Employee Password Reset for the Enterprise IT Helpdesk

Employee Password Reset for the Enterprise IT Helpdesk

VoiceTrust Whitepaper

Top 10 Call Center Trends for 2014

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Password Reset for the Enterprise IT Helpdesk

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Table of Contents

Introduction: The State of the IT Helpdesk ..........................................................3

Challenge #1: Password-Related Helpdesk Costs are Out of Control ................ 4

Challenge #2: Knowledge-Based Authentication Threatens Security ................. 5

Challenge #3: Service Expectations are Rising...................................................5

The Solution: Self-Service Password Reset with Voice Biometrics ..................... 7

The Benefits: Self-Service Password Reset with Voice Biometrics ..................... 8

About VoiceTrust ...............................................................................................10


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Introduction: The State of the Enterprise IT Helpdesk

Enterprise IT helpdesks are evolving to meet mounting cost pressures, growing security threats, and rising service expectations from employees and management. Budgets are being stretched despite the demand for faster and more responsive service. Bring your own device programs (BYOD) are driving more inbound requests that create a burden and force support organizations to become more efficient. Security is threatened by a record number of data breaches, social engineering attacks, and credential sharing among employees, compromising millions of personal records each year. These records are being used to beat common authentication methods with stolen usernames, passwords, security questions, and PINs, making the IT environment vulnerable to attack. Employees expect faster and more effective issue resolution, and an increased dependence on technology means major productivity losses in the case of downtime. Self-service has become the preferred method of support in the office for a simple task like resetting a password because of its speed and convenience. This whitepaper examines three major password-related challenges that helpdesks face and how VoiceTrust’s automated password reset solution addresses them with voice authentication.



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Challenge #1: Password-Related Helpdesk Costs are Too High


Organizations are strengthening their password policies to secure their environments, making it more difficult for employees to remember increasingly complex passwords that must be changed multiple times per year. As a result, research shows that 30 percent or more of IT helpdesk calls are a result of forgotten passwords, flooding support staff with repetitive reset requests. The high volume of such calls prevents the helpdesk from focusing on more complex issues, and leads to less effective support. This productivity decrease is compounded by programs such as BYOD that increase calls to the helpdesk and create a further burden. Agent-assisted password resets cost an average of $5-$15 per request, and combined with their high volume, can be one of the biggest expenses to your helpdesk and your easiest opportunity to cut costs. Password-related helpdesk costs keep increasing because:

• The cost of live support agents is increasing• High agent turnover rates require more training • There is a greater demand for 24/7 helpdesk availability

Using an estimate of an organization experiencing four password reset requests per year at $7 per helpdesk call, a 10,000 person organization spends about $280,000 annually; an expensive proposition for a relatively simple task.


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Challenge #2: Knowledge-Based Authentication Threatens Security


IT organizations authenticate their employees to ensure only the right people have access to applications, networks, and systems. The employee has to present at least one of the following:

Data Breaches and Social Engineering Attacks There were over 44 million compromised personal records from 600 data breaches in 2012 according to a recent Verizon report. Social engineering attacks and phishing schemes expose millions more pieces of information that an intruder can use to successfully pose as an employee. The intruder then receives a new password from the helpdesk that is used to enter protected applications and systems, putting the entire IT organization at risk.

Storing PINs Security Questions in Unsafe Places The number of passwords employees use is growing, and stricter policies such as the use of multiple special characters and frequent changes makes them harder to remember. To get around this challenge, employees are writing down passwords on sticky notes or papers they leave in highly visible places in the office. This makes it too easy for an unauthorized user walking by to gain access to their credentials used in the password reset process. This is further compounded by the fact that people are reusing passwords across work and personal accounts, exposing more systems for unauthorized logins.

• Something they know (typically a password, security question, or PIN)• Something they have (a token such as a mobile device) • Something they are (biometrics such as a voice or fingerprint)

Biometrics is the strongest form of authentication, yet most helpdesks still rely on security questions and PINs to verify their employees. This knowledge-based authentication (KBA) approach is one of the weakest links in IT security today, and is a problem VoiceTrust solves with voice biometrics. IT organizations that KBA factors such as PINs for password resets and other processes face a variety of risks to their security operations:


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Sharing Credentials with Colleagues Employees often share knowledge-based factors such as PINs with family members, friends, and work colleagues. Over half of the respondents in a recent McAfee survey admitted to credential sharing. In the office, this arises from the need to access certain files or systems. A malicious individual armed with this information can use it to get a new password from the helpdesk while posing as another employee and compromise enterprise security.

Helpdesk Staff Know the Password When helpdesk staff resets an employee’s password, they usually have access to the new one, which adds an additional element of risk for applications and systems that require military-grade security.

