Speech Recognition: American Airlines Goes High-Tech

American Airlines announced today that it will be adding speech recognition technology for its frequent travelers.

The technology, provided by Microsoft affiliate Tellme, will recognize AAdvantage members' phone numbers and greet them by name when they call to make a reservation. The system also automatically offers gate and flight information.

The technology is designed to save the airline money by reducing the need for employees to handle customer calls, although American spokesman Charley Wilson said the intent was to improve customer service, not cut jobs.

Other companies like Domino's Pizza have already utilized Tellme's technology to reduce the cost of training new operators and reducing the number of calls that need to be handled by a real person. While customers will no doubt enjoy the convenience of the new technology, it's unclear yet what lays in store for American Airlines phone operators.

For the record, despite American Airlines billing this as speech recognition, it's really just phone number recognition. If you're interested in learning about real airline technologies, check out American Airlines C.R. Smith Museum of aviation in Dallas, T.X.