This document is intended for contact center operators to assess the quality and performance of Krisp AI Noise Cancellation with a new entrant in the market, Sanas.
Enhanced voice quality between agents and customers, driven by noise cancellation, generates ROI based on lower AHT, faster FCR, and improved CSAT and ESAT scores. Conversely, background noise and other voices that leak into the call translate to frustrated customers and agents, resulting in worsening key performance metrics.
Krisp and Sanas applications are deployed on the agents’ desktops, and become the virtual microphone and speaker working as companion applications with calling platforms. Delivering on the promise of removing difficult noises bi-directionally, for both the customer and the agent, while maintaining clear voice quality in real-time, is very challenging and takes years to perfect.
Krisp launched its first commercial application in contact centers in 2019 and has processed over 1 trillion minutes of voice calls. Today, Krisp is deployed across many BPOs and top-tier enterprise call centers, along with also being integrated into voice applications with more than 200 million users within both desktop and mobile devices.
The table below highlights the key performance and management requirements for delivering tier-1 voice quality that scales globally within contact centers.
| Krisp | Sanas | |
|---|---|---|
| Current deployments | Over 200 million desktop and mobile devices Over 200 thousand contact center agents Over 1 trillion minutes of Krisp-processed voice |
Recent entrant Deployment scale unknown |
| Application and technology performance | ||
| Voice quality and noise cancellation | World’s best, based on objective and subjective tests (see and hear below) | New entrant, tests show noise leakage and voice quality degradation (see and hear below) |
| Voice quality: Sample rate support |
8kHz (narrow-band, standard telephony, good voice quality) 16khz (wide-band, VOIP, very good voice quality) 32kHz (full-band, best voice quality – near studio-grade) |
8kHz only |
| CPU utilization: Ensuring agents’ machines are not impacted by noise cancellation processing |
Supports range of CPUs typically in agent desktops
Supports older, lower-end CPUs through smaller models
Has auto-switching between models based on CPU load |
Single model uses 2x more resources than Krisp on i5-8th Gen CPU Error message in Sanas app with older CPUs Slightly higher CPU utilization for CPUs beyond i5 12th gen |
| Minimum CPU | Low end PCs – Intel i5, 4th generation or equivalent | Unclear The app shows an error message about an unsupported CPU for Intel i5, 11th generation or lower CPUs |
| Outbound (agent-side) Noise Cancellation | Worlds’ best (see test measurements below) | Adequate performance for low volume noises (fan, for example) Noise leakage and voice degradation in contact center environments (other voices, loud chatter) |
| Outbound (agent-side) Background Voice Cancellation | Worlds’ best (see test measurements below) | Other voices and background chatter leakage when in a typical loud call center |
| Inbound (customer-side) Noise Cancellation | Included Optimized for inbound voice from mobile or landline. Pass-through of ringtones, dialtones, etc. |
Not available |
| Acoustic Echo Cancellation | Included Optimized for call center use cases |
Not available |
| Built-in PC microphone compatibility for noise cancellation | Included | Not available |
| Headset and application compatibility | Compatible and tested with most headsets and voice applications used in call centers | New entrant, minimal deployments and testing |
| SDK integration | Vonage, RingCentral, Zoho, Aircall, Discord, others | Not available |
| Management and administration at scale | ||
| Platforms supported | Win, Mac, Linux, Chrome, VDI, eLux, Stratodesk | Win |
| SSO user authentication | Available for agents, per requirements of enterprise customers SSO/SCIM automates provisioning and deprovisioning saving administrators time |
Not available
Only available for admin, not users (agents) |
| Remote deployment and settings for admins | Available | Limited |
| App version management and auto-update | Available | Not available |
| Analytics for Noise Cancellation and usage | Available | Not available |
| Enterprise-grade support | 24/7
Application and IT infrastructure expertise during pilots and post-launch, including VDI |
24/7 Limited |
Krisp is a trusted vendor on G2
With over 500 reviews on G2, Krisp consistently excels in enhancing customer interactions for service teams. G2, a trusted platform for software reviews and assessments, showcases Krisp’s exceptional 4.7 rating—earned through the trust and endorsement of hundreds of verified professionals across diverse industries.
Check Krisp’s page on G2 here.
Comparative audio samples (subjective evaluation)
Contact center-specific noises
Babble noise
Original conditions
Krisp
Sanas
Background speech
Original conditions
Krisp
Sanas
Keyboard clicks
Original conditions
Krisp
Sanas
Air conditioner
Original conditions
Krisp
Sanas
Home-specific noises
Vacuum cleaner
Original conditions
Krisp
Sanas
Screaming kid
Original conditions
Krisp
Sanas
Customer-side noise
Busy street
Original conditions
Krisp
Customer-side noise cancellation is unavailable with Sanas
POLQA tests (objective evaluation)
Objective tests for voice quality in the presence of noise are performed using the industry-standard methodology POLQA. The test results produce Mean Opinion Scores (MOS), and correlate to subjective listening. For example, an audio file with some noise leakage or distorted voice will produce a lower MOS score.
POLQA, and all other industry-standard objective test methodologies, use Signal-to-Noise Ratio (SNR) as foundational input and measurements (not just dB level, or loudness of the environment, as this is inaccurate and an incorrect test methodology). SNR measures the dB level of the speech (signal) and compares it with the dB level of the ambient noise. If the SNR is 5dB, this means that the ambient noise level is 5dB lower than the signal (speech from agent).
Krisp’s noise cancellation technology is the most robust in the industry, as objectively measured by maintaining voice quality in difficult SNR conditions. A good example is a loud contact center, with a lot of background chatter and other agents’ voices. The SNR conditions in some centers get to the point where the background noise is close to the same dB level as the agent’s speech. Krisp is designed for this environment and delivers clear voice quality, while other software and headset solutions experience noise leakage and distorted voices in challenging SNR conditions.
Krisp platform
Krisp is available to contact centers as the best stand-alone noise cancellation application globally. Krisp has also extended its technology to create a platform used by contact centers for not only background noise and voice cancellation, but also other unique and valuable technologies. The Krisp platform delivers
- Accent Localization – (India, Philippines, LatAm, other geos)
- AI Live Interpreter – (live voice translation for 20+ languages)
- Call Notes (real-time transcription and call summaries for agents)
- On-device speech-to-text (secure, private, up to 90% less expensive)
- On-device recording (secure, private, up to 90% less expensive)
Krisp platform easily integrates with the agent’s desktop to seamlessly work with all CCaaS and calling applications, delivering call quality that translates to much better CSAT and related contact center KPIs.
Conclusion
Krisp Voice AI was built for call center agents working in-center and at home. The core technology has continuously improved as evidenced by the robustness of both outbound and inbound noise cancellation, along with removing the most challenging distraction for customers – other agents’ voices. Krisp’s investment into the scalability of its administration and management translates to ease of deployment across centers and geographic territories. Krisp customers report KPI improvements from day 1, with near elimination of noise complaints from customers, putting agents at ease to focus on providing a positive customer experience.
