Telstra and TAB (NSW). However, other installations, such as Commonwealth Securities, have not been reducing numbers; rather (they have been) reskilling, and ensuring they are focused on dealing with more intricate and technical details," said Organ. Organ also believes that some sections of society will always hold technology accountable for job losses, even when its introduction results in an overall improvement to business or social environments. "If people are saying we shouldn't do anything that will cause job loss, we would still have people holding up red lights on the road to direct traffic," he said. Peter Chidiac, country manager, Australia and New Zealand, for SpeechWorks International -- a global speech applications provider -- agrees that speech recognition systems are not having a detrimental impact upon staffing levels. "(Speech technology) has a really positive impact on the call centre. It hasn't replaced people; it has replaced menial work." Most roll-outs in Australia to date have utilised speech technology for the low-end, menial tasks traditionally assigned to human call centre operators. According to Michael Meredith, executive director of Australian Teleservices Association (ATA), approximately 60 percent of inbound calls to a contact centre are for simple transactions, such as obtaining financial or other information. Most Australian organisations that have implemented speech technology are using automated systems to handle these calls, while directing more complex transactions through to human operators. However, this does not mean that the human operators currently performing these menial tasks will necessarily be forced from employment. "This doesn't mean that there will be huge job decreases," said Mario Elles, organiser of contact centres for the Australian Services Union (ASU). "In some cases, resources may be freed up for management to redirect staff into more complex areas where they can perform more detailed tasks, and undertake more complex and interesting jobs." ACA Research's Organ agrees certain companies are indeed realising the potential of speech technology systems to increase the availability of human resources for complex customer interaction. "The scope of work is increasing, staff are doing more in terms of functionality," said Organ. "Most staff start off as customer service (representatives), but many are now moving into technical support. If you are a smart company, you will use speech to take over easy transactions so customers can do these quickly, without having to wait for human operators." Contact centres have traditionally been notorious for their high churn rate, or the rate of staff turnover. This is often attributed to the menial tasks typically undertaken by staff in these centres. ATA's Meredith attributes the high churn to job dissatisfaction and suggests that speech technology may actually assist in decreasing staff turnover. "People do move about because they get bored with their job. Taking away the mundane roles allows employees (access to) a bit of variety to maintain enthusiasm," he said. ASU's Elles agrees that an arrested -- or static -- turnover is one of the advantages of speech technology implementation. He also believes that employers must be held accountable for ensuring that other options are available to staff who find their roles now carried out by automation. "Employers are expected to train staff -- give them skills for the future. When they are only trained to do menial work, and in-house stuff -- without added training for job advances and career improvement, it's unfortunate." However, according to Elles, this is not necessarily occurring in call centres. "There is a lack of options offered for staff advancement and skills. We don't just need 'Mickey Mouse' skills, but skills people can use to advance careers, and this is not happening in these call centres." 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