[0:01] **Me:** For coming in.

[0:07] **Voice 2:** Hey, it's a pleasure to meet you. This

[0:07] **Voice 2:** such a beautiful office. Have you guys been here long?

[0:10] **Voice 2:** Yeah, Justin.

[0:11] **Me:** Two years.

[0:13] **Me:** Like it.

[0:18] **Me:** Okay. So what have you got for us today?

[0:18] **Voice 2:** I'm really glad you asked.

[0:22] **Voice 2:** Well, look, I have a bit of an agenda here set out. I was hoping we'd start with just some

[0:26] **Voice 2:** introductions to understand each of your roles and kind of how they touch

[0:27] **Voice 2:** voice afterwards. We'll

[0:32] **Voice 2:** look at a a little bit of a special, tooling that I had set up

[0:36] **Voice 2:** for today's meeting, then talk about, know, just some the things that make Rhyme special, but

[0:40] **Voice 2:** really, what I just wanna spend the most of the time today doing is just talking about VoiceAI at at Assurant.

[0:45] **Voice 2:** Some of the, the concerns you have, I understand, maybe around voice

[0:48] **Voice 2:** quality or other things. If you had a magic wand, you'd love to change.

[0:51] **Voice 2:** I do have a special demo prepared for you using some of our technology and then

[0:56] **Voice 2:** certainly left time for just open conversation, questions, and next steps.

[0:56] **Voice 2:** Sound good?

[1:01] **Me:** That works. Just so you know, reliability and risk

[1:06] **Me:** are top of mind for us. Cool.

[1:06] **Voice 2:** No. Let's

[1:06] **Me:** let's get into that.

[1:06] **Voice 3:** That's, before

[1:06] **Voice 2:** we do that,

[1:08] **Voice 2:** if you could just do a brief round of intros, that'd be awesome.

[1:10] **Me:** Sure.

[1:14] **Me:** I'm Dana, CX. I own CSAT and Containment.

[1:17] **Me:** Marcus, ITN Systems,

[1:20] **Me:** integration, security, uptime.

[1:25] **Me:** And PREA procurement. Cost, risk, commercial terms.

[1:29] **Voice 2:** Great. And I am somewhat new at Rhyme, you know, I've been in Voice AI now

[1:36] **Voice 2:** three years. I was at one point the first employee at a company called Deepgram, and then spent years in intelligent voice and most recently Gradium.

[1:41] **Voice 2:** And, yeah, no, I I really am excited

[1:42] **Voice 2:** talk with you all today. So again, it was

[1:45] **Voice 2:** Dana, Marcus, and who is the third employee?

[1:47] **Me:** Preah.

[1:49] **Voice 2:** Priya from procurement. Got it.

[1:51] **Voice 2:** So let's see here.

[1:54] **Voice 2:** Did I get pre or from procurements?

[1:58] **Voice 2:** Oh, shit. My my system didn't capture that, but let's not worry about that.

[2:03] **Voice 2:** So we're we're doing a a a copilot today that organizes what

[2:05] **Voice 2:** you say into a live shareable, edible

[2:08] **Voice 2:** summary. Everything's completely encrypted and lives only on device.

[2:13] **Voice 2:** It's just to really organize my thoughts. I have the worst handwriting in the world. So

[2:15] **Voice 2:** that's why we're doing it that way.

[2:17] **Voice 2:** But yeah, let me tell you. And so that's this.

[2:23] **Voice 2:** Let me do again

[2:29] **Voice 2:** about us. So the

[2:32] **Voice 2:** here was actually came together in 2022. We

[2:33] **Voice 2:** started by Lilly and Brooke Canaries.

[2:39] **Voice 2:** And they're all well, two or three linguists, and

[2:44] **Voice 2:** one an engineer. And we really just took a different approach

[2:46] **Voice 2:** to to building voice models and specifically TTS.

[2:51] **Voice 2:** Whereas a lot of the our contemporaries are are, you know, using the same

[2:55] **Voice 2:** podcasts and actor generated speech data, we actually have our own

[3:00] **Voice 2:** So we started by setting up a studio and recording thousands of hours natural high quality training

[3:05] **Voice 2:** with very

[3:06] **Voice 2:** specifically made content.

[3:11] **Voice 2:** But, you know, more important than that as the proof, you know,

[3:14] **Voice 2:** the the more natural Nuance TTS that we

[3:16] **Voice 2:** we build is now powering tens of millions of phone calls every month.

[3:21] **Voice 2:** Major restaurant change, and health care telecom, and enterprise.

[3:25] **Voice 2:** Just recently, actually, we did a survey. We

[3:28] **Voice 2:** through an academic group, conducted a

[3:31] **Voice 2:** 100,000 phone calls using our voices and those of two of our competitors.

[3:36] **Voice 2:** The largest competitors. And we we found that although no one loves her

[3:39] **Voice 2:** receiving unsolicited calls, we had the lowest hang up rate

[3:44] **Voice 2:** amongst others. That actually, you know, at scale starts to be a very significant

[3:46] **Voice 2:** margin. We also were able to complete the calls

[3:47] **Voice 2:** the fastest.

[3:52] **Voice 2:** We also you know, generally, we would measure KPIs

[3:57] **Voice 2:** with, you know, sort of increase in sales and not just voice quality,

[3:58] **Voice 2:** but a real world impact.

[4:04] **Me:** Yeah. We're all nice and cognigy. It works, but

[4:09] **Me:** voices feel a bit robotic, which doesn't help when customers are stressed about a

[4:09] **Me:** claim.

[4:16] **Me:** Right. And for my side, even small changes can introduce risk.

[4:21] **Me:** Latency spikes, integration touches, we can't afford downtime.

[4:22] **Me:** And

[4:24] **Me:** we get pitched constantly.

[4:29] **Me:** We need a clear business case.

[4:29] **Voice 2:** Sorry. Just to, to double click on one thing you

[4:32] **Voice 2:** said about the downtime. What is the business impact of that?

[4:49] **Me:** Yeah. Well, during peak, spikes hit Hamel time. And that flows straight into cost. And SLAs. And on the customer side,

[4:52] **Voice 2:** spikes and integration, is what?

[4:55] **Me:** Primarily, handle time up

[4:58] **Me:** escalations up, cost up.

[5:00] **Me:** And potential SLA exposure.

[5:02] **Voice 3:** Got it.

[5:06] **Voice 2:** What else is is broken with voice at Assurant these days?

[5:11] **Me:** Honestly, it's not

[5:12] **Me:** broken. It's

[5:14] **Me:** serviceable.

[5:16] **Me:** Just not delightful.

[5:19] **Me:** And changing

[5:19] **Voice 2:** players make it delightful.

[5:25] **Me:** Voices that sound reassuring, less robotic.

[5:28] **Me:** That reduce repeats and keep customers calm.

[5:30] **Me:** Plus predictable reliability,

[5:35] **Me:** and clear ROI.

[5:35] **Voice 2:** So you mentioned keeping customers

[5:36] **Voice 2:** calm. Can you say a bit more about that?

[5:41] **Me:** Yeah. When someone calls about a crack

[5:41] **Me:** phone or warranty issue,

[5:44] **Me:** steadier voice could reduce friction.

[5:46] **Me:** Fewer agent agent moments,

[5:49] **Me:** Right? But

[6:17] **Me:** any swab has to be low lift security cleared, and ideally not a rip and replace. We move carefully. So

[6:17] **Voice 2:** in terms of the reducing the customer friction, how would you measure that in terms of the success criteria?

[6:17] **Me:** We'd look at containment, CSAT deltas, maybe transfer rates and real time. But we'd need to align internally first.

[6:21] **Me:** And no commitments today.

[6:22] **Voice 2:** Yes, of course.

[6:28] **Voice 3:** What about the

[6:32] **Voice 2:** the small changes introducing risk? Can you speak more to that?

[6:36] **Me:** Sure. Even small things can cascade at our scale.

[6:40] **Me:** A little extra latency, integration,

[6:43] **Me:** can create downstream

[6:45] **Voice 3:** We

[6:45] **Me:** have very tight SLAs.

[6:50] **Voice 2:** And what's the impact of not meeting an SLA?

[6:54] **Me:** Financial penalties, client dissatisfaction,

[6:56] **Me:** That's why we move cautiously.

[7:04] **Voice 2:** So so far, we've talked about in terms of the the high level problem,

[7:05] **Voice 2:** meeting SLAs,

[7:10] **Voice 2:** is is something about changing vendors, but then adding latency

[7:11] **Voice 2:** causes SLA breaches

[7:16] **Voice 2:** Latency spikes increase costs, and then fusion

[7:19] **Voice 2:** agent mistakes can increase customer friction, which reduces customer satisfaction.

[7:25] **Me:** That's a fair capture. High level but accurate.

[7:32] **Voice 2:** Marcus, what about from your perspective?

[7:37] **Me:** That's where I'm at too.

[7:38] **Me:** Stability, security review, low lift,

[7:40] **Me:** that's the lens.

[7:43] **Me:** Then we'd need to align

[7:48] **Voice 2:** What if you had a magic wand? What else could really increase

[7:50] **Voice 2:** delightfulness that we talked about earlier?

[7:56] **Me:** Honestly, if a calmer voice reduced

[7:56] **Me:** repeat calls and

[7:58] **Me:** increased containment without

[8:00] **Me:** increasing handle time.

[8:01] **Me:** That would be great.

[8:03] **Me:** But, again,

[8:04] **Me:** careful process.

[8:10] **Voice 2:** Yeah. No. I I I get that. You you move very carefully over there.

[8:13] **Me:** Exactly.

[8:16] **Me:** Caution's part of the culture.

[8:19] **Voice 2:** I'd love to, actually show you a little bit of,

[8:24] **Voice 2:** few of our voices and how they work. But before they do,

[8:25] **Voice 2:** what else do you think we should know about kind of concerns you may have?

[8:30] **Me:** Just that we get a lot of generic pitches

[8:33] **Me:** Specificity matters.

[8:35] **Voice 3:** Yeah.

[8:37] **Me:** Useful first pass, though.

[8:45] **Voice 2:** So you have concerns about vendor changes and the the SLAs are very important.

[8:50] **Voice 2:** Success is measured by containment CSAT scores and the the transfer rates

[8:51] **Voice 2:** And

[8:55] **Voice 2:** I I think that's everything we we've covered. Is that about accurate?

[8:57] **Me:** Broadly, yes.

[9:01] **Me:** We still need to align internally, but that's a decent summary.

[9:07] **Voice 2:** Great. Well, thanks for that. Yeah. Lots to kind of dig into there, but perhaps the the best

[9:09] **Voice 2:** way I can do that

[9:12] **Voice 2:** is to show you

[9:18] **Voice 2:** what we can do. So let me actually do a a simulated

[9:19] **Voice 2:** call based on sort of what I know about your business. Is it

[9:23] **Voice 2:** fair to say that, phone warranty is a significant part of your business?

[9:27] **Me:** Yes. Device protection is a big line.

[9:47] **Me:** Just one thing. For calling NorthStar. In a real setting, we need all

[9:52] **Me:** but I know this is just a mock up.

[9:55] **Voice 2:** Hey, this is Colin. I have a problem with my phone.

[10:00] **Me:** Hi. Thanks for calling NorthStar Device Protection.

[10:03] **Me:** This is a demo, and the call may be recorded.

[10:05] **Me:** How can I help today?

[10:07] **Voice 2:** You you can pause to LGBT. We're just gonna listen now.

[10:11] **Voice 2:** Hey, North Star, could you repeat that? Got it.

[10:15] **Me:** Hello, Colin. I'm here to help with your phone issue.

[10:20] **Voice 4:** To get started, may I have the ZIP code associated with your device protection policy?

[10:21] **Voice 2:** 94105.

[10:25] **Voice 4:** Thanks, Conn.

[10:30] **Voice 4:** Your Apple iPhone 16 Pro is covered for accidental damage under an active policy.

[10:32] **Voice 4:** Can you tell me the date when the damage happened?

[10:39] **Voice 3:** July

[10:39] **Voice 4:** Thanks for the damage.

[10:40] **Voice 4:** Accidental.

[10:44] **Voice 2:** Yeah. I mean, I was just preparing for this really important meeting.

[10:49] **Voice 2:** And I was so excited that I I knocked my phone off the desk and I cracked the screen.

[10:50] **Voice 4:** Oops.

[10:55] **Voice 4:** Yeah. Got it. From the

[10:55] **Me:** dangerous accident. Naturalistic.

[10:57] **Voice 4:** Does your phone still power on and work?

[10:59] **Me:** Tom felt calmer.

[11:01] **Voice 2:** Plus

[11:01] **Voice 3:** robotic. Yes, it

[11:01] **Voice 2:** does.

[11:04] **Me:** But I'd want to see it in our context, at scale.

[11:19] **Me:** Same.

[11:19] **Voice 2:** Chat, you

[11:19] **Voice 4:** can pause.

[11:19] **Me:** First. Pausing now. Do

[11:19] **Voice 4:** you still have

[11:19] **Voice 2:** Sorry, continue.

[11:19] **Voice 4:** Do you still have to

[11:19] **Voice 2:** Yeah, know I still have

[11:19] **Voice 4:** it. No

[11:19] **Voice 3:** problem.

[11:19] **Voice 4:** Thanks for confirming, Colin.

[11:20] **Voice 4:** To recap,

[11:25] **Voice 4:** on July 11, you accidentally knocked your phone off the desk, cracking the screen.

[11:28] **Voice 4:** The phone still powers on, and you still have the device.

[11:30] **Voice 4:** Is that correct?

[11:32] **Voice 4:** Yes.

[11:46] **Voice 4:** Your claim CLM demo two zero four nine. Submitted for the accidental damage on July Your deductible for screen repair is $29.

[11:50] **Voice 4:** And some secure document upload link to your phone to continue the claim.

[11:53] **Voice 4:** Would you like me to send that now, or is there something else I can help you with?

[11:55] **Voice 2:** You can send it.

[12:05] **Voice 4:** The secure document upload link is sent to your phone ending in 0148. Is there anything else I can assist you with today?

[12:08] **Voice 2:** Is there like a specialist I could talk to?

[12:15] **Voice 4:** I'll transfer you now to a specialist who can help further with your claim.

[12:18] **Voice 4:** The summary of your case will travel with you, so no need to repeat anything.

[12:20] **Voice 4:** Thank you for your patience.

[12:25] **Voice 2:** Hi, Colin. I'm the device claim specialist helping you with your claim

[12:26] **Voice 2:** CLM demo.

[12:29] **Voice 6:** 2049 for your Apple iPhone 16 Pro.

[12:37] **Voice 2:** Est bien ça va

[12:45] **Voice 4:** Bonjour Colin, je peux vous aider à confirmer la situation de votre sinistre.

[12:45] **Voice 7:** Pour votre iPhone seize pro.

[12:48] **Voice 7:** Plus souhaitez-vous vérifier exactement

[12:53] **Voice 2:** No, I think that's everything. I hope you have a wonderful day and thank you

[12:53] **Voice 2:** much for your time.

[12:57] **Voice 6:** You're very welcome, Conn.

[13:00] **Voice 6:** If you need anything else, don't hesitate to reach out.

[13:01] **Voice 6:** Have a

[13:07] **Voice 2:** So that concludes the

[13:08] **Voice 2:** the interactive demo there. What did you guys think of the voice you just heard?

[13:14] **Me:** It feels smoother than what we have, less robotic.

[13:18] **Me:** I would want to test it in a real flow.

[13:20] **Me:** With our customers.

[13:25] **Voice 2:** That's funny. I I would like to test it in a real flow too. Continue, though. We're

[13:25] **Voice 5:** we're

[13:26] **Voice 2:** What else did you hear?

[13:30] **Voice 7:** Senior.

[13:30] **Me:** Useful first look.

[13:35] **Me:** No commitments. We need to define success and align internally.

[13:37] **Voice 2:** Yeah. No. I love that.

[13:42] **Voice 2:** So just a bit of context. Obviously, this is something I I

[13:46] **Voice 2:** set up in a few minutes myself. I'm just the sales guy. I'm I'm not an engineer or an expert.

[13:50] **Voice 2:** I I picked one of our voices that, was more formal and professional

[13:54] **Voice 2:** and, obviously, also American as as that's your your main market.

[13:56] **Voice 2:** You know, I wanted energy and empathy

[14:01] **Voice 2:** and and that's you know, we we actually had a

[14:01] **Voice 2:** very big process when we started

[14:03] **Voice 2:** picking the voices for Koda. We

[14:08] **Voice 2:** we have a statistical way of comparing them to pick out the

[14:11] **Voice 2:** ones. And then with those, we still allow you to choose which is most appropriate, and then some customers will have

[14:16] **Voice 2:** certain voices for certain geographies or things like this.

[14:18] **Voice 2:** But hopefully, it's a a helpful starting point to see some of our capabilities.

[14:23] **Me:** Yeah. It was helpful to hear.

[14:27] **Me:** We'd need the right folks in the room if this goes further.

[14:30] **Voice 3:** So,

[14:30] **Voice 6:** for now,

[14:35] **Voice 2:** Yeah. So tell me, do you have any questions at this point?

[14:37] **Me:** Not right

[14:37] **Voice 7:** now.

[14:40] **Me:** Send a short recap and we'll take it from there.

[14:42] **Voice 2:** I'm sure you must have a couple questions.

[14:46] **Me:** Just a quick sanity check.

[14:48] **Me:** Are you thinking

[14:51] **Me:** weeks or months before even a limited pilot?

[14:53] **Me:** Months.

[14:55] **Me:** We plan carefully.

[15:00] **Voice 2:** Oh, yeah. And that's That's fair. Generally, how how does timing work with you guys?

[15:04] **Me:** We follow structured cycles.

[15:06] **Me:** We'll align internally first,

[15:07] **Me:** No rush.

[15:10] **Voice 2:** Sounds good.

[15:14] **Voice 3:** And

[15:14] **Voice 2:** Yes. Generally, how does decision making

[15:14] **Voice 6:** work?

[15:17] **Voice 7:** Cross functional.

[15:22] **Me:** CX IT procurement and the business, no single owner.

[15:28] **Voice 5:** Uh-huh,

[15:28] **Me:** and then And procurement comes in when there's a defined business case.

[15:31] **Voice 2:** Do you have do you have a a current contract with with your vendor?

[15:34] **Me:** Yes. Active agreement in place.

[15:37] **Voice 2:** Oh, when does that expire?

[15:42] **Me:** One moment.

[15:46] **Me:** We do. Yes. I'm not comfortable sharing the exact

[15:47] **Me:** date right now.

[15:49] **Voice 6:** More