Genesys Cloud - Main

Hi All,

Recently whilst reviewing contact center recordings we found that majority of the calls have bad audio or a lot of background noise from both agent as well as customer's end. We wanted to understand the measures being taken for good voice/audio quality by other Genesys Cloud CX users.

We came across 2 solutions but didn't find enough testimonials -

1. Noise Firewall AppFoundry: Claims to eliminate ambient noise such as other agents talking with other customers, supervisor giving instructions, announcements on the PA etc.
https://appfoundry.genesys.com/filter/genesyscloud/listing/3b9b203e-92a6-49e2-8836-4e02d1498275

 

2. Krisp AI:  This product advertises utilizing AI to automatically reduce or remove background noise bi-directionally
Noise Cancellation for Genesys | How to Reduce Background Noise in Genesys?

World's #1 Noise Cancelling App | Krisp

 

**We have already applied the basic settings shared by Genesys and that hasn't made any difference:

 

Any recommendation or review of the above apps would prove to be of great help. Thanking in advance!

#Integrations
#QualityManagement
#Telephony
#Unsure/Other

------------------------------
MAnu KAndwal
Accenture Solutions Private Limited
------------------------------

Interesting topic...haven't run into this question over the years, but makes sense. I'll be monitoring.

------------------------------
George Ganahl GCP (Genesys Cloud), CCXP
Principal PS Consultant
Genesys
------------------------------

Didn't receive any answer from forum members, seems no one has faced this issue or are handling noise issues via separate methods.

------------------------------
MAnu KAndwal
Accenture Solutions Private Limited
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 06-20-2023 18:18
From: George Ganahl
Subject: Background noise suppression on calls

Interesting topic...haven't run into this question over the years, but makes sense. I'll be monitoring.

------------------------------
George Ganahl GCP (Genesys Cloud), CCXP
Principal PS Consultant
Genesys
------------------------------

Good morning Manu,

We are currently facing the exact same issue within our Genesys system.

We get varying levels of background noise across agents with the same settings (as you've mentioned above) and with the same headsets.

Agent A could be picking up so much background noise that it's hard to hear the customer, where as Agent B seems the noise suppression is actively working.

We do not currently have a fix for this either, so very interested to see if anyone else mentions anything.

Regards,

Nick Squires

MIB

------------------------------
Nicholas Squires
Motor Insurers' Bureau
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 07-24-2023 00:11
From: MAnu KAndwal
Subject: Background noise suppression on calls

Didn't receive any answer from forum members, seems no one has faced this issue or are handling noise issues via separate methods.

------------------------------
MAnu KAndwal
Accenture Solutions Private Limited
------------------------------


Original Message:
Sent: 06-20-2023 18:18
From: George Ganahl
Subject: Background noise suppression on calls

Interesting topic...haven't run into this question over the years, but makes sense. I'll be monitoring.

------------------------------
George Ganahl GCP (Genesys Cloud), CCXP
Principal PS Consultant
Genesys

Hi Manu and Nicholas,

I work on the AppFoundry team here at Genesys and I've had demos of both the Solical and Krisp.ai solutions.  They both work amazingly well.  If you are having trouble with background noise on calls then it might be worth reaching out to both companies and ask for a demo and maybe an evaluation of the software.

Also, I know that EPOS and I believe Jabra both offer some kind of noise cancellation/suppression technology if their headset software is installed on the agent's workstation.  The headsets themselves can have some noise cancellation tech built-in, but the additional software can apply algorithms to filter out background noise from the agent side.

I hope that helps.

------------------------------
Jim Crespino
Senior Director, Developer Evangelism
Genesys
https://developer.genesys.com
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 07-25-2023 04:00
From: Nicholas Squires
Subject: Background noise suppression on calls

Good morning Manu,

We are currently facing the exact same issue within our Genesys system.

We get varying levels of background noise across agents with the same settings (as you've mentioned above) and with the same headsets.

Agent A could be picking up so much background noise that it's hard to hear the customer, where as Agent B seems the noise suppression is actively working.

We do not currently have a fix for this either, so very interested to see if anyone else mentions anything.

Regards,

Nick Squires

MIB

------------------------------
Nicholas Squires
Motor Insurers' Bureau
------------------------------


Original Message:
Sent: 07-24-2023 00:11
From: MAnu KAndwal
Subject: Background noise suppression on calls

Didn't receive any answer from forum members, seems no one has faced this issue or are handling noise issues via separate methods.

------------------------------
MAnu KAndwal
Accenture Solutions Private Limited


Original Message:
Sent: 06-20-2023 18:18
From: George Ganahl
Subject: Background noise suppression on calls

Interesting topic...haven't run into this question over the years, but makes sense. I'll be monitoring.

