When Customer Experience Is King, Brand-Owned Voice Experiences Reign Supreme

SoundHound is a Business Reporter client.

Companies across industries are turning to unique, branded voice experiences to make their products and services more innovative and compelling.

Voice assistants are taking a leading role in customer-facing applications, literally becoming the voice of the brand. As companies begin to understand the importance of offering voice experiences that increase revenue and reduce costs, they are turning to independent voice AI solutions.

As a result, customers are getting used to brand-owned voice assistants that function as the call center agents, sales representatives, greeters, operators and order takers they encounter in their daily lives.

Putting the customer at the center of the voice experience, meeting consumer demands for greater convenience, creating greater efficiency, staying competitive in the market and building deeper customer relationships are all driving companies to partner with independent voice AI platform providers to build voice experiences that reflect their unique brands.

A growing demand for voice at the heart of the customer experience

Hardware manufacturers in key industries already have voice-enabled products on their roadmaps. In the automotive industry, 90% of new vehicles globally are predicted to have voice assistants by 2028, and 94% of large companies across industries expect to use voice AI within two years.

In addition, there will be 75 billion connected devices worldwide by 2025. For the growing number of IoT devices that don’t have the physical room for a mouse, keyboard or touch screen, voice AI is a natural and economical interface. Device manufacturers are seeing greater opportunities to voice-enable their products with a widening range of connectivity solutions, from embedded to cloud-only and hybrid.

Customized voice assistants are allowing these companies to improve their customer interactions at every touchpoint while growing brand recognition and loyalty. In a recent study by SoundHound and Opus Research, 77% of business leaders across eight industries stated that voice assistants drove value through improved customer support, and 76% agreed that they help companies control their brand identity and user experience. For those employing a voice assistant, 81% of companies surveyed reported using the technology to improve customer service, and 52% are using it for sales activity.

Why innovative conversational experiences require a more flexible voice platform

Developing voice assistants requires either having all the expertise in-house (which is uncommon) or entering into a technology partnership with a voice AI platform partner or a combination of technology providers.

Integrating a mainstream voice assistant from one of the large consumer technology players can offer short-term utility. However, these assistants are primarily an extension of their manufacturer’s services and are likely to overtake the host product’s brand. Companies that choose a mainstream voice assistant often experience a loss of brand control, user loyalty and visibility into valuable data—resulting in an inability to innovate, differentiate and customize their voice-enabled product experiences.

Conversely, independent voice assistants extend brand value and improve name recognition through customizations, including a branded “wake word” or “wake phrase.” When customers start every conversation with a voice assistant by saying the name associated with your brand, they are building a connection with your product and service offerings, as opposed to creating an affinity for another brand.

Partnering with an independent voice platform such as SoundHound allows companies more flexibility to create voice experiences that extend product functionality. These voice interfaces are designed with their unique users in mind and deliver more accurate responses based on targeted and custom content domains. For instance, car OEMs can provide parking search and reservations, gas station and EV station information, weather, traffic, sports, news and more as part of their infotainment systems, while also allowing drivers to use voice commands to control in-car functions such as rolling down the windows or turning on lights and air conditioning.

Ownership of user data—only available when the voice assistant is built in-house or in partnership with an independent voice AI platform provider—gives brands control over the customer relationship and insights into how the voice interface is used, customer expectations and potential improvements to meet user desires. These key elements of the customer relationship are what originally spurred the adoption of custom voice assistant solutions, and they remain critical aspects of brand-owned voice strategy today.

The ultimate customer-centric experience

In a SoundHound and Opus Research report, a majority of business leaders (62%) said the main goal of their voice assistant strategy was to offer a consistent brand experience across channels.

The report also found that many companies begin by voice-enabling their mobile apps. Because voice interaction can unlock immediate functionality beyond the limits of a mobile touch screen, voice-enabled apps are a valuable entry point for brands developing a voice-first strategy.

From there, contact centers, products, websites and point-of-sale devices—such as kiosks and self-service vending machines—are among the places where brands want to have a voice of their own. The desire to have an omnichannel voice experience reinforces the importance for companies to create their voice experiences on a scalable and independent voice AI platform.

Brands hoping to serve up the same voice, tone and experience on every channel need complete control over the voice experience. Relying on a mainstream voice assistant to provide the voice interface on some channels will result in fragmented experiences in others.

To understand the entire customer journey, companies are adopting specialized voice assistants at the enterprise level. Customized voice assistants in their contact centers and within their customer relationship management (CRM) tools are not only interacting with customers, they’re also informing marketing and sales activities and creating organizational efficiencies.

Whether or not brands realize the potential of omnichannel, customer-centric experiences will depend in a large part on their ability to create voice experiences and propagate them across channels. Voice assistants built on an independent voice AI platform, such as SoundHound, are already helping brands create unique experiences that can be extended into products, services and customer success channels across the organization.

Discover how we’re leading the voice-first era at SoundHound.com, or talk to us to bring your voice strategy to life.

— Michael Zagorsek, COO, SoundHound Inc.

This article originally appeared on Business Reporter. Image credit: Courtesy of SoundHound