Featured article by Brandi DeAngelo
If you own or run a small or medium-sized business (SMB), you probably appreciate any ways to make your workflow more streamlined and productive. Voice-assistant technologies can certainly help get your to-do list done faster.
While these options usually don’t provide the level of help that an extra person would, they let you use your voice to carry out many of the tasks that likely occur throughout your workday. Some voice-based apps also analyze people’s voices, which could help determine whether callers are genuinely satisfied with their phone-based interactions with your company.
Here are three categories of voice assistant technologies to know, along with a few options of each type that you might consider.
1. Voice-Recognition Apps
Voice-recognition apps often work with smart speakers, although they’re frequently built into phones, too. They let users check the status of parcels, place recurring orders, use search engines for research and more.
Amazon Alexa is one of the most well-known apps in this category, largely because of the popularity of Amazon’s smart speakers. By January 2021, there were more than 80,000 skills for Alexa users in the United States to try.
Microsoft Cortana works on Windows computers and phones. The voice-assistant features of Cortana can help a user join a meeting, send a file, make calls, send texts and more.
Google Assistant works on mobile devices and smart speakers, plus Google-branded smart home devices, such as intelligent thermostats. Some of its business-centric voice-enabled capabilities include recruiting people for open positions, checking stock market performance and tracking expenses.
2. Speech Analytics and Call Productivity Tools
Many of today’s businesses operate at least partially over the phone. That form of communication doesn’t let company representatives detect body language cues, but speech analytics tools provide the next-best options.
LiveVox’s next-generation voice products include a rich set of features to help telephone representatives make the most of every call. For example, there are sentiment analytics, sensitive data redaction options and robust search and filtering options that help employees find the information they need during calls.
Alternatively, there’s Talkdesk, which provides real-time dashboards to help business leaders see what’s going well during customer calls and where room for improvement exists. Some products also analyze agent sentiments and give automated scores of their interactions with customers.
Cloudtalk is another possibility. It allows people to have an international presence by running their call centers from anywhere in the world, courtesy of virtual phone numbers. An integrated speech-recognizer feature automatically converts voice- call content to text, making it easier to search through later.
3. Voice-Based Computer Control Products
Almost everyone wishes they had some extra hands from time to time. And, due to their perpetually busy schedules, SMB employees are especially likely to feel that way. Fortunately, they can use products that let them control their computers with their voices.
One option is the appropriately named VoiceComputer for Dragon. It allows people to set numbers to correspond to certain actions, then use those numerals to create voice prompts. For example, a person might say “49” to open a message in their inbox. This product also lets users seamlessly switch between voice, keyboard and mouse control as desired.
Braina is another possibility, and it’s beneficial for multilingual businesspeople. The product has a voice-to-text feature that understands more than 100 languages and works inside popular programs, such as Microsoft Office. It also allows someone to remotely shut down their computer when needed.
Then, for people who want complete control of the keyboard and mouse with voice commands, there’s Voice Finger. For example, a person can perform drag-and-drop functions by speaking. They can also choose which mouse button to click by uttering a specific voice prompt.
How Could Voice Assistant Tech Help You?
Being associated with a SMB is often hard work, but it’s usually rewarding, too. By experimenting with some of these apps, you could discover it’s possible to make the most of your available time by using your voice to accomplish more than it did before.
If you decide to try any of the options listed here or others like them, remember that it typically takes time to adjust to using anything new. Giving yourself time to learn the new product thoroughly increases the chances of it paying off for you and your company.
