Today, most of us look at a mobile phone screen more than 300 times per day. It may be considered rapid evolution if you think that only recently, consumer internet first appeared: It was in the 1990s that it ushered in a new era of communication.
Free internet chat apps like ICQ, MSN and AIM, were unlimited. We no longer had to rely on expensive phone calls and measurements. However, it was the text, not the voice, that would dominate in the years to come. The slow dial-up internet connection meant we were done writing, we did not talk to each other.
In a 4G world of fiber and broadband, why are users still clinging to text interfaces in inappropriate contexts? Nowhere is it clearer than with chatbots. Text messages between people are useful because they are asynchronous: we’re glad that the conversation continues later. But chatbots are different. They represent the return of the command-line interface (call and answer), so we expect real-time communication.
Fast-forward to where we are today, the leading marketplace for bots, SnatchBot, has rolled out voice chat – powered by automated speech recognition. It is bringing that capability as a solution to a multi-channel communication world: SnatchBot can be used with Viber, Line, Slack, Skype, Twilio, Facebook – and conventional email or web.
Thousands of new chatbots appeared throughout 2016 to 2018. Although SMS is fun, they have always delivered suboptimal value. It’s convenient to write with friends on small screens, but textual interactions with chatbots are not really practical. The effort seldom reaps the rewards we expect:
Text messaging works so much better with a person on both sides of the conversation right?
Imagine, you enter Starbucks and order a “Venti, half whole milk, a quarter of 1%, a quarter without fat, extra strong, quads, milk without foam, with a whip, two packs Splenda, a pack of raw sugar and a touch of vanilla syrup and three pinches of cinnamon “.
Now imagine if Starbucks insists that every part of the order be written by customers in a separate Post-It. If Starbucks had never used people around the world by analyzing any of the language-based instructions, they would not be the global success that they are today.
There is the challenge with today’s chatbots. The way we ask for help, through words and not through words, is not self-evident to man. What makes sense We have been mumbling and complaining for at least 100,000 years, but we only wrote for 5,000 of them.
Text messaging works best with a person on both sides of the conversation. People understand the context, intent and feelings of others. A conversation with a text-based chatbot lacks human emotion, clarity, and urgency. Surely there must be a better way? Enter the Vocal Chatbots.
Voice chat will surely change professional communication
Voice-based chatbots will not only add value to our private lives but also quickly add value to our working lives. They are becoming “on-demand” wizards who make language conversations between men more productive, while our concentration “is also more productive, and we will be responsible for using voice chatbots on every device we use, not just our smartphones.
On the desktop, voice chatbots can help us organize follow-up meetings, send briefing notes, and share files during the meeting using voice commands in Google Hangouts, Slack, and Microsoft teams. When you ask for an on-demand marketing report, you can easily ask, “How did our demand generation campaigns evolve last month?” We’ll quickly and easily filter complex data into data analysis tools such as Looker and use voice commands to remotely perform daily tasks. Voice Activated Digital Assistants are now available on desktop computers. Microsoft Cortana is available in Windows 10, Siri in Apple MacOS, and Google adds voice commands to the latest versions of ChromeOS. Each of them represents a small step on the way to the introduction of speech chatbots in the world of work.
Chatbot voice technology is here – available to every business
A human-like vocal robot conversation like the one described above may seem like a vague futuristic promise, but we’re closer to what you might think. The required technology exists today.
Take Google Assistant, an important step for our future voice robot. Context-sensitive bi-directional conversations can be performed, making a variety of everyday tasks easier and faster. With a simple voice command, you can easily add multiple items to your shopping list. And if you prepare the dinner, you can create multiple timers for the various dishes by setting up a 12-minute pizza timer and setting a 20-minute timer for lasagna. Massive use value, for little effort or input.
Voice commands are useful everywhere. Whether you’re at home using Google Voice or traveling with Google Pixel, the same natural controls are nearby and will help you day and night.
Do you remember our previous example of a complicated coffee order? The Starbucks initiative of taking voice commands in its stores and storing them in our pockets is an example of the value of Vocal Bot on the Fly. Using voice commands and artificial intelligence, Starbucks will make it easier for customers to call their order before they go to the store to pick it up a few minutes later. The same efficient process is based on voice, but with additional benefits to save time as customers do not have to go to the store to place the order.
Imagine, you go to Starbucks to meet your friends, call to let them know you’re on the road and integrate a Starbucks Barista robot into the conversation to tell them which complicated order you are to prepare before your arrival.
Final scoop?
The voice has always been our most human and natural interface, so let’s make the most of it. Soon, typing will be a reminder of the distant past.