Challenge #3: Service Expectations are Rising

Employees are demanding faster and more effective service, reflective of a workforce with real-time expectations. Their dependence on technology means significant productivity losses the longer they can’t access the systems they require. Workers who wait long periods of time to reset their passwords feel frustrated, leading to higher workplace turnover. Productivity losses can add up to many thousands of hours per year, hurting the organization and overall employee morale. Employees have become used to self-service options for simple tasks, such as going to a knowledgebase to learn how to resolve an issue. They are more mobile and globally distributed than ever before, and now expect to be able to do something as simple as a password reset themselves.


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The Solution: Self-Service Password Reset with Voice Biometrics

VoiceTrust provides a self-service password reset solution that lets your employees reset their own passwords anytime and anywhere, without the involvement of a helpdesk agent. Employees dial a designated number or receive an automated call-back from the web that prompts them to repeat a passphrase such as “my voice is very special and unique.” Their identity is verified using voice biometrics and their password is reset after successful authentication.

Step 1: Voice Enrollment 1. Employee calls a designated number or receives a call-back on their phone 2. Employee is prompted to repeat a configurable passphrase or random set of words 3. Employee’s voice is analyzed and stored as a voiceprint for future identity verification purposes

Step 2: How it Works: Automated Password Reset with Voice Authentication

Repeats random set of words or a pass-phrase

Employee calls password reset number or receives a call-back initiated from the web

Voice compared to enrolled voiceprint

Password resets upon successful verification

Who is Using VoiceTrust Password Reset?


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The Benefits: Self-Service Password Reset with Voice Biometrics


VoiceTrust’s solution enables you to automate employee password resets in your helpdesk to save costs, increase IT security, improve employee productivity, and deliver a more convenient user experience with voice authentication.

Enhance Your IT Security and Ensure Regulatory Compliance

Millions of personal identity records are compromised each year through data breaches, social engineering, and credential sharing, exposing email addresses, passwords, and PINs. Protect your IT environment and employees against security threats with a voice-based password reset for stronger security and regulatory compliance.

Reduce Your Helpdesk Costs

About 30% of calls to the help desk involve routine password resets that are costly and time-consuming. Save an average of $5-$15 per request by automating the process and authenticating your employees faster. Our customers typically realize a positive return on investment within one year from decreased inbound call volume and higher productivity.

Make Your Employees More Productive

Save your employees time by letting them reset their own passwords anytime and anywhere using their voice without the assistance of an agent. Shorten the entire reset process to minutes and gain thousands of hours of productivity each year.

Make Password Resets More Convenient

Empower your employees to reset their passwords without the involvement of a helpdesk agent. Save them from having to remember security questions or PINs that are easily lost or shared. Your employees will appreciate the speed and ease of the password reset process, leading to better satisfaction and retention.

Remove the Burden on Your Support Staff

Automate repetitive password resets to reduce the burden on your IT helpdesk staff so they can focus on more complex issues and deal with the need to support new applications, devices, and environments without increasing costs.


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Flexible Deployment Options

Password reset can be deployed as an on-premise solution or in a variety of cloud settings (private, public, hybrid) to meet the security requirements of your organization. Every aspect of the password reset and authentication experience is configurable to achieve the perfect balance between security and convenience.

Integrates With Your Directory Platforms and IVRs Our solution integrates with the most popular directory platforms and IVRs out of the box for faster setup and time to ROI, and we develop custom integrations with your in-house systems if required. Below is a sample of our most commonly used connectors:

• Windows Active Directory, LDAP• RSA SecureID, SAP R/3• Oracle, Remedy• IBM Lotus Notes• McAfee, BMC

• Cisco• Aspect / Voxeo• Avaya• Genesys • Nortel

Directories IVRs

“Password reset has allowed Allianz Managed Operations & Services to increase employee productivity and improve the user experience.”

Ute Neuschaefer, Service Manager, Allianz

What Our Customers Think


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Contact Us

About VoiceTrust

We provide voice biometrics solutions that enable highly secure and convenient authentication to prevent identity theft, protect access to business and consumer applications, and deliver a more enjoyable authentication experience. Fortune Global 500 clients including banks, insurance companies, call centers, and enterprises rely on our solutions to verify the identity of millions of users. Founded in 2000, the privately-owned company is headquartered in Toronto, Canada with additional offices in the USA, Germany, and UAE. For the latest insights on security and user authentication follow @VoiceTrust on Twitter, or visit www.voicetrust.com.


VoiceTrust Offices

Corporate HQ - Toronto, ON

Phone: +1 (416) 901-1333 Email: [email protected]

Canada - Montreal, QC


USA - Princeton, NJ


Germany - Munich

Phone: +49 (89) 127 16 0 Email: [email protected]

UAE - Dubai

Phone: +971 4 445 8238 Email: [email protected]

Employee Password Reset for the Enterprise IT Helpdesk

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