By Ray Birch
ENDWELL, N.Y. – Visions FCU is piloting a new high-tech employee name badge that it said is building bridges and deeper relationships with members who have trouble hearing, as well as with those who don’t speak English.
The device is called “Badger,” and it provides closed captions for conversations. The size of a traditional name badge—and functioning as such when not in use—the device receives audio and converts it to text in real-time on the badge’s screen display. The device, provided to the credit union by Satellite Displays, pairs with an iPad.
LaToya Pryce said the early pilot of the device has been so well received by members that Visions FCU is considering someday expanding the use of the technology.
The CU’s culture and inclusion officer said she learned about the device at a credit union conference and had the vendor demo it on the spot.
“It started to get a little bit busy, crowded and noisy and (the vendor) just said let’s go ahead and turn it on,” recalled Pryce. “The conversation was so much clearer, being able to read back the words that he was speaking. I thought this is a great device to use within our branches. I also started thinking about our staff who are engaged in community development, business development and membership development that are constantly going to conventions and conferences, and I thought this would also be a great device to use in those locations, as well. So, I brought the idea back to Visions and introduced Badger.”
Demo in Three Branches
Pryce demonstrated Badger to a few executives who liked the device and OK’d a trial in three branches.
“These are locations in New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania,” said Pryce. “We chose branches that are generally busy and where there is a lot of traffic in in the lobby. We wanted to test it primarily for two functions—accessibility for those who might be hearing impaired, and for people who are just in high-traffic areas and are having difficulty hearing the service representative.”
Positive Feedback
Member feedback has been very positive, Pryce said.
“We posted signs that let our members know we have this device and to let us know if they would like to use it. We give everybody a choice,” she explained. “Our employees love the device and they feel that communication has been better when they use it. The same sentiments are shared by our members.”
Pryce said she hopes to extend the use cases for Badger.
“Badger has other functionality, and one I am really interested in testing is the translation feature,” she said. “Badger currently can translate over 20 different languages. We thought that's another barrier that we'd be able to get over—language differences in areas, especially New York, which is a melting pot of cultures. Oftentimes, we have members who come in and English is not their first language, or they don't feel comfortable communicating in English and have to come with someone else who can speak on their behalf. Now we have the opportunity to engage these members using this device.”
Hiring Bilingual Staff
According to Pryce, that functionality saves Visions from needing to hire more bilingual staff.
“And with employees that we have now who are bilingual, what do you do when they have a day off? Badger is that answer,” Pryce said. “With Badger, a branch is not tied to this person’s schedule.”
Pryce said the device is not inexpensive, about $300 per badge.
“I believe we're one of the first financial institutions that's testing it now. A lot of organizations in the healthcare industry and emergency rooms are testing it,” she said.
Currently, there is no monthly fee for Badger. Visions just pays for each device, and the organization has about 10 badges. The software is downloadable in the Google App Store and the iOS App Store.
Don’t Always Need No Hearing Badges
Pryce said the badge is not always needed, and that the CU is running iPads that have the badger software downloaded.
“Via the iPads we can do the same speech-to-text function,” she said.
LaToya Price
In addition to piloting badger in three branches, Visions is also testing the device in internal meetings.
“We have in marketing and we're testing it at meetings, on just daily interactions, just seeing how many ways that we can use Badger, and just getting more data as to its functionality and reliability,” Pryce said.
The Strategy
Is the Visions strategy to eventually roll Badger out to all frontline staff?
“That's something that we may consider. We will talk about that once the pilot concludes,” she said. “We want to do a second pilot, possibly with the translation service to see how accurate that is. We know that when you’re translating word for word, sometimes you lose those nuances in the translation. We want to test that out. But it seems like something that we would probably be leaning towards, deploying in multiple locations for that purpose.”
Badger clips on like any name tag and connects via Bluetooth to a computer.
How it Works
“We have the app on the iPad, which is connected to Badger,” Pryce explained. “The badge has a mic. So, when you're speaking into it or when the person who has the badge on is speaking, the badge translates everything that they're saying onto the iPad.”
The badge will display the employee’s name, and when they start talking it starts to display the text of what the employee is saying.
If a foreign language is the issue, the iPad can be given to the member for them to speak to and then the words are translated on the iPad for the employee to read.
“If I'm speaking Spanish to the iPad, the iPad is translating my words to the MSR, who is reading the iPad. When I respond in English Badger is now translating back into Spanish, which is displayed on the badge,” Pryce said.
Opening Some Doors
Pryce thinks the biggest benefit of Badger is it opens many doors.
“It's also a conversation starter,” she said. “People like to do business with people they feel comfortable with. Badger lets you be your authentic self—whether that be English, Spanish, Portuguese…I think that talks about inclusion and belonging. It's one thing to say that we include everyone, but it's another thing to feel like you belong, as part of the credit union.
“So far members think this is a very cool device. That's what we keep hearing. I think a lot of members who don't even need it just want to test it out because this is something that they haven't seen before. It's new technology,” Pryce continued. “And, overall, for members who need this, Badger has created a lot more engaging conversations.”