------------------------------
George Ganahl GCP (Genesys Cloud), CCXP
Principal PS Consultant
Genesys

Hey Nick,

I've been told by agents that when they have noise cancellation enabled on both their headset and within Genesys, then the level of background noise becomes unbearable for the caller. Their solution was to ensure that noise cancellation was only enabled once on their headsets and not Genesys.

Would love to hear if you are able to repeat the result.

Thanks
Mark

------------------------------
-------------------------------
Mark Goldsmith
NTT Australia
https://www.global.ntt/
------------------------------
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 07-25-2023 04:00
From: Nicholas Squires
Subject: Background noise suppression on calls

Good morning Manu,

We are currently facing the exact same issue within our Genesys system.

We get varying levels of background noise across agents with the same settings (as you've mentioned above) and with the same headsets.

Agent A could be picking up so much background noise that it's hard to hear the customer, where as Agent B seems the noise suppression is actively working.

We do not currently have a fix for this either, so very interested to see if anyone else mentions anything.

Regards,

Nick Squires

MIB

------------------------------
Nicholas Squires
Motor Insurers' Bureau
------------------------------


Original Message:
Sent: 07-24-2023 00:11
From: MAnu KAndwal
Subject: Background noise suppression on calls

Didn't receive any answer from forum members, seems no one has faced this issue or are handling noise issues via separate methods.

------------------------------
MAnu KAndwal
Accenture Solutions Private Limited


Original Message:
Sent: 06-20-2023 18:18
From: George Ganahl
Subject: Background noise suppression on calls

Interesting topic...haven't run into this question over the years, but makes sense. I'll be monitoring.

------------------------------
George Ganahl GCP (Genesys Cloud), CCXP
Principal PS Consultant
Genesys

If only affecting some agents on some calls with agents using the same headsets, it may be what we have experienced.

We have found that noise suppression works great on the Jabra headsets however if there is an interruption to the connection of the headset on the agents PC, even briefly, then Genesys Cloud goes to the next microphone it can find in windows sound input devices, which in our case was the webcam microphone and this doesn't have noise suppression and picks up nearby conversations, but have seen it revert to the laptop microphone too.
Once the connection is restored to the original headset (in our case Jabra Evolve 40 UC), Genesys sound settings still indicated it was using computer settings, but the computer settings had changed back to the Jabra headset microphone.  As there wasn't a change in state for the webcam mic it didn't force Genesys Cloud to recheck Windows sound settings to revert back to the Jabra headset so it continued using the webcam microphone.
Often a refresh or reselecting the blue 'Use computer settings' from the audio device profile resolves the issue and can be done on a call with immediate impact to call quality.

Hope this helps you or someone else reading this thread.

------------------------------
Brendan Van Dam
City of Gold Coast
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 07-25-2023 04:00
From: Nicholas Squires
Subject: Background noise suppression on calls

Good morning Manu,

We are currently facing the exact same issue within our Genesys system.

We get varying levels of background noise across agents with the same settings (as you've mentioned above) and with the same headsets.

Agent A could be picking up so much background noise that it's hard to hear the customer, where as Agent B seems the noise suppression is actively working.

We do not currently have a fix for this either, so very interested to see if anyone else mentions anything.

Regards,

Nick Squires

MIB

------------------------------
Nicholas Squires
Motor Insurers' Bureau
------------------------------


Original Message:
Sent: 07-24-2023 00:11
From: MAnu KAndwal
Subject: Background noise suppression on calls

Didn't receive any answer from forum members, seems no one has faced this issue or are handling noise issues via separate methods.

------------------------------
MAnu KAndwal
Accenture Solutions Private Limited


Original Message:
Sent: 06-20-2023 18:18
From: George Ganahl
Subject: Background noise suppression on calls

Interesting topic...haven't run into this question over the years, but makes sense. I'll be monitoring.

------------------------------
George Ganahl GCP (Genesys Cloud), CCXP
Principal PS Consultant
Genesys

I'm following too because noise cancelling headphones get very expensive and my biggest issue now is the background noise on the customer side causing false detections in our IVR menus.  It has largely stopped us from deploying solutions other than touch tone / button presses.  On the agent side.  Someone mentioned Jabra.  I can say that "some" of their noise cancelling headphones are fantastic, while other models suck horribly. The Evolve series works great.  I've tested the Evolve 75 and Evolve2 Buds and would recommend both, however the 75's boom will die if over used to mute calls.  Would love to learn about these solutions.  It would save us from having to buy top tier headsets and help out on the customer leg as well.

