A New Approach to Customer Harassment Prevention: 'Not Hearing Abusive Language Directly'

Knowledge Flow Co., Ltd. (headquartered in Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo; CEO: Yoshio Hayashi; hereinafter 'Knowledge Flow') has begun pilot provision of 'TextPhone,' a real-time text-conversion telephone support system, aimed at addressing customer harassment (hereinafter 'cus-hara') in phone response operations.

TextPhone converts the caller's voice into text in real time, enabling operators to review the conversation content as text without directly hearing the audio.

Meanwhile, the operator's voice is transmitted to the caller as usual, allowing customers to experience a natural conversation identical to standard phone support.

TextPhone also allows flexible operation: regular customer interactions proceed via standard voice calls, while switching to text-only mode only during high-risk calls or when dealing with specific customers prone to harassment.

In recent years, psychological stress caused by abusive language, aggressive speech, and prolonged call holding in phone support environments has intensified, becoming a societal issue contributing to operator burnout and mental health problems.

In response, Knowledge Flow has shifted focus from 'eliminating abusive language' to the novel concept of 'not hearing abusive language directly.'

The company has developed TextPhone as a new mechanism to reduce operators' psychological burden while preserving the convenience of phone communication.

Over 70% Experience 'Phone Cus-Hara'—Yet Frontline Staff Continue to Endure

Phone support operations are known to be more prone to customer harassment than face-to-face interactions, making it one of the most mentally taxing jobs.

However, in practice, warnings such as 'this call may be recorded' often fail to deter abusive behavior, leaving operators to continue absorbing harsh words.

Knowledge Flow recognized that if merely 'hearing' such language causes harm, then creating a system that allows operators to avoid hearing it altogether might be the solution.

Responding via 'Screen,' Not 'Ears'—How TextPhone Works

Customers speak normally, while operators respond after reviewing real-time transcribed text.

With TextPhone, customers communicate via voice as usual. Operators, however, do not hear the caller's speech directly. Instead, they respond by reading real-time transcribed text displayed on their screens.

Since operators reply using their normal voice, customers perceive the interaction as a standard phone call, ensuring natural communication. This approach reduces psychological damage from abusive language and aggressive tones while maintaining the quality of regular phone support.

Traditional cus-hara countermeasures have primarily focused on managing problematic speech—such as 'blocked word detection' or 'recording warnings.'

However, in actual call centers, it's not just the content of words but also shouting and aggressive tones themselves that cause significant stress to operators.

For example, even with identical content, statements like:
'That’s completely unacceptable, right?'
'You need to take responsibility!'

Can drastically increase mental strain when delivered with an aggressive tone or shouting.

Knowledge Flow believes that the structural avoidance of 'directly receiving voice input' is essential for future harassment prevention.

Reducing 'I’ve Had Enough' in Call Centers—A Frontline-Driven Initiative

At Knowledge Flow, the company has increasingly received consultations from partner firms and frontline staff about the psychological burden of phone support. Internally, staff have also shown signs of fatigue due to aggressive and intimidating caller behavior, leading the company to conclude that such issues cannot be dismissed as 'just part of the job.'

Particularly in phone support, where facial expressions are invisible, loud voices and aggressive tones directly hitting the ears create unexpectedly high psychological stress.

Rather than eliminating phone support altogether,

Can we reduce the ongoing harm caused by it?

Motivated by this question, Knowledge Flow has advanced the development and pilot rollout of TextPhone under the new concept of 'not hearing abusive language directly.'

A New Option for the Most Exhausted Workplaces
Currently, TextPhone is being offered on a pilot basis to select companies, with the goal of collecting data and validating operations related to harassment prevention.

Special conditions for implementation consultations are also available, depending on the level of cooperation and operational requirements.

Through this initiative, Knowledge Flow aims to reduce the number of people emotionally drained by phone support duties.

For more information on previous initiatives, please visit:

▶https://ivrplus.jp/pr_20250911/

For more details about Knowledge Flow Co., Ltd., please visit the official website.
For full release details, see:
▶https://ivrplus.jp/pr_20260610/

■Company Overview
Company Name: Knowledge Flow Co., Ltd.
Representative: CEO Yoshio Hayashi
Head Office: 4-18-10 Takadanobaba, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo 169-0075
Founded: September 2006
Business: Research and development of computer software
Website: https://knowledge-flow.net