RAINdrops:
words on voice

September 6, 2022

Are Voice Assistants the Next UX Paradigm for Mobile Apps?

Brand-created voice assistants - in contrast to big tech assistants - are perhaps one of the most under-utilized, yet surprisingly in-demand technologies to elevate mobile app experience today.

September 2, 2022

How to Transform Your Data Into a Voice AI Knowledge Assistant

At RAIN, we are working with a wide range of enterprises, from auto repair to construction to restaurants, to help realize the benefits of opening up new modalities and moments of data access by employees.

July 21, 2022

Transforming collaboration through a custom voice assistant

June 15, 2022

Winners & Losers as Google Ends 3P “Conversational Actions”

What lessons should we take from Google’s announcement that it will be sunsetting Conversational Actions, the apps that 3rd parties could build atop Google Assistant?

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Are Voice Assistants the Next UX Paradigm for Mobile Apps?

Brand-created voice assistants - in contrast to big tech assistants - are perhaps one of the most under-utilized, yet surprisingly in-demand technologies to elevate mobile app experience today.

How to Transform Your Data Into a Voice AI Knowledge Assistant

At RAIN, we are working with a wide range of enterprises, from auto repair to construction to restaurants, to help realize the benefits of opening up new modalities and moments of data access by employees.

Transforming collaboration through a custom voice assistant

Voice technology is relatively new to Suffolk Construction, but widely recognized as a potential operational game-changer for business efficiency.

Voice assistant, Suffolk, RAIN, Hey Louie, CoLab, Construction, Technology

Winners & Losers as Google Ends 3P “Conversational Actions”

What lessons should we take from Google’s announcement that it will be sunsetting Conversational Actions, the apps that 3rd parties could build atop Google Assistant?

RAIN raises $11M to accelerate voice-first productivity software

First-of-its-kind voice assistant set to transform automotive service industry; this investment brings RAIN’s total funding to $15M

Are Virtual Humans the Next Evolution of Chatbots & Voice Assistants?

We sit down with Joe Murphy, who leads US business development for DeepBrainAI, to explore the business potential of virtual humans, examine the technologies that enable them...

Voice, RAIN, DeepBrainAI, Joe Murphy, AR, VR, Augmented Reality, Virtual Reality, Voice, Voice Technology, Voice Assistant, AI Humans,

The State of Custom Assistants in 2022

In 2020, we predicted custom “owned” virtual assistants (OVAs) were the future of voice. In the roughly 18 months since, a number of developments have leant credence to our bullishness on custom assistants.

voice tech, voice assistant,

The Self-Service Conundrum: Is “Easier Said Than Done” Attainable?

Customer service experiences need to leverage a delicate balance of chatbots, IVR, and voice, and human support to maximize support when customers need it most.

self, service, customer

Beyond Bourdain: The Ethics & Economics of Voice Synthesis Technology

Voice synthesis tech holds significant potential for good, but it also carries considerable practical risk and ethical weight.

synthesis, deepfakes, Bourdain, AI

Why Voice Commerce Won’t Take Off Until Our Eyes Get Involved, Too

The current paradigm of voice shopping hasn’t yet fully leveraged what voice does well, or explored how to reinforce these behaviors. Enter multimodality.

multimodality, shopping, ecommerce, advertising, visual, retail, commerce, Alexa, Amazon, Samsung, kitchen

In the Intelligent Assistant Era, Voice Biometrics are the X-Factor

With voice-first interfaces becoming entrenched into our lives, there are more relevant ways than ever for voice biomarkers to elevate services.

healthcare, assistants, automotive

Voice On-The-Go: The Transportation Opportunity

As voice tech becomes commonplace inside consumer vehicles, enterprises focused on transportation and logistics are catching on to the opportunity.

employees, enterprise, deskless, transportation, logistics, drivers, trucks, fleet, delivery, Garmin, Volvo, Volkswagen, Alexa, Omnitracs, LeasePlan, Penske, Iveco

Unlocking the Voice-Enabled Construction Site

Voice technology offers construction an exciting chance to craft solutions that can chip away at the productivity gap that has plagued the industry for years.

employees, construction, enterprise, deskless, jobsite, ProCore

Creating a Voice-First Immersive Learning Experience With ABCmouse on Google Assistant

RAIN partnered with Age of Learning (AoL) and Google for a custom Action.

education, ABCmouse, AoL, singing, songs, learning, Google, design, multimodal, multimodality