Just read up on Krisp, it seems that it is a desktop software solution.  I need something that works at the gateway, so that inbound calls get cleaned up in the IVR.

------------------------------
Ryan Cheesman
Senior Manager, IT Integration Services
Tandem Diabetes Care Inc. | positively different
------------------------------

Ryan,

Solicall and Krisp both work in a similar manner to each other.  They both install a virtual audio driver into the OS.  The audio driver proxies audio between the agent's mic/speaker device and applies audio transform logic to remove ambient noice, high/low frequencies, etc.  Since they are a virtual audio device their noise cancellation tech can be applied to any mic/speaker, even the computer's built-in mic/speakers.  Since they work bi-directionally they can even cancel noise on the caller's line as well (I believe).

If you don't want to invest in new, "expensive" hardware for your agents, Solicall and Krisp might be a good solution to look into.

------------------------------
Jim Crespino
Senior Director, Developer Evangelism
Genesys
https://developer.genesys.com
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 07-26-2023 11:38
From: Ryan Cheesman
Subject: Background noise suppression on calls

I'm following too because noise cancelling headphones get very expensive and my biggest issue now is the background noise on the customer side causing false detections in our IVR menus.  It has largely stopped us from deploying solutions other than touch tone / button presses.  On the agent side.  Someone mentioned Jabra.  I can say that "some" of their noise cancelling headphones are fantastic, while other models suck horribly. The Evolve series works great.  I've tested the Evolve 75 and Evolve2 Buds and would recommend both, however the 75's boom will die if over used to mute calls.  Would love to learn about these solutions.  It would save us from having to buy top tier headsets and help out on the customer leg as well.

Just read up on Krisp, it seems that it is a desktop software solution.  I need something that works at the gateway, so that inbound calls get cleaned up in the IVR.

------------------------------
Ryan Cheesman
Senior Manager, IT Integration Services
Tandem Diabetes Care Inc. | positively different
------------------------------

Hi Jim,

Does Genesys have a response as to why the built-in noise suppression doesn't seem to be doing it's job?

As a non-profit organization, spending any further money on top of the Genesys solution isn't really an option for us.

Regards,

------------------------------
Nicholas Squires
Motor Insurers' Bureau
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 07-26-2023 12:07
From: Jim Crespino
Subject: Background noise suppression on calls

Ryan,

Solicall and Krisp both work in a similar manner to each other.  They both install a virtual audio driver into the OS.  The audio driver proxies audio between the agent's mic/speaker device and applies audio transform logic to remove ambient noice, high/low frequencies, etc.  Since they are a virtual audio device their noise cancellation tech can be applied to any mic/speaker, even the computer's built-in mic/speakers.  Since they work bi-directionally they can even cancel noise on the caller's line as well (I believe).

If you don't want to invest in new, "expensive" hardware for your agents, Solicall and Krisp might be a good solution to look into.

------------------------------
Jim Crespino
Senior Director, Developer Evangelism
Genesys
https://developer.genesys.com
------------------------------


Original Message:
Sent: 07-26-2023 11:38
From: Ryan Cheesman
Subject: Background noise suppression on calls

I'm following too because noise cancelling headphones get very expensive and my biggest issue now is the background noise on the customer side causing false detections in our IVR menus.  It has largely stopped us from deploying solutions other than touch tone / button presses.  On the agent side.  Someone mentioned Jabra.  I can say that "some" of their noise cancelling headphones are fantastic, while other models suck horribly. The Evolve series works great.  I've tested the Evolve 75 and Evolve2 Buds and would recommend both, however the 75's boom will die if over used to mute calls.  Would love to learn about these solutions.  It would save us from having to buy top tier headsets and help out on the customer leg as well.

Just read up on Krisp, it seems that it is a desktop software solution.  I need something that works at the gateway, so that inbound calls get cleaned up in the IVR.

------------------------------
Ryan Cheesman
Senior Manager, IT Integration Services
Tandem Diabetes Care Inc. | positively different

I have some agents who recently purchased the Logitech H390 wired headset, and it works wonderfully in suppressing background noise. I was on a call with someone on this headset, and they had an employee stand behind them and talk to them to test it out. I could not hear the employee behind them at all. This headset retails for about $30 if you want to try an inexpensive option. The only unfortunate part is that it is a wired headset.

------------------------------
Nicki Dehn
AAA Club Alliance
------------------------------

Hi Nicki,

Do you know what headsets they were using before this?

