Voice Authentication –
A New Approach For Improving The TV Everywhere Experience
TV Everywhere is an exciting concept that promises to realize what many people in the 1990s were calling Convergence - the idea of "one wire" into the house that would carry all of the content and services for a household.
Mobile devices that are continuously connected have created the opportunity to rethink the relationship between content and the consumer. Consumers are no longer willing to accept the limitation of a fixed connection at one location as the only place content can be consumed. The idea that the consumer is now at the center, not the hardware or the network connection, has the potential to profoundly change communication technologies and media content delivery in ways we have not even begun to imagine.
TV Everywhere has challenges in technology and security. However, TV Everywhere is an inevitable reality that consumers are already starting to demand, and the new devices and networks that are in our future will fuel that demand.
This consumer-centric future requires a different concept of what constitutes an account and its rights. A household as an account is no longer sufficient; the new requirement is to have a 1-to-1 relationship with each consumer. That individual is still able to be a member of a household and share the rights of that group. This 1-to-1 relationship creates two essential requirements: identity and authentication. In order for an individual consumer to access services or content, that consumer has to present an identity claim and have that claim authenticated.
In September 2010, CableLabs® issued the Online Content Access (OLCA) Authentication and Authorization Interface 1.0 Specification, CL-SP-AUTH1.0-I01-101029. The Authentication and Authorization Interface specification describes the OLCA interoperable protocol that includes use cases, technical requirements, and architectures for the delivery of video to a Multichannel Video Programming Distributor (MVPD) Subscriber from different online sources such as cable programmer and MVPD portals. Industry adoption of common authentication and authorization mechanisms for Online Content Access will simplify the technical integration process with programmers and will help to ensure a consistent experience for subscribers.
According to Wes Simpson of TVTechnology in his article New Spec Published for TV Everywhere...
"Two security functions need to be completed before content is delivered to a viewer. The first is Authentication, which verifies that a user accessing the website is actually a subscriber to the MVPD. The second is Authorization, which determines if the subscriber has permission to receive the content they desire.
Authentication is required because customers will want to access the content from a variety of different platforms and locations, so some means is necessary for subscribers to "log in" and verify their identity."
The Voice Signature ServiceSM provides strong authentication of the individual subscriber within the OLCA Spec.
TradeHarbor's Voice Signature ServiceSM (VSS) is simple and cost effective to implement, yet powerful in its unique features and capabilities. It enables trusted interactions through Voice Authentication - Anywhere, Anytime, on Any Platform, using Any Device.
Brad Hunt, the former CTO of the Motion Picture Association of America said...
"TradeHarbor's voice authentication web service is a highly-flexible and easily-implemented authentication solution that can provide cable operators and programmers with enhanced security and operational efficiencies. With the growth of network-connected tablets and smart phones for accessing high-value program streams, the use of voice authentication can address revenue losses from subscriber login sharing, provide families with enhanced parental control, and create a faster and more convenient user login experience using these mobile devices."
TradeHarbor's Voice Signature ServiceSM is a powerful Web Service that provides ubiquitous, on-demand voice authentication and legally-binding Voice Signatures.
Since the Voice Signature ServiceSM enables an "enroll once, use anywhere" approach to authentication, the value extends beyond TV Everywhere to all points of the customer relationship. A service provider can quickly and inexpensively offer its customers a consistent authentication experience across all of its business units and on any of its platforms (e.g., telephone, web, mobile).
Created with the objective of providing easy access for a broad range of applications via simple interfaces, multiple applications can readily share the same registry of enrolled voices without the burden of adding and integrating a unique voice authentication system for each application or customer touchpoint.
The end user interacts with the Voice Signature ServiceSM (using existing equipment) to provide their Voice Signature. No specialized equipment is required as Voice Signatures are taken over a telephone, mobile device, or through a microphone-equipped computer.
Adopting this platform-agnostic and application-agnostic approach to Voice Authentication delivers a superior ROI and application flexibility. This approach enables the rapid implementation of Voice Authentication to legacy applications and platforms that support an organization's interactions with their customers. It also enables the organization to implement a consistent approach to authentication across disparate business units/product lines; communication modes (Internet & Telephone); platforms (Touchtone IVR, Speech-enabled IVR, Live Operator, Mobile Devices, & Websites/Webpages); and locations (both owned and outside service providers).
The use of knowledge-based authentication (passwords, PIN's, "shared secret" information, etc.) to authenticate customers is both time-consuming and subject to many types of fraud. In agent-based authentication, it is typical for knowledge-based authentication interactions to consume from 45 seconds to 2 minutes of agent and customer time. Remembering and responding to from 1 to 3 questions is always a frustrating process for the customer.
With the Voice Signature ServiceSM, an enrolled customer can be conveniently authenticated in ≈ 9 seconds prior to being connected to an agent – and there is nothing to remember or lose.
In many environments (homes, the workplace, college campuses) it is not difficult for a person to obtain the password, PIN or basic shared-secret information of those familiar to them; this is often referred to as "family fraud" or "friendly fraud". Voice Signature ServiceSM authentication eliminates family & friendly fraud, the "social engineering" of live operators, and the intentional sharing of credentials to perpetrate "subscription fraud" (such as TV Everywhere).
The Voice Signature ServiceSM also enables customers to be strongly authenticated when selecting convenient, self-service methods of interacting with their provider, such as telephone IVR, the Web or Mobile Devices. Since the Voice Signature ServiceSM is provided as Software as a Service, it minimizes capital expenditures, minimizes internal development resource requirements, and boosts the ROI resulting from cost savings and customer acquisition & retention.
