Mercer | Mettl launches AI-based spoken English evaluation tool
Gurgaon: Mercer | Mettl, a Gurgaon-based online assessment company, has launched a brand new English proficiency assessment tool called SpeechX to expand its spectrum of assessment inventory. The tool is meant to measure English proficiency in terms of pronunciation, fluency, listening comprehension, and grammar.
Modeled on CEFR (The Common European Framework of Reference for Languages), SpeechX is designed to incorporate and simulate the nuances and best practices adopted by the BPO industry. It can also come as a handy and ready-to-use assessment solution for corporate houses for critical client-facing roles as well as sales profiles that demand highly effective communication and articulation skills.
The AI-algorithm that powers SpeechX is based on proprietary evaluation parameters of Mercer | Mettl and grading mechanism of its technology partner CarnegieSpeech that in turn leverages state-of-the-art, patented speech recognition as well as pinpointing technology licensed by the Carnegie Mellon University. SpeechX assessments can be taken from anywhere, anytime from any device. They offer the remote proctoring option to clients to help them constantly monitor candidates during the assessments, making them highly secure and auditable. This is a departure from common IVR-based English assessment tools currently available in the market that suffer from limitations of impersonation, repetition of the same sentences to sound fluent, and use of the internet during online written exams.
Since SpeechX factors in candidates’ native language along with geographical and cultural influences to evaluate their spoken English competencies, it will find a wide-application in large-scale hiring of executives for customer-centric and client-facing roles across a range of industries. These include BPO, sales and services, hospitality, and education and training.
Commenting on the new product launch, Siddhartha Gupta, CEO, Mercer | Mettl, said, “The introduction of SpeechX by Mercer| Mettl reflects its mission to advance talent measurement to unmapped subject domains. It aims to remove biases or functions of human errors by maintaining auditability and consistency throughout the assessment cycle.”
Owing to its key differentiators like grading reliability, modern evaluation methodology, and secure delivery, SpeechX offers unparalleled testing expertise in the English language domain. Combining it with other assessments for behavior, cognitive, domain, and personality from Mercer | Mettl and other English communication skills, an organization can have access to comprehensive talent identification and measurement solution suite. This development has the potential to positively transform the language proficiency space and the industries that thrive on it.