A very interesting post on TechCrunch today says that Mayor Bloomberg plans to put QR codes on all building permits by 2013. By adding QR codes, Bloomberg hopes to provide New Yorkers with more details regarding the project, complaints and violations, and the identities of the property owner, job applicant, etc. The QR codes will link to the Department of Buildings information with an option to place a call to 311. From there, New Yorkers can place a complaint about noise, safety, or anything else.

At present, 975,000 building and construction sites have been assigned QR codes in New York City.

Recently I received some really good news from Global Industry Analysts (GIA), a research firm covering the speech technology industry. The firm is projecting the speech industry to reach a global total of $20.93 billion by 2015, up from $5.2 billion at the end of 2009. That’s some serious growth, and it can only spell great news for an industry that has seen little to no growth during the past two years.

What’s even more telling is where the speech technologies are going. While the mobile space is going to be huge, fast-paced adoption of speech recognition in contact centers is expected to drive a lot of that growth.

The recession induced the dire need to prune down costs at call centers, which prompted many to shine the spotlight on speech recognition. The technology is rapidly migrating from the early adopter’s stage to mass-market customer service organizations, with compelling cost advantages offering a strong business case. According to GIA,  the technology right now is “flaunting the potential to shore up approximately 90 percent of the cost of a call by eliminating the intervention of customer service agents. This advantage stands tall against a scenario of dwindling client bases, shrinking credit availability, intensifying competition, downsizing of outsourcing projections, and cold-eyed client focus on cost savings,” GIA asserted in the report.

While opportunities for the uptake of speech recognition exist among business process outsourcing service providers, independent businesses are also starting to shift toward speech recognition  systems as substitutes to captive customer service centers. GIA cites the fact that U.K.-based Lloyds TSB bank recently announced plans to pull the plug on its Mumbai, India, contact center, and simultaneously install voice recognition system at its domestic contact center to help process excess calls, as indicative of this trend. It’s a trend which is being bolstered further by the fact that while businesses can save an 26 percent to 35 percent per call by outsourcing their customer services, the savings can reach 75 percent to 85 percent when voice recognition systems are used to automate functions of customer service agents, GIA further argues.

It is here—in automating self- service transactions, such as, stock purchase information, and flight information—where some real benefits can also be seen.  In addition to replacing live call center agents, speech recognition systems also help in reducing call-waiting time, reducing the time an agent needs to spend on phone with a single customer, and reducing connect times.

“In conclusion, speech recognition technology flaunts the potential to significantly slash costs by enabling effective handling of call volumes with the lesser staff,” GIA says.

Now that’s a happy ending if ever there was one.

A white paper by TELUS International asserts that by utilizing online chat, companies can see increased ROI. The white paper distinguishes proactive chat, as in the customer is invited to chat via a pop up window, from reactive chat, which is essentially a happy button that says “chat with us!”

The white paper states that ” In one recent study, reactive chat earned a 15 percent return on investment, compared to proactive chat’s impressive 105 percent.” The paper cites a forecast that online retail sales are estimated to grow to $250 billion by 2014, making companies with a web presence prime for expanding their customer base, customer service, and sales online.

The TELUS paper also has these fun facts:

A new Social Identity study released by Janrain and conducted by Blue Research reveals that 75 percent of consumers are inclined to leave a website after being asked to register.  But 66 percent of consumers surveyed say “social sign-in,” the ability to sign-in to a website using an existing online account from Facebook, Google, and Twitter, would be an appealing alternative. The survey was conducted in December 2010  among a nationwide cross section of 657 consumers.

Paul Abel, Ph.D., managing partner at Blue Research said in a statement that, “The findings of the survey clearly show that consumers are frustrated with the traditional online registration process and will favor brands that make it easy for them to be recognized.” He also noted that social media has dramatically impacted how consumers expect to interact with websites, and that businesses should be prepared to “capitalize on the trend.”

Other highlights include:

• 76 percent admit to having given incorrect information or left forms incomplete when creating a new account at a website
• 45 percent admit they have left a website if they forgot their password or log-in info, instead of answering security questions or re-setting their password66 percent believe social sign-in is a good solution that should be offered
• 42 percent feel companies that offer social sign-in are more up-to-date, innovative and leave a more positive impression than companies that don’t offer the capability
• Over half (55 percent) say they are more likely to return to a site that automatically recognizes them
• Nearly half (48 percent) are more likely to make a purchase on a site that automatically recognizes them
• More prefer using social sign-in (41 percent)compared to using a guest account (35 percent) or creating a new account (24 percent)
• One in four say they use social networks to make purchase decisions or influence others
• 35 percent say social network posts encouraged them to buy a product
• 39 percent say they planned to spend more online during the 2010 holiday season as compared with 2009
• 54 percent planned to do more than half of their holiday shopping online

A couple of weeks ago, Starbucks announced a new app that allows  smartphone users to buy lattes with the wave of their phone. That Starbucks app is currently free for iPhone, iPod Touches, Blackberry, and very soon, Android.  The app is linked with a Starbucks account that can be paired with a credit card or PayPal. About 6,800 nationwide Starbucks locations are currently able to accommodate Starbucks app.

This move by Starbucks demonstrates a keen understanding for mobile going forward in 2011, as the consumer doesn’t want to have to fumble around for a credit card or cash when on the go. Handing your phone over to a scanner is in many ways not so different from scanning a barcode you see in a print advertisement; it simply represents a faster way for consumers to engage with companies.