A man uses ‘Siri’ on the new iPhone 4S on October 14, 2011 in London, England. Getty Images/Oli Scarff
Apple’s voice-activated companion, Siri, is probably the single most well-known piece of consumer voice-recognition technology. But the interactive voice response (IVR) industry is a big one, with scores of applications for businesses as well as individual users. The market for voice-based apps is still on the rise as different mobile devices become available, so there is still much to see from software providers in the way of voice-activated apps.
Google’s answer to Siri reached iOS in late 2012 as part of an update to Google’s iOS search app. The voice feature was touted as better than Apple’s software: it provided context for voice transcriptions and queries which incorporated more intelligence about individual users, preferences, habits and locations — something Siri users found a frustrating shortcoming of the native-to-iPhone software. Indeed, the complaint that Siri doesn’t actually do much beyond enabling users to perform voice-activated searches on web apps or plug in calendar events with voice commands has led advocates of Google-based apps to latch onto Google Now – not, in fact,a voice-based service at all (which may itself serve as a sharp criticism indeed of Apple’s bodiless helpmeet). The functionality of Google Now, though, is what users began to crave when Siri came up short on delivering real-time information about their locations and tasks.
Fortunately, the old Apple/Google duopoly might soon experience some disruption. Amazon acquired Ivona, a text-to-speech company, in January, supposedly to build voice recognition into its Kindle products. Some of Ivona’s technology was already infused into the Kindle Fire, but Amazon’s purchase solidified its intentions to commit to IVR as a core element of its product offerings. Some think it opens the door for Amazon to explore devices other than tablets, which would mean its IVR apps could someday stand in direct competition with Siri.
The next plane of relevance for voice recognition technology might lie in the browser, or so Google seems to think. It’s latest Chrome browser for desktop and Android includes Web Speech API to allow developers to build speech recognition into web apps. It might lie in the console: Microsoft has promised to improve speech recognition technology inside the next Xbox. It might be found on the open road: auto manufacturers are bringing integral IVR systems to automobiles, and GM just released a software development kit for some 2014 vehicles. IVR continues to be highly useful for healthcare organizations, contact centers, and the education sector, so regardless of the next step, there is room for software providers to make inroads into the voice recognition space and room for developers to take advantage of it beyond enabling Joe Schmo to find the nearest waffle house. #End
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