How Voice Technology Can Help Farmers Cultivate Growth

Agriculture is on the precipice of digital transformation with AgTech. Amidst this backdrop of innovation, voice tech emerges as an under-explored tool.

employees, farmers, agriculture, crops, enterprise, deskless, agtech, agritech, farm, Alexa, Autogrow, IT

How Voice Technology Can Reshape Employee Training

Voice technology has tremendous potential to transform how training works in a host of fields, from sales executives to kitchen cooks to factory workers.

employees, enterprise, deskless, workforce, training

5 Steps to Getting Your Voice-Enabled Store Off the Ground

Here are the five steps each retailer can follow to rapidly build, test, and scale voice solutions that make brick and mortar retail that much better.

employees, enterprise, deskless, workforce, retail, hospitality, restaurants, efficiency, productivity, operations, training, sales, associates

Employee Spotlight: Mark Tucker, Sr. Technical Director

We recently sat down to chat with RAIN’s Senior Technical Director Mark Tucker on his career in voice technology.

Why Employee Voice Solutions Are the Perfect Shiftmate for Service Workers

Voice technology presents a major untapped opportunity for service industry companies.

employees, enterprise, deskless, workforce, retail, hospitality, restaurants, efficiency, productivity, operations, Walmart, training, sales, associates

Efficiency at the Speed of Sound: The Promise of Voice-Enabled Operations

Voice is a tool for the workplace that can be woven powerfully into the professional lives of myriad workers, opening up a world of productive possibilities.

employees, enterprise, deskless, workforce, agriculture, education, healthcare, retail, hospitality, manufacturing, construction, transportation, efficiency, productivity, operations

The Interactive Voice Ad Opportunity

In the past two years, voice-enabled ads have come a long way. Novel use cases and platforms have emerged, and the use of smart speakers for listening to audio content has steadily climbed.

advertising, NBC, NBCUniversal, Peacock, Spotify, Pandora, Axe, Unilever, Alexa, Google, NARS, Estee, Suave, Coors, Bayer, Berocca, TV, commerce, shopping, hearables,

Voice Tech’s New Job: Serving the Deskless Workforce

The deskless workforce is woefully underserved in terms of technologies and tools that would make their jobs easier, safer, or more productive.

productivity, employees, enterprise, agriculture, education, healthcare, retail, hospitality, manufacturing, construction, transportation, efficiency, productivity, operations

RAIN raises $3M Series A to improve productivity for the deskless workforce

RAIN, a global leader in voice and conversational AI, has closed a $3 million Series A investment led by Stanley Ventures.

deskless, workforce, funding

RAIN’s Voice Technology Predictions for 2020

It’s time for a new batch of predictions for this coming year - from new assistants to surface-specific maturity and advanced features coming to a smart speaker near you.

trends, predictions, 2020

Voice in 2021: 9 Trends to Watch + Our Predictions

2021 is primed to be a major year for voice’s growth. Here are RAIN's 9 growth areas to watch in voice along with our predictions for these trends.

trends, 2021, advertising, mobile, OVA, peripherals, hearables, earbuds, retail, automotive, cars, gaming

How Growing Up with Voice Will Change Assistant Design

More than any other group, today’s kids contingent will shape the future of voice assistants and their design.

children, child, kids, Google, Alexa, Amazon, Echo, family, education, entertainment, privacy, design, data

Part III: The Dawn of Brand-Owned Virtual Assistants

Owned Virtual Assistants have emerged all around you, especially within verticals like finance, insurance, transportation, entertainment.

custom, data, owned, Amazon, Google , Alexa, OVA, MVA, brand, identity, healthcare, Suki, entertainment, BBC, NFL, Muncie, automotive, Houndify, SoundHound, QSR, McDonald, Pandora, Dominos, Snapchat

Part I: The Dawn of Brand-Owned Virtual Assistants

For brands, the scale of tech firms has become a vexing double-edged sword - and some would even say, a necessary evil.

custom, data, owned, Amazon, Google, Samsung, Alexa, Bixby, OVA, MVA

Part II: The Dawn of Brand-Owned Virtual Assistants

We’ve established the drivers that will lead brands toward building Owned Virtual Assistants in the years to come

custom, data, owned, Amazon, Google, Samsung, Alexa, Bixby, OVA, MVA, brand, identity

Part IV: The Dawn of Brand-Owned Virtual Assistants

Big tech has fanned the flames of voice innovation thus far, but we believe, OVAs are the fuel that will spread out and sustain this heat in a vast field of controlled burