At the SpeechTEK 2006 conference in New York, on August 8, 2006, Paul English, the founder of GetHuman.com has made an announcement revealing that it will spearhead the revamp of industry standards for telephone-based customer service. Paul English also added that the initiative enjoys the backing of Microsoft Corp., Nuance Communications Inc. among other industry leaders.

The revamped standards aim to deliver enhanced customer support through the elimination of automated systems, adopting various features designed to provide human interaction. Callers will be given alternatives, either to speak to a customer service representative or choose the call-back option.

The adoption of GetHuman's "earcon" auditory icon by companies will act as a beacon for customers to recognize that they are treated with the best practices customer service standards. Following an initial period of 60 days, the GetHuman project team will push for the integration of feedback features in the mechanism.

"I'm thrilled to work with Microsoft and Nuance on these important standards," English said. "Consumers have put up with bad customer service over the phone for too long, and this new initiative will put some sanity back into how companies interact with their customers. Microsoft and Nuance are two of the key companies that can help make consumer-friendly phone systems a reality, and we are seeking other companies to join us in this effort."

"At Microsoft, we believe that powerful software combined with customer-friendly standards such as this can elevate voice self-service to become a preferred solution for many tasks, just as the ATM and airport kiosks are today," said Rich Bray, general manager of the Unified Communications Group at Microsoft. "We look forward to working with Paul and the GetHuman project to incorporate community feedback and drive continuous improvement in the experience people have with voice applications."