There are also long-term costs of not having access to data that may not be apparent when considering voice assistant options. It may be enticing to partner with a voice AI provider that has little to no upfront cost, but the end result could be creating a future competitor. Since the third party will have all access to all of your data, they will be able to study product usage and trends to eventually create their own voice interface on a competing product that has all of the improvements you didn’t know your voice assistant needed. They may even release it at a lower price point, effectively pushing your product out of the market. 

Full access to data may be a fine print element to your voice AI strategy, but it is vital for improving your voice assistant, controlling how the data is being used, and not giving competitors all the information they need to create a superior product. 

How to get full access to your voice assistant’s data

Now that we’ve answered the why, let’s take a look at the how. In order to get full access to your voice assistant’s data, you need to either build the voice assistant yourself or partner with an independent voice AI platform provider that offers custom voice assistants. Custom voice assistants have a myriad of benefits, including custom wake words, advanced technology, a library of content domains, customization opportunities, and, of course, full access to data. 

Some companies may wish to build the voice assistant themselves, while others may want to capitalize on the proven technology of an independent voice AI platform. Voice AI technology can take years of testing and iterations to get market ready—time competitors could use to build relationships with users. A voice AI provider with a proven track record, expertise, and experience is a great way to have access to your data while reducing time to market. 

Many top-tier brands, including Snap Inc., Bank of America, and McDonald’s, are already investing in custom voice assistants. Learn more about ‘The State of Custom Assistants in 2022’ in this in-depth article by RAIN Agency. 

Insights from voice AI data

Improving your voice assistant based on data is essential to stay ahead of the competition, respond to users’ needs, and differentiate your voice assistant in the growing market. Once you have gathered all of the data, though, where should you start? Here are some areas you should analyze: 

• Accuracy 
• Speed
• False positives or negatives
• Responsiveness in noisy environments
• Ability to understand the accents of your target audience
• Understanding of vocabulary words
• Types of user queries
• Frequency of queries
• Use of domains
• Product requests

General data points, such as accuracy, speed, and false positives or negatives, will give an overview of how your voice assistant is performing. By delving into noisy environments, accents, and vocabulary words, you will be taking a closer look at how your audience operates and fine-tuning the experience for your users. For example, if your target audience uses any particular words that need to be incorporated into the voice assistant’s lexicon. 

Looking at domain usage, type and frequency of queries, you will get an understanding of what your users are asking of your voice assistant and if they are finding it helpful. If they are not using it or specific domains often, then user education might be in order to make them aware of what they can ask. If they are still not using the voice assistant after that, then it might be back to checking the accuracy and speed to ensure users aren’t abandoning the voice assistant because of frustration. 

Product requests are also an important data point to examine to find out how your customers are using your product and what they are asking it to do that it doesn’t yet do. This information will lead to crucial product improvements that will further foster brand loyalty by offering users what they want. 

User research should be done at every stage of the development process and continued after it is offered on the market as well. It will be instrumental in updating the voice user interface and enhancing it to become the best user experience possible.

How to gather data transparently and ethically

Some early practices of voice assistants have made users wary of data collection, which is why it is so important for brands to do so transparently to build trust with their users. If you have full access to data, then you are already off to a great start since you will be able to control privacy settings, communicate what you do with the data, and who sees it. 

Brands should also be aware of privacy laws surrounding their target audience to ensure they are gathering data for their voice assistants ethically. If the voice assistant is for children, then the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) requires the Federal Trade Commission to issue and enforce regulations concerning online privacy for those under 13 years old.

When data is accessed by a trusted company rather than a large third party, users are much more likely to opt-in to data collection, especially when it is communicated that the data is being used to enhance the user experience through perks, such as personalization and monetization.