Advantages and drawbacks of Voice Recognition Technology

Voice recognition achieved by VUI (Voice User Interface) is the ability for a programmed machine to respond to voice command. With the efficiency and convenience associated to the technology, it is fast becoming a way to help bridge the gap in professional task management and daily activities. Voice recognition is becoming more sophisticated and reliable, and as such, we can expect the technology to be implemented more, across many different industries. At present, consumer trends are demonstrating rapid adoption of this new capability, with many companies striving to create optimal VUI experiences. Inside Telecom has comprised a few key advantages and drawbacks of this evolving technology.

Advantages of Voice and Speech Recognition technology

Talking is faster than typing!

Voice commands are a far more efficient tool than typing a message. Advancements are being made in technology to make life easier and voice recognition is being built-in to more devices to help boost convenience and efficiency. Voice recognition software has improved and according to a study at the University of Stanford, it has become significantly faster and more accurate at producing text (through speech-based dictation on a mobile device) than we are at typing on its keyboard.

By integrating technology, such as those offered by voice solutions, businesses can streamline documentation processes, and alleviate the burden of typing and other admin tasks, enabling professionals to focus on more challenging and rewarding aspects of the job.

VUI has come a long way

VUI is constantly evolving and has come leaps and bounds from older software once produced for companies’ customer service centers. We all remember encountering a rather frustrating automated service that did not have the advanced capability of understanding or responding to our voice activation (the first time around). Today, companies have implemented more developed voice recognition software that makes interaction with a robot feel more like a conversation with a human. And deep-machine learning means VUI software is able to understand more complex and diverse word responses. This shows that researchers are going that extra mile to improve VUI devices for a way that will fit into society and our broadening scope of needs. 

Voice recognition boosts productivity levels

Voice recognition and speech activation is being developed for a whole myriad of reasons. The most essential role it may have is in the workplace where it can provide support and assistance to task-management duties. Amazon’s Alexa can be used for managing and setting up conference calls as well as scheduling meetings and setting up reminders – this enables a company to streamline the process for everyone – which boosts productivity and efficiency levels.

This technology is making it possible to access big data instantly, allowing professionals to retrieve important information upon a voice command. As the technology develops, it will become commonplace to ask a question or request data for any specific case or project – taking less time than it would for us to manually search for information.

It can also streamline communication between people who speak different languages. The software has the capability of translating what is said in a foreign language into the native language for the recipient of the information to understand – which essentially helps one move beyond potential language barriers in daily business practices.

Drawbacks of voice and speech recognition

Privacy of voice recorded data

More devices are using VUI technology, which may present more challenges related to data privacy. If a device has this capability, the additional data can get tracked by the manufacturer. There have been concerns in the past that manufacturers would be capable of listening in on private conversations. This area of concern and questioning incentivized action from companies to work on offering better privacy controls for users.

Error and misinterpretation of words

Not all words are accurately interpreted with voice recognition. It is far easier for a human to decode words and turn it into meaning, than it is for voice recognition software to do so. The software’s limitation of understanding the contextual relation of words, may cause disruption to any given task assigned to the software along the way. It may encounter problems with slang words, acronyms or technical words/jargon.