Why You Should Spend More Time Thinking About Alexa

The trend for home focused technology becoming incorporated into offices up and down the country is something that isn’t necessarily new. It is, however, becoming more and more interesting as we saw in some previous blogs.

One of these bits of tech is the cloud-based voice services that are having something of a moment in the spotlight – for people who don’t regularly use the phrase ‘cloud-based voices services’ (i.e everyone) I’m talking about the Alexa’s, the Siri’s and the Cortana’s of the world.

Voice tech is slowly making its presence felt in some pretty snazzy offices, as well as looking aesthetically pleasing they’re also handy things to have, as we’ll explain a little later on.

The way we think about tech in the office is changing, there is now a new tradition that we are all used to, due to evolution. The new normal was the typewriter, then it was the computer, then the laptop etc.

With traditional tech encompassing anything from smartpens to collaborative smart boards, how do companies evolve to keep pace with the eternal march of tech?

This ‘voice first’ approach is helped by the aforementioned Alexa’s etc, they’re constantly updating and evolving software means more and more tasks can be completed by them.

Companies like Amazon have so far focused these products at the home market with tasks such as asking what the weather is on that day, setting a timer or to check the time.

Be The Voice Of Reason

The beauty of voice services is that it switches the emphasis away from oftentimes clunky, slow interface. For instance, how many times has Safari or Internet Explorer crashed or a website isn’t mobile friendly and therefore looks plain wrong? With voice services, all of this is removed and things, like checking the weather or seeing what’s in the news, is done without lifting a finger, opening a new tab or unlocking a phone.

In a business context, the advantages of this are obvious – need to check if a colleague is available for a meeting? Simply ask and find out. There is no need to stop working on something important simply keep on getting the job done and let Alexa, Cortana or Siri find the answer for you.

Interactive speakers, like Alexa, support calendar applications, meaning organising and scheduling important meetings, conferences or Friday drinks down the local, is easier than ever. There are also murmurings on the interwebs that Bezos and the gang at Amazon are working on an Echo with a camera which could be a good option for businesses who frequent in corporate conference rooms.

Increasingly, offices are run in accordance with the Internet of Things – the idea that all electrical things in the office use some sort of cloud server in order to interact with each other. Turning on your coffee pot with your phone, for instance.

Having a handy little speaker that can act as the nerve centre for all these electronic devices could be a really useful and efficient way of bringing all these cogs together.