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Articles by Theresa Cramer

Market Spotlight on Retail: Voice Is Revitalizing the Shopping Experience

From online shoppers to warehouse employees, from retail associates to marketers, nearly every facet of the retail industry is being transformed by the voice revolution. In fact, it may just be the use of voice and other technologies that are keeping retail environments relevant.

A Good Conversational Interface: Man’s Best Friend

Don't we all want voice-activated devices to be more like a loyal old dog and less like the puppy chewing on your shoes? But it's not necessarily something you can do at home with a few treats and the help of some YouTube videos.

Survey Says Users Still Suspicious of Conversational AI

When Google debuted Duplex in 2018, the voice assistant was deemed a little too human sounding, prompting some to wonder whether it was ethical to have an unsuspecting stranger engage with it. New research suggests people's concerns have not gone away.

Market Spotlight on Automotive: IVAs Are Popular in New Cars, but Concerns, Limits Remain

While supercars like Kit from Knight Rider are still the stuff of TV fantasy, today's automobiles are becoming smarter and smarter, and speech technologies are at the heart of this transformation.

Q&A: Anand Janefalkar on the Ideal IVR

Poorly designed IVRS have been angering customers for decades, but it doesn't have to be this way. We talked to the Founder and CEO of UJET about how well designed IVRs can improve customer experience.

How Human Is Too Human?

We hear, quite often, that conversational AI need to be more human. What this means is that we want it to perform for us at the same level as a human assistant, but we still want to know it's a machine.

Market Spotlight: Security

Voice biometrics is vital, and it's only the beginning. AI and speech technologies are helping drive new levels of security and pioneering new ways to keep the public safe.

Q&A: Eli Finkelshteyn on Smart Speakers and Brand Experience

Just as brands are perfecting DX, they have to rethink every aspect from search to delivery. Eli Finkelshteyn, CEO and co-founder of Constructor.io, weighs in on the challenges brands face in the voice arena.

Solving Pain Points for Newcomers Could Set You Apart

Smart vendors will think beyond AI and algorithms and find ways to solve business problems

SpeechTEK 2019: Making Machines More Human

Deborah Dahl, principal at Conversational Technologies and co-chair of the SpeechTEK Conference, kicked off the last day of SpeechTEK 2019 with a talk titled "Just Like Talking to a Person: How to Get There from Here?"

SpeechTEK 2019: Anthropomorphism and Ethics

Whether you're worried about the toys that talk to your kids, or what your employer might be doing with your biometric information, there are plenty of reasons for concern when it comes to the ethics of speech technology.

Market Spotlight: Marketing

IVAs and Chatbots Are Changing How Marketers Reach Customers

Planned Parenthood Proves Chatbots Can Provide Answers to Tough Questions

Planned Parenthood introduced Roo, a chatbot that answers the sometimes embarrassing questions of teens and young adults who might otherwise not have access to science-based sexual education.

What Consumers Like (or Don't) About Voice Shopping

OnBuy.com research takes look at the habits of voice shoppers. Find out what they're buying, what they like about the experience, and what they want to see in the future.

Housekeeping and Homework for 2019

There's no doubt we'll have plenty to talk about in the year to come

Reaching the Reluctant with Speech Technology

I'm not a Luddite, but I am skeptical about the latest shiny new toy. People like me want tech that works for us.

Speech Technology Predictions for 2019

We asked our regular contributors and columnists what speech technology trends and stories will dominate the headlines in 2019. Which of these predictions do you think will come true in the year to come, and which do you think we'll still be waiting for in 2020?

Higher Education Growth: Improving Quality Assurance with Call Recordings

HEG agents often have phone conversations with students. These calls play an important role in enrollments, but agents must adhere to strict Telephone Compliance Protection Act (TCPA) compliance guidelines and processes for efficiency. There are many opportunities for errors and compliance missteps throughout the EDU lead lifecycle — particularly during phone calls. The company needed a more efficient way of dealing with this challenge.

Market Spotlight: Toys/Robotics

Robot creators are limited only by their imaginations

Market Spotlight: Education

Speech technologies are transforming classrooms.

Allianz: Speech Analytics Identify Call Center Employees for Accent Neutralization Training

One of the biggest challenges of call-centers is making sure customers have a good user experience—and more of than not, that comes down to the interaction they have with your agents. If there is a language barrier—or even if the agent has a heavy accent that your majority of callers have trouble understanding—that can cause user satisfaction problems. Allianz wanted to find a way to solve that problem.

Data Privacy Concerns Should Govern Speech Technology Industry

Security and privacy issues around voice assistants are sexy, but these concerns manifest themselves far more often in more mundane ways.

Q&A: Book Publishers Embrace Voice Technology and the Future

As voice technologies become ubiquitous, even book publishers aren't immune to the hottest trend in digital content. Speech Technology magazine recently had a chance to interview Bradley Metrock, CEO of Score Publishing, which owns and operates Digital Book World (DBW), about how voice is changing publishing. From the audiobook to Alexa, publishers are contending with the realities of a "voice-first" world.

3 Ways AI is Making Your Office a Better Place to Work

Many workers are worried about losing their jobs to AI, but others are grateful for the many ways new, AI-based technologies are making their offices a better place to work.

Will Smart Speakers Have Staying Power?

A good user experience is integral to success. But smart speakers also need to be useful.

Market Spotlight: Travel and Hospitality

Transforming the travel experience through voice

3 Unexpected Uses of AI and Speech Technologies

It's almost a given, now, that you have a digital assistant in your pocket, but there are many people out there finding new, innovative uses for the technologies that undergird the foundation of speech technology. Here are a few of the uses of speech technology that caught our interest recently.