Amazon has introduced a new tool for companies looking to build a branded voice assistant. Here’s some insight from the “Rain” agency:
Although the voice ecosystem has long been dominated by the likes of Amazon, Google, and Apple, many brands are exploring the arena of custom owned assistants that give brands more control over data and user experience without a third-party intermediary. With Amazon’s latest announcement, the line is blurring between big tech voice assistants and brand-owned custom assistants.
A handful of companies have already created devices that allow for the coexistence of their own assistant alongside a mainstream assistant. European telecommunications companies including Vodafone Spain, Orange, and Deutsche Telekom have all taken this approach and released devices integrated with both their custom assistant and Alexa. By using Amazon’s Alexa Custom Assistant initiative, many more companies will be thinking about how they can leverage the best of both worlds, bringing a generalist assistant alongside a specialist.
Here’s an article from ‘voicebot.ai” about Amazon’s big announcement…
Here’s the intro from this voicebot.ai article: “Twitter has expanded the beta for its Spaces social audio platform to Android devices. The social media giant had previously limited Spaces to iOS devices, but people using Android can now apply to try out Spaces as Twitter pushes to refine the platform for wide release.”
Meanwhile, here’s a voicebot.ai podcast about the experiences of some experts with Clubhouse – the social audio app that I blogged about recently…
To-date the voice assistant landscape has primarily been driven by smart speakers and mobile assistants, but new devices are quickly taking hold. Brands have always sought to connect with customers on-the-go, and assistant technologies are now enabling a new way to provide value in their everyday lives. Smart hearables and wearables, including earbuds, watches and even glasses have all been embedded with Alexa and Google Assistant so that customers can easily ask for information and perform tasks anytime, anywhere. The most recent example of this is Amazon’s new Echo Buds feature focused on collecting fitness data. However, this trend has been maturing for some time now.
With voicebot.ai reporting that Clubhouse has surpassed 10 million members – I am among them – I put together this 12-minute video explaining how Clubhouse works and my ten cents about whether you should try it. With a few bonus tips if you do indeed give it a “go”…