In late July of this year, CU*Answers made a change to our internal phone system, as we moved over to the Zoom phone platform. Why replace CU*Talk? Because we consistently see over 700,000 minutes every month across our network – a clear sign that many members still rely on this method of communication.
The new CU*Talk is being built on a new platform with state-of-the-art technology, but will include the same functionality and flow as the current system. So all your members should notice is a new voice reading the prompts!
The transition to the new text-to-speech platform will take place on Wednesday, October 23rd!
The text-to-speech option is something that we have offered for a while now – the new system supports only text-to-speech (TTS), and is unable to support old *.WAV voice recording files.
While we do know that the new platform will go live on October 23rd, we do not know the exact time that the switch will occur. As such, we recommend that your credit union set up a message on your website to inform clients of maintenance to CU*Talk, and if they are unable to access CU*Talk, encourage them to please try again later.
Please note that the new platform will not be able to read rates on October 23rd, but this feature will be made available soon after. We will deliver follow-up announcements to keep you informed on this.
Below is a list of FAQs relating to the new text-to-speech platform:
- Will the phone number our members use be changing? No. The phone companies are porting existing numbers over to the new system on the 23rd.
- When will the change happen on the 23rd? We cannot give you an exact time; there are two phone companies who will be coordinating the switch. But members will NOT get bumped off the old system if they happen to be calling during the switch – the next call that comes in is redirected to the new system.
- Will menu options or prompts change? Only slightly, mostly because the system uses text-to-speech for everything. One change you will notice: you can still press the # sign after entering a value (such as when you enter an account number or suffix), but it’s not strictly necessary. So the prompt doesn’t tell you to press the pound key, but it doesn’t hurt if you use it!
- How different are the voices? It’s still a woman’s voice but a different one, and it runs through a text-to-speech engine so the cadence is different.
- Will members need to change their password? No. Members will log in exactly as they did before.
- Can I hear what the new system sounds like before it goes live? Yes, call 616-217-3984 and use one of the test accounts listed in the CU*Talk Introductory/Startup Guide (refer to page 7).
If you have any questions, please reach out to the Client Services team and we’ll be happy to help!
