Callers to Centrelink's Multicultural Call Centre can now access information in their own language simply by talking, in that language.
Using advanced voice-recognition technology, Centrelink says it will be is able to speed up customer enquiries through the system.
Multicultural Services National Manager Peter Rock says the new technology should benefit thousands of migrants. “It's inbuilt to take different dialects. So, for example you can say Italiano and it will recognise Italian. So, whatever an Arabic-speaking person would say, it should recognise the way they identify their language and put them through to the right operator.
“The staff who work for me here have tried it and they have rung and said things like Spanish. Then they've said it Espanol. They've said any other variations on a range of languages. And they've all gone through correctly to the Spanish, Italian or Arabic or whatever queue it was.”
The number for the phone service is 13-2850.