Addressing Top Challenge for implementing Voice Apps, Voice Assistants and Chatbots

Opus Research released a report in February 2021 titled “Global Survey: The Business Value of Customized Voice Assistants.” 320 global brand decision makers (C-Suite and VP/Team leads of digital strategies) were surveyed for the report. The results are some interesting stats, many of which Voicify can validate from our own experience.

The report called out 5 key challenges brands experience in implementing a voice assistant strategy.  As a voice app software company, Voicify is interested in understanding obstacles and ensuring our product removes as many of them as we can. Here is how Voicify already addresses the challenges the Opus Research identified.

43% believe the ability to have a quick start in voice is a challenge.

At Voicify our customers benefit from the expedited development of their voice apps and cross platform deployment as an Amazon Alexa Skill, Google Assistant Action, Samsung Bixby and custom voice apps and chat bots.

The Philadelphia Eagles, for instance, went from a first call to having a voice app deployed to Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant within two weeks, all with a looming industry event creating urgency: the NFL Draft.

Speed to market is a critical capability of Voicify in creating voice apps with Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant and chatbots across a multitude of endpoints. Voicify solves this voice app challenge with an easy-to-understand UI which feels familiar as a digital CMS system to any marketer managing other channels. Voicify can be operated in a headless manner as well due to it having been built with a completely accessible API layer. Easy for marketers, easy for integrations.

35% find profitability and monetization a challenge

This challenge is not a systems hurdle for a voice app. Business and use cases are the starting point for establishing this channel and business line.

However, Voicify thought through them as part of the platform features and functionality offering established voice flows for our customers to adopt and customize rather than starting from scratch.

This is valuable to many brands because it makes easy the following profitability and monetization opportunities for voice apps and chatbots:

1. Voice Commerce – sell items via a voice assistant voice app
2. Voice Customer Service – turn voice assistants into employees handling any or all Tier 1 call center or customer service issues through a voice app or chatbot. Let the humans take care of the complex problems!
3. Voice Campaign Landers – aka interactive ads. Why wait for the user to decide to type in the URL, click a link or remember a CTA for later. Empower them to ask your voice app right away through the ever-present Amazon Alexa Skill and Google Assistant Action embedded on a device near them
4. Exclusive content subscriptions – enhance or create a premier level experience & content with voice apps related to the existing content you know is working and sought after
5. Sponsored Content – why not create a voice game, voice app update or flash briefing that is sponsored by a brand?

And the list goes on.

32% find continuous improvement and error recovery a challenge

This was one of the earliest challenges Voicify addressed with our voice app platform knowing it would be a critical barrier for evolution and revision.

Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant want to own all the data that comes through their endpoints, leaving brands out in the cold.

Because of how Voicify structures the content and functionality of voice apps, our clients are running dynamic voice apps. This allows metrics to be tabulated by Voicify, per voice app, per customer, in real time.

Voicify also captures missed intents or misunderstood utterances. These metrics are critical in updating channel and editorial roadmaps for all our customers.

Combine the metrics and analytics dashboards on voice apps and chatbots in Voicify with our content first user interface and improvement opportunities and error management is swift and easy to execute.

28% consider uncertain global economics a challenge

We’re working on this one. ????

27% believe increasing user adoption/ongoing user education a challenge

We’re glad to see this challenge with voice apps is so low. And each year we see it decrease across several research outlets we follow.

The truth of new technology, including voice apps and intelligent chatbots is this: it takes time for adoption and voice apps and chatbots have rounded that curve more quickly than any tech before them.

There was a time when (some of the older readers will recall) brands didn’t understand why we were placing this “www.brandname.com thing” on the bottom of all our marketing and advertising campaigns.  Clearly that has changed.

What you want your systems to do, and what Voicify elegantly does, is allow the brand to mature with the end user and their own internal capabilities. Brands are using Voicify to build a variety of voice apps.

Some answer only one question (‘Where is my order’) saving millions of dollars a year and meeting the customer where they are. Other voice apps support long term personal health (2021 Resolution and Health Campaigns) and ensure that the brand is present when it is wanted and guaranteeing the support the user, patient, customer, prospect is heard.

There is a broad spectrum of opportunity to begin a voice app for every brand. Certainly, it should serve the business well, but too it needs to serve the customer. Meet them where they are and let them talk to you the way they want. Voicify enables every level of sophistication with voice apps; whether it’s “think big, start small,” or extending your digital product with a voice app and chat bot as key channels. Voicify enables voice apps and chatbots to satisfy the business and the customer alike.