Conversational IVR Technologies in the Workplace

When many of us think of IVR (Interactive Voice Response) our first emotion is likely one of frustration. Until recently, the average person's experience with an IVR system would likely be via their phone or with an automated attendant on a customer service line. You can probably already hear yourself repeating words or phrases over and over again and being completely misunderstood or worse--met with silence from the other end.

Today, public perception is improving, with devices and services like Amazon's Alexa and Echo and Google's Assistant growing in popularity and usefulness at rapid pace. And while their proliferation into homes has precipitated an explosion in the number and variety of Internet of Things (IoT) appliances and accessories, extending their versatility into the workplace is a trickier proposition. Issues like content security and privacy become amplified when a device in a conference room is sending proprietary conversations over the internet.

So where does that leave us? How can we leverage the benefits of IVR integrations in workplace productivity and collaboration while also ensuring that our private conversations aren't shared or intercepted by others? Thankfully, Amazon has addressed much of these concerns with their Alexa for Business platform. With an expanded API and the Alexa Skills Kit, organizations can build custom skills and integrations to enhance their workflows. A centralized management console allows administrators to provision devices, manage users, and integrate with rooms and presentation systems. Meanwhile, unlike the consumer Alexa services, all voice recordings and transcripts are completely private and can't be viewed by anyone inside or outside the organization. It's exciting to imagine the impact this platform can have on audiovisual, communication and unified collaboration systems within the workplace.