For the most dedicated technologists, enthusiasts, and businesses involved with conversational business, voice artificial intelligence (AI) and ambient computing, VOICE Summit is the event to be at. The event wrapped up over December 7th-8th in Arlington, Virginia, and Blutag was proud to be back once again to serve as a sponsor and speaker.
This year's VOICE Summit discussed how conversational AI solutions will transform the customer experience, improve operational efficiencies with automation, and drive new entry points to a truly dynamic omnichannel sales strategy. At its core, VOICE Summit, organized by Modev founder, Pete Erickson, is an event that brings together some of the most exciting and innovative technologies, personalities, and use cases from across the voice technology industry.
VOICE Summit provided the perfect opportunity to soak up rich insights and inspiration about where the conversational AI industry is today and where it will go in the future. Year after year, the event continues to grow and Blutag is proud to have been a part of this culture since its inception.
Bringing together people from across the voice technology industry is a powerful way to drive progress and growth that enriches all the many stakeholders connected to the growth of voice AI and conversational commerce.
VOICE Summit was an amazing opportunity to learn more about innovation in text-to-speech, voice cloning, speech synthesis, audio recording of speech, chatbots, smart assistants, and the growth of the voice commerce industry.
This year saw rich discussions around emerging concepts such as "sonic branding" and the need to develop the way brands sound and interact with their customers using voice and the full potential of sound itself. Founder and Co-Executive Producer of Audiobrain, Audrey Arbeeny, really addressed some salient points in her discussion around the idea of sonic branding. One of the most immediate takeaways was the important work to create more enriching and streamlined customer experiences by using sound to create more efficient and streamlined ambient computing opportunities.
"We actually already do some sonic branding and didn't realize that was how it was being discussed in the industry," said Erin Marie O'Connor, Manager of Customer Success and Operations at Blutag. "We use different sounds in our skills and in our actions to replace inefficient dialogue turns, and replace pieces of dialogue that the user has to say, which then decreases the amount of back and forth in a conversation, making the conversation smoother, more effective and better."
One of the other very interesting points raised during VOICE Summit came during a presentation by Jon Stine, Executive Director of the Open Voice Network, Harry Pappas, Founder and CEO of Intelligent Health Association, and Brenda Leong, Senior Counsel and Director of AI and Ethics at the Future of Privacy Forum. During this discussion, many pertinent points were raised around the need to develop conversational business applications without losing sight of the ethics involved with developing certain capabilities.
For instance, the panel raised questions around the ethics of a voice interface directing a patient to take medication and how what we say or hear can be as important as how something is said or heard. This addresses the complexity of true human conversation and the need to consider how voice technologies will influence human behavior and what the ethics around that should be.
These are deeply intriguing topics to consider and place a degree of responsibility on developers as we pursue the implementation of new technologies that will invariably impact people's lives. These conversations need to occur, and VOICE Summit is the perfect forum for having them.
Right now, it's possible to clone human voices, and like other potential deep fake technology, it opens many opportunities. Many retailers are exploring how to implement celebrity influencer voices into platforms to allow different opportunities to hear and interact with someone's digital likeness. These areas are fresh and exciting for business and promise the opportunity to dramatically transform the way we interact with the world around us. Every day more and more becomes possible as the conversational business landscape develops.
Blutag founder and CEO Shilp Agarwal presented a session during VOICE Summit 2021 focused on discussing the future of voice commerce and how ambient computing is slowly but surely becoming a reality for many individuals, families, and organizations worldwide.
During this talk, Shilp explored the rich landscape of voice technologies' opportunity to transform the customer experience to drive engagement and boost retention. As brands fully harness the potential of new conversational business sales channels, branded voice interfaces will become as ubiquitous as websites have become for modern businesses.
Along the way, there will be a huge opportunity for brands to not only pick up and adopt a new opportunity but to refine it and use it to drive a more fully realized brand voice than was previously possible. People will interact with technology in radically new ways in the near future, and voice interfaces will be a fundamental aspect of that. This creates many exciting opportunities for companies looking to get going and fully develop their own approaches to mastering the new landscape of voice commerce.
The voice technology industry has taken some giant leaps and bounds forward in just a few short years. Blutag is proud to be a part of that and to have the opportunity to participate in events like VOICE Summit 2021. The future is now and Blutag is here to help.
Get in touch today to request a demo and learn more about our turnkey SaaS voice commerce solution!
