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![\"From](\"https:\/\/intellias.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/pic-01.jpg\")
\nSource \u2014 PwC<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n
With Millennials and Generation Z driving the adoption, voice technology is gradually moving into the mainstream. In fact, the global speech and voice recognition market is projected to reach $31.82 billion<\/a> by 2025.<\/p>\n As some of the tech giants compete to gain a larger foothold in the market, it\u2019s worth asking why the technology is so popular and what\u2019s causing the shift towards voice.<\/p>\n The pandemic has highlighted the pressing need to rethink the way users interact with controllers in favor of no-touch systems. In addition to improving safety, voice-first technology is also enhancing the customer experience by adding convenience to communication, as we speak much faster than we type. By enabling verbal commands to touchless control systems, communication has become more natural and efficient.<\/p>\n In addition to the low-effort, high-comfort experience for users, there are other factors that underpin a shift to voiceless:<\/p>\n As speech recognition systems continue to mature and become more sophisticated, voice technology is poised to reach billions of users in the years ahead. Experts predict that in the next 5 years nearly every app will integrate voice technology<\/a> in some way or another.<\/p>\n From home automation to eCommerce to healthcare to automotive, industries of all kinds are combining IoT capabilities<\/a> with speech recognition technology to meet the shifting consumer demands and unlock business advantages.<\/p>\n A smart home ecosystem of interconnected devices and capabilities enables hassle-free remote access and real-time monitoring, but voice-enabled control systems take smart home automation to the next level.<\/p>\n Smart home hubs like Amazon Echo, Google Nest, and Samsung SmartThings allow users to use simple voice commands to manage connected devices \u2014 all from a single interface.<\/p>\n Home is not the only place where voice-activated devices are making a difference. Voice technology is changing the workplace, too. Gartner predicts that by 2023, 25% of employee<\/a> interactions with applications will be via voice.<\/p>\n Today, voice-enabled virtual assistants are helping employees boost efficiency and productivity by taking on the trivial but time-consuming tasks like scheduling meetings and interviews, setting up reminders, and more. Voice interfaces with speech-to-text capabilities can take notes for meetings, lectures, and conference calls, generate highlights and share with participants to streamline collaboration.<\/p>\n The conversational sales platform Tact.ai<\/a> uses voice intelligence to automate and simplify workflows for sellers. The platform enables salespeople on the go to send emails, search for documents, dig through sales history, and more, simply by using voice commands.<\/p>\n With the increasing adoption of home automation systems, voice-based assistants can easily access rich energy data from connected devices and put control back into users\u2019 hands. Energy companies are starting to reach residential customers via Alexa, Google Assistant, Siri and other virtual assistants to provide information on current energy use, offer personalized energy saving recommendations, and improve energy consumption efficiency.<\/a><\/p>\n Adding a voice assistant to a customer experience roadmap is also a great way to introduce a self-service channel and decrease call center costs. Conversational assistants help users to access account balance, find information on the best rates, get updates on outages and energy usage trends, and more.<\/p>\n A great example of how utility companies empower users with energy management tools is that of Octopus<\/a>, an energy company that has teamed up with Alexa to combine real-time energy pricing with voice automation. Among other things, customers can ask the virtual assistant when their electricity will be the cheapest and then schedule the highest energy consumption tasks around that time to lower their electric bill.<\/p>\n In healthcare settings, IoT voice control helps improve patient experience and deliver personalized care. A smart voice-enabled assistant can update a patient\u2019s medical record in real-time, provide information about medications and treatment procedures, and more.<\/p>\n Healthtech company Orbita<\/a> offers a voice-enabled health virtual assistant that streamlines communication with hospital staff and dramatically reduces the response time. KidsMD launched by Boston Children\u2019s Hospital allows parents to gain access to high-quality clinical information and specific treatment protocols on Alexa-enabled devices.<\/p>\n Voice technology has already been on the financial industry\u2019s radar as a powerful tool to improve customer service, personalize financial journeys, and gain a competitive advantage. Big players like Bank of America and Ally Bank are utilizing text- and voice-based conversational agents to assist customers with checking their balance, setting up account alerts, tracking their spending, getting answers to frequently asked questions, and more. Challenger banks like Atom<\/a> use voice biometrics to add another layer of security to their banking apps.<\/p>\n As people are gaining more trust in the technology, voice-enabled payments are also taking off. A recent study<\/a> suggests that users are now more comfortable with using their voice to pay for low-priced goods, subscriptions, and on-demand movies, audio and TV shows.<\/p>\n Voice payment adoption rate in the United States<\/b> Another potential use for voice technology in banking is with ATMs that are touched daily by thousands of people. Voice recognition could be an alternative way to authenticate users and perform transactions without the need for touch-based interactions \u2014 and in the post-pandemic world, that may become the new standard.<\/p>\n Learn how to leverage voice-enabled payments to improve banking experiences and boost customer satisfaction<\/p>\n Consumer IoT is not the only sector feeling the heat of voice technology. Voice-based devices can be game-changing in industrial IoT<\/a> settings where high emphasis is placed on flexibility, efficiency, and sustainability. Manufacturing plants, construction sites, production lines \u2014 all these industrial environments require hands-free mobility that IoT voice recognition systems can readily provide. When a worker needs to get additional instructions or search for a solution, voice control facilitates access to the required information through touchless and intuitive interaction.What\u2019s driving the voice revolution<\/h2>\n
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Voice technology implementations<\/h2>\n
Smart homes<\/h3>\n
Digital workplace<\/h3>\n
Intelligent energy management<\/h3>\n
Healthcare<\/h3>\n
Voice payments<\/h3>\n
\n![\"From](\"https:\/\/intellias.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/pic-02.jpg\")
\nSource \u2014 Statista<\/a><\/em><\/p>\nCan this be applicable to industrial IoT?<\/h2>\n
\n![\"From](\"https:\/\/intellias.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/pic-03.jpg\")
\n51% of manufacturing companies are planning to expand the use of voice technology in the next five years.
\nSource: Zebra<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n
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