FOR SECURITY SYSTEMS IN BANKING AND LAW ENFORCEMENT, THE HUMAN VOICE MAY BE AN ESSENTIAL AID FOR VERIFYING A PERSON'S IDENTITY. A COMPUTER OPERATED SPEAKER RECOGNITION SYSTEM COULD ANALYZE VOICE PATTERNS OF THE SPEAKER, AND COMPARE THESE PATTERNS WITH THOSE STORED IN A COMPUTERIZED VOICE PATTERN LIBRARY. PROBLEMS IN PREPROCESSING THE SPEECH SIGNAL, 'TRAINING' THE SPEAKER IDENTIFICATION SYSTEM, AND TESTING THE RELIABILITY OF THE SYSTEM ARE DISCUSSED. IT IS STATED THAT A PROMISING APPROACH TO THESE PROBLEMS IS THE COMBINATION OF FAST SIGNAL PROCESSING TECHNIQUES AND TRAINABLE PATTERN RECOGNITION PROCEDURES. RESULTS OF A COMPARATIVE STUDY ARE DISCUSSED. (AUTHOR ABSTRACT MODIFIED)