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This year, Project Voice X and Project Voice X Worldwide combined the intimacy of in-person events with the inclusiveness of virtual conferences. During the event in Florida at the end of October, speakers addressed a variety of topics, trends, and developments in voice AI technology and voice assistant implementation.
During the virtual event, presenters were asked to sum up their company’s perspective on the most important aspects of voice AI or the most pressing top-of-mind issues, concerns, features, or developments in three slides. While this seems a daunting task, our Director of BD, Darin Clark, summed up our perspective on the voice AI industry by highlighting three things:
Below is a summary of Darin’s comments and his explanation of why these three topics are top of mind for SoundHound Inc. and our partners. You can see the video in its entirety here.
In the early days of the app store, a good experience would bring customers back to your brand. However, a poor experience wouldn’t be used again. Building a voice experience can be similar. If brands build a good voice experience that enables their customers to do something they want to do, then brands can easily create something powerful for their customers. The critical factor is getting visibility into customer actions.
When companies had all of the data on what their customers were actually doing, what they were trying to do, maybe where they got stuck, and any of the problems they were having in that process, that critical information and data would allow them to develop further and continue making improvements. If a company didn’t know what their customers were doing, then they were going to be stuck and unable to build something more useful in the future.
Building a voice assistant that’s customizable is critical. Similar to mobile app development, an arms race is happening with voice AI technology. Companies that build a good voice experience that consumers like to use are going to win market share. They’re going to be able to create brand loyalty and attract new customers to their devices.
Companies that build a good voice experience that consumers like to use are going to win market share.
Low accuracy in voice assistants creates a poor customer experience to the point that the user abandons the device in frustration and uses their phone instead.
Now, as we’ve continued to evolve the voice experience, voice assistants help users quickly and efficiently to the point where they prefer the ease of use of voice AI in call centers over the long wait for a human representative.
Similarly, there have been many entries into voice AI for QSRs, from voice-enabled kiosks to drive-thrus. This benefits the customers through convenient, fast, hands-free interactions. It also benefits the company as it helps with labor shortages, which have also been happening in retail and call centers. Enabling a voice experience to take care of tasks that previously had to be done by a person is critical for these industries as they move forward.
Having a fast, accurate, and efficient voice assistant is essential for a superior user experience. Voice AI technology has improved immensely over the past decade in speed and accuracy, thanks largely to Automatic Speech Recognition (ASR) and Natural Language Understanding (NLU). These technologies enable the user to have a more conversational experience with multiple queries, more domain capabilities, and without having to repeat information.
Another voice AI feature that improves customer experiences is connectivity—whether it’s an embedded solution without access to the cloud, a cloud-only solution, or hybrid functionality that has the ability to access the cloud and embedded features. Choosing the connectivity option that best meets users’ needs and expectations is vital for a good user experience.
Choosing the connectivity option that best meets users’ needs and expectations is vital for a good user experience.
Brands should consider the location of their voice assistant, if it’s in-car, mobile, or smart home technology, to determine whether embedded, cloud, or hybrid functionality will suit it the most. Customers using an in-car voice assistant may want to be able to play music or access navigation while also rolling up and down the windows. Whereas users of a voice-enabled mobile app may not have any need for embedded features. User testing can help brands and developers make informed decisions about the type of connectivity and the availability of multiple domains.
When voice assistants began to increase in popularity, many companies saw voice assistants as a requirement or checkbox they needed to fulfill for users, even if the voice assistant didn’t perform well. However, in recent years brands looking to truly differentiate themselves in the market are realizing the importance of not only essentials, such as accuracy and speed, but also future developments like monetization.
Brands are realizing the value of investing in voice and are finding ways to prove ROI while also providing value to users. Monetization is shaking up voice AI across many industries, including automotive, IoT, and retail. The most critical aspect for brands to remember when looking to monetize their voice assistant is to do it in a way that is not intrusive to the user.
Brands are realizing the value of investing in voice and are finding ways to prove ROI while also providing value to users.
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