Eckoh PLC (AIM:ECK, OTC:EKTPF) announced it has strengthened its international patent portfolio with two further patents, so its IP is now backed by a portfolio of 17 international patents.
The new patents to be granted are for ReverseContact Centre Authentication.
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This is a new technology, the company said, which dramatically improves security and convenience for end customers when receiving an unsolicited call from an organisation, helping to prevent them becoming a victim of fraud.
The secure payment products and customer contact solutions said the risk of identity theft and fraud is ever-increasing and, while technology that helps contact centres authenticate customers has been improving, “very little exists” to allow customers to verify that unsolicited calls to them are from a legitimate representative.
Eckoh's new technology allows customers to verify the identity of who is calling them without disconnecting and to share information securely to complete transactions, the group noted.
When a customer receives a call from an organisation that they fear may not be genuine, their only real option currently is to hang-up, call back on the number they know to be legitimate and start the conversation from scratch - wasting time for both the agent and customer, Eckoh said.
Its patented solutions means the caller can verify the identity of the representative by clicking on a link, either from the organisation's publicly available website or their app.
If the customer is already logged in, or chooses to do so, the page will immediately confirm that an agent is on a call with them based on their registered contact details. This also validates the customer to the agent and provides a secure channel through which they can share information.
Alternative approaches to the 'log in' option include verifying via other common methods such as entering a one-time pin.
Eckoh already has a US patent and the latest ones will cover the UK and Canada.
The technology complements patents already active in North America and Europe for inbound Contact Centre Authentication.
When a customer phones a contact centre, a message is sent to their mobile device. To save time and increase security, the caller can opt to confirm their identity prior to connecting to an agent through an existing mainstream authentication method, such as PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL), Facebook, or Amazon.
Once connected to an available agent, the caller's relevant and verified information can be immediately seen by the agent usually without any further security checks, and they can greet the customer appropriately.
Billing and mailing addresses retained by these methods, can prepopulate contact centre CRM systems, saving the agent time and increasing data accuracy.
Because the caller has already authenticated themselves against for instance, PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL)'s login process, the contact centre agent (and the company they represent) can be certain that they are talking with the actual person the caller claims to be.
The firm said this kind of patents “play a particularly important role” in its portfolio.
“The importance of creating and owning our own IP cannot be overstated. It is critical for customers and partners alike to be confident that their supplier is providing a solution that does not potentially infringe on another's IP - especially so when it deals with such a sensitive area as security,” said chief executive Nik Philpot.