Definition
Keyword spotting is the automated detection of specific words or phrases within recorded or live phone conversations. Call center teams, marketing analysts, and multi-location operators use it to flag calls that mention pricing, competitors, complaints, or buying signals, without listening to every recording manually.
96% of inbound calls are analyzed by zero humans. Keyword spotting is how teams close that gap at scale.
Here's how it works. The system transcribes each call, then scans the transcript for a predefined list of terms. When a match is found, the call is tagged, scored, or routed for review. Common trigger words include "cancel," "refund," "competitor name," or "ready to book."
The business value is in the pattern, not the individual call. When a keyword surfaces across hundreds of calls in a week, that's a signal worth acting on. Built on Convirza's 25 years of proprietary call data, Conversation Analytics™ applies keyword spotting alongside sentiment and intent signals to give operators a fuller picture of what's driving, or killing, conversions.
For more on how keyword detection fits into a broader call analysis framework, see Conversation Intelligence.
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