Every innovator is watching the waves being made by voice assistant technologies from companies such as Google, Amazon and Apple. Arguably Amazon has been making some of the most focused efforts on bringing developers and SMB’s on board with voice enhancements for users.

The latest development is the opening up of Amazon Pay via Alexa Skills. Businesses can now give customers the opportunity to pay just by speaking using a previously linked account. Find out moreĀ here.

For many users, the initial point of contact with a home voice assistant is using a device such as Google Home or Amazon Echo to request music. For some disabled users, a common application is using voice assistants to switch appliances on and off.

Families and home users are also getting used to voice search as a quicker way to settle a question, rather than typing into a smartphone. SEO’s have been swift to respond to this switch in the importance of website snippets, but business owners still have a way to go before recognising the full potential of voice assistants for customers purchasing from, and interacting with, retailers.

As SMB’s test out and contribute to the “skills” on Alexa and other voice platforms, there is still considerable scope for experimentation at this stage in the development of voice technology.

Leave a comment

Your email address will not be published.