Thanks,

------------------------------
Nicholas Squires
Motor Insurers' Bureau
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 07-27-2023 15:27
From: Nicole Dehn
Subject: Background noise suppression on calls

I have some agents who recently purchased the Logitech H390 wired headset, and it works wonderfully in suppressing background noise. I was on a call with someone on this headset, and they had an employee stand behind them and talk to them to test it out. I could not hear the employee behind them at all. This headset retails for about $30 if you want to try an inexpensive option. The only unfortunate part is that it is a wired headset.

------------------------------
Nicki Dehn
AAA Club Alliance
------------------------------

@Nicholas Squires Hi there. I do not recall the specific models these employees had prior, but we have various models of Plantronics headsets in the field; mostly wireless.

------------------------------
Nicki Dehn
AAA Club Alliance
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 08-02-2023 10:10
From: Nicholas Squires
Subject: Background noise suppression on calls

Hi Nicki,

Do you know what headsets they were using before this?

Thanks,

------------------------------
Nicholas Squires
Motor Insurers' Bureau
------------------------------


Original Message:
Sent: 07-27-2023 15:27
From: Nicole Dehn
Subject: Background noise suppression on calls

I have some agents who recently purchased the Logitech H390 wired headset, and it works wonderfully in suppressing background noise. I was on a call with someone on this headset, and they had an employee stand behind them and talk to them to test it out. I could not hear the employee behind them at all. This headset retails for about $30 if you want to try an inexpensive option. The only unfortunate part is that it is a wired headset.

------------------------------
Nicki Dehn
AAA Club Alliance

Hi Guys, we are having the same issue mostly with Plantronics headsets, for us the solution was disabling all Advanced mic settings, but the problem is when you refresh browser tab or Genesys app all Advanced mic settings become active again (return to default). Genesys care team stated that this is expected behaviour, I can't understand how this can benefit users except that it forced them to reconfigure these settings every time when they start Genesys, it has no common sense. 

------------------------------
Janez Kastelic
VELUX A/S
------------------------------

This isn't the first time that I've seen reports of clearly crazy things being deemed to be "by design" and "expected behavior." I sometimes wonder what medication the designers are on!

I recommend going to the Aha site and creating an idea to have this made into a system (or even user) setting that can turn on or off this behavior. I agree, as a user, if I change configuration settings, I expect them to stick. Why would I not want that?

------------------------------
Paul Simpson
Eventus Solutions Group
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 08-23-2023 02:51
From: Janez Kastelic
Subject: Background noise suppression on calls

Hi Guys, we are having the same issue mostly with Plantronics headsets, for us the solution was disabling all Advanced mic settings, but the problem is when you refresh browser tab or Genesys app all Advanced mic settings become active again (return to default). Genesys care team stated that this is expected behaviour, I can't understand how this can benefit users except that it forced them to reconfigure these settings every time when they start Genesys, it has no common sense. 

------------------------------
Janez Kastelic
VELUX A/S
------------------------------

Hi Manu and community,

Great discussion on this thread! Noise does indeed have a big impact on the conversation, either as it's happening in real time, causing agents and customers to needlessly repeat themselves or on the post call side of things in terms of QA where transcription accuracy can be severely impacted and simple things like listening back to recordings can become difficult - as the OP points out!

I'm ex Genesys and currently work for a company called Iris Audio technologies. We provide a lightweight desktop solution that addresses the issue of noise. We use highly trained ML models to remove any noise in the conversation in both directions leaving a clear voice path for the customer and agent. We'll shortly be on the app foundry but in the mean time do ping me if this solution could help you out! We'd be happy to help.

peter.tailby@iris.audio

https://iris.audio/

Thanks!

Pete

------------------------------
Peter Tailby
IRIS Clarity Limited
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 08-23-2023 09:37
From: Paul Simpson
Subject: Background noise suppression on calls

This isn't the first time that I've seen reports of clearly crazy things being deemed to be "by design" and "expected behavior." I sometimes wonder what medication the designers are on!

I recommend going to the Aha site and creating an idea to have this made into a system (or even user) setting that can turn on or off this behavior. I agree, as a user, if I change configuration settings, I expect them to stick. Why would I not want that?

------------------------------
Paul Simpson
Eventus Solutions Group
------------------------------


Original Message:
Sent: 08-23-2023 02:51
From: Janez Kastelic
Subject: Background noise suppression on calls

Hi Guys, we are having the same issue mostly with Plantronics headsets, for us the solution was disabling all Advanced mic settings, but the problem is when you refresh browser tab or Genesys app all Advanced mic settings become active again (return to default). Genesys care team stated that this is expected behaviour, I can't understand how this can benefit users except that it forced them to reconfigure these settings every time when they start Genesys, it has no common sense. 

------------------------------
Janez Kastelic
VELUX A/S