Speech technology is now used to check frequent flyer points, order pizzas or book tickets, but customers still expect to speak to a female.

Phillip Tremain is a user interface designer, which means that he designs interactions with the caller by managing the entire interface including the feel and sound of the conversation.

Voice selection begins with understanding who the callers are, placing them into preselected groups and finding a voice that appeals to them.

It appears that a female voice is perceived as service-orientated, whereas a male voice commands more authority.

“If your recharging a phone you want a fast, snappy female voice but it is a very different tone when lodging a tax return,” says Tremain, so a male voice is used to ask questions such as What is your salary? as “research has found people are more likely to tell the truth if they are speaking to a male.”

Moreover, the technology is being continually tuned to the local accent as more systems are deployed.

From Computerworld.