If you use Siri, Alexa, Google Assistant or any of today’s other popular voice-driven technologies, you’re at the forefront of a brand-new trend. Voice technology has been driving app and operating system development for years, and now experts say that 40 percent of Americans use at least one type of voice technology. That usage only increased during 2020 and the COVID-19 pandemic, thanks to its hands-free operation.
Whether you use your voice technology for GPS directions or to take notes, one thing is for certain: voice-activated technology is here to stay. If your 98146-area company is thinking about implementing your own voice technology, consider investing in audio documentation equipment.
How to use digital voice technology
Voice technology has come a long way over the last few decades. If you’ve called a corporate customer service number recently, chances are you’ve been asked to issue voice commands instead of pressing a number on the keypad. Like digital voice assistants, this technology is effective for two main reasons: it’s convenient, and it can create a more personal connection between companies and customers.
The latter point is probably the biggest reason companies are embracing digital voice technology. Not only does it make customers feel more like they’re talking to an actual human, but consistently hearing the same voice on the phone, on websites and in media can foster better brand recognition. Just as we recognize natural human voices, most of us recognize “the Google lady,” Siri and other popular digital voices. In fact, some advertising and marketing pros suggest that this helps create an emotional connection for the client.
If you’re thinking about harnessing voice technology for your business, consider using the same voice across all platforms—even internal ones.
How digital voice technology benefits you
When you’re adding digital voice technology to your daily operations, there is some powerful technology you can use. Today’s digital voices sound quite natural, even if the voice actor never recorded a specific sentence.
There are three main technologies that make this possible: natural language understanding (NLU), conversational artificial intelligence (AI) and neural text-to-speech (TTS). When used together, computers can recognize what users are saying—then the computer can generate a natural-sounding human voice to answer commands and questions. There’s no need for a voice actor to record specific phrases and sentences, because the computer can generate them automatically—including the tones that indicate questions, statements and more.
So how does this benefit business owners? Besides creating an emotional connection and fostering brand recognition, the new technology makes it a lot easier to address customer questions and complaints. It can also be used for phone reminders—doctors, courthouses, auto dealerships and similar businesses can have the automated system call their customers to remind them of appointments, deadlines, upcoming hearings and more.
If you’re interested in recording your own audio documentation, get the equipment you need from Seattle’s Efficiency, Inc. We specialize in high-quality audio equipment for all your recording needs, and we look forward to helping pair you with the right technologies for your operations.