New contact centre security solution eliminates risk of fraud

A new technology solution from Semafone promises to eliminate contact centre fraud and guarantee PCI compliance.

With 70 per cent of companies admitting to a security breach last year (Source: The Ponemon Institute, 2009), and up to 97 per cent of companies falling short of PCI compliance, call centre security looms large on the boardroom agenda.

The Semafone product offers a neat solution to both fraud risk and PCI compliance by ensuring that no payment information is heard by the agent, or stored by the company.

Semafone works by allowing customers to key their card details directly onto their telephone keypad. The DTMF technology sends the information to the payment portal, without the agent hearing anything other than unidentifiable tones. Call recordings pick up only these tones, thus ensuring the company is compliant with PCI regulations.

Contact centre and customer service expert Mike Havard said: “Many call centre solutions claim to be PCI compliant, but they tend to rely on stop-start technology, which can make auditing calls difficult, or they encrypt the critical information. However, PCI DSS has confirmed that encryption is not adequate to become compliant. Plus, of course, these solutions do not tackle the issue of fraud in call centres.”

An added benefit of Semafone is that there is no need to transfer the customer to an impersonal IVR system. The call centre agent maintains voice contact with the customer, meaning that the transaction is more likely to be completed without a hitch. Semafone research has also shown that customers using the technology appreciate that the company they are doing business with is going the extra mile to protect their payment details.

Tim Critchley, md at Semafone pointed out that the technology also protects staff from criminal activity: “As well as adding an extra dimension to customer service, Semafone means that call centre staff are also protected from criminal gangs who prey on vulnerable workers and coerce them into stealing customer data on their behalf.”

Jonathan George, head of call centre services at Semafone client Specsavers agreed that the solution brought unexpected advantages: “We have implemented Semafone as part of our PCI DSS compliance, as it met all of our needs – and we found that it delivered additional service benefits too, which we hadn't anticipated. The solution works with any call recording technology and any telephony switch so it’s also extremely versatile.”

Other well-known brands already using Semafone to eliminate fraud risk and ensure PCI compliance include: John Lewis, Pizza Hut, Manchester Airport, Yorkshire Water, Hampshire County Council and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.

For more information, contact:

Tim Critchley
+44(0)777 560 1797
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Claudia Hathway
+44 (0)758 122 3392
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