Voice experiences are dependent as much upon the availability of the right information and functionality as they are on the underlying technology. The right combination of public and private domain knowledge will increase the accuracy and usefulness of your voice assistant, while delivering a unique, branded experience. In addition to an extensive library of existing  public content domains, seek a voice AI partner who can help you develop private domains and custom commands. 

Deep knowledge of your users and the right partner can help you create experiences that respond to the unique phrasing of your users and understand the lexicon associated with your product or industry. Customizable commands give you the flexibility to meet your customer’s needs without asking them to rethink how they naturally ask for things.

Knowing your audience and putting them at the center of your voice assistant strategy is a critical first step to finding the right voice technology partner—one who can help you meet your customer’s unique needs for information and product functionality.

2. Find a scalable and customizable voice AI technology platform

Knowing why you’re embarking on a voice-first strategy is critical to choosing the right partner. You’ll want your voice technology partner to understand your business goals and work to help you achieve them. 

In a recent survey of 320 business leaders across a variety of industries, Opus Research reported that respondents rated better customer service, improved customer satisfaction, and hands-free access as the top benefits to their end-users and the reasons they decided to include voice as an interface. Your reasons may be the same, or they may be very different, the key is to determine your goals and proceed from there.

Once you’ve established KPIs, determine where your voice assistant will reside. Long-term plans should probably include all channels, including mobile devices, customer service centers, and even your website. Depending on the strength of your product, that same voice can add functionality and convenience for your users through voice control with or without cloud connectivity.

The majority of respondents to the survey had already implemented a voice user interface on their mobile apps. Since the hardware already exists—and most brands already have a mobile experience—adding a voice assistant to existing mobile apps can be an easy first step to embarking on a voice-first strategy..

If you’re just now getting started, or even if you’ve already implemented a voice-enabled app or device, find a partner with scalable technology. Together, develop a voice assistant roadmap that allows your company to grow a branded voice experience that extends across all your channels.

Global companies with products and services available in multiple countries or even in more than one region in the US, will want to find a partner that can offer a voice assistant that will provide accurate answers, even in the presence of imprecise speech, accented language, and multiple languages.

3. Get buy-in across the organization

The recent Opus Research survey found that respondents in different areas of the organization had varying opinions about the voice roadmap. Every respondent except the C-level executives plan to invest in voice ads and voice-enabled shopping, especially engineering leads. Still, the C-Suite considers monetization a higher priority than other goals, like brand awareness and increased convenience. When it comes to whether or not the voice assistant will have varying cloud connectivity, there is little consensus among teams. Even the importance of a custom wake word is in dispute, depending on the respondent’s position on the org chart.

While the voice AI initiative can begin anywhere in the organization, implementing one that meets overall business goals as well as departmental goals requires some consensus about the present and future plans for the voice user interface. 

For many companies in the beginning stages of building their first voice experiences, it may be tempting to develop the voice AI roadmap along the way. Although there will be room for iterations as the voice assistant is in development, those changes should be a result of user data and not fluctuations within the company. If teams cannot gain consensus on the voice assistant roadmap within the organization, it will be even harder to communicate with a voice technology partner. 

The right voice AI platform provider can help lead your organization in the development of a voice strategy that fits your goals. Using knowledge gained by working with top companies, voice AI experts will help by asking the right questions and guiding your roadmap. In other words, if delivering a consistent brand experience is important to all your stakeholders, then shouldn’t your voice experience begin with a custom wake word?

When monetization is an important element of measuring the business value for your company, you need a partner who can offer opportunities to develop voice-enabled shopping, voice ads, or other monetization strategies. Ask your potential partner in voice how they envision monetization on your investment in the future.

4. Compare short-term costs to long-term value

Adding a voice assistant to your company roadmap is an investment in time and resources. While developing an assistant in partnership with an independent voice AI platform provider will take less time than developing one yourself, creating customized experiences takes time. There are no near-term shortcuts that result in long-term savings.

Realizing the imperative to voice-enable their hardware, mobile apps, and services, some companies are opting to insert branded third-party platforms, like Google or Alexa, as their voice assistants. While the relative costs of using these platforms may provide some early cost savings, the loss of customer data and relationships may hobble these brands from meeting the needs of their customers in the future.