58% of consumers say they would be more likely to try a brand that incorporates voice technology in their customer service

A new survey conducted by TELUS Digital Experience reveals a significant surge in the adoption of voice technology among consumers in both personal and workplace settings. With 81% of Americans using voice tech daily or weekly, the findings underscore the increasing importance of this technology in enhancing customer interactions and satisfaction.

• Mass Adoption:

  • 81% of Americans use voice tech regularly, with 68% reporting increased usage over the past year.
  • 36% began using voice technology two to five years ago, while 25% tried it for the first time in the past month.

• Consumer Engagement:

  • The survey highlights voice technology’s pivotal role in the customer journey, influencing brand engagement and long-term retention.

The Impact of Generative AI

• Advancements in Voice Tech:
  • Improvements driven by Generative AI (GenAI) are enhancing interactions with virtual agents and creating next-generation customer experiences.
  • 58% of respondents indicated they would be more likely to engage with brands that utilize voice tech in their customer communication channels.

Top Reasons for Using Voice Technology

1. Speed and Efficiency: 35% prefer speaking to typing.
2. Convenience: 31% find voice commands simpler than navigating menus.
3. Multitasking: 30% appreciate the ability to perform multiple tasks simultaneously.

Usage Patterns

• Personal vs. Work Use:
  • 56% use voice tech exclusively for personal tasks.
  • 33% utilize it in both personal and work settings, while 11% use it solely for work tasks.

Applications of Voice Technology

• In Personal Life:
  • Daily tasks (66%), communications (66%), information retrieval (55%).
• In Work Life:
  • Voice-to-text for emails, messages, and content creation (44%), information retrieval (37%), administrative tasks (32%).

Consumer Frustrations

Despite the benefits, frustrations with voice technology persist:

• 65% report misunderstandings by their voice assistants.
• 33% have had commands executed incorrectly.
• 27% have received incorrect information.

Responses to Errors

• 41% admit to yelling at their voice assistant when errors occur.
• 30% have used profanity in frustration.
• Conversely, 62% try to remain polite, often saying "please" and "thank you."

Areas for Improvement

Consumers have identified several key improvements needed for voice technology:

1. Accuracy of responses (53%)
2. Understanding of accents and dialects (46%)
3. Faster response times (41%)
4. Enhanced security features (41%)

The Path Forward

To enhance voice technology, businesses must collaborate with expert technology partners. This partnership approach is crucial for creating responsive, personalized, and secure voice solutions that drive customer engagement and provide a competitive advantage.

TELUS Digital is ready to elevate your brand's voice experience. With expertise across AI, design, strategy, and engineering, our comprehensive services include voice case identification, conversational UI design, tool selection, and integration. We also leverage our proprietary Ground Truth Studio AI data platform for multi-language audio dataset creation, ensuring optimal performance for voice tech applications. For more information, visit telusdigital.com/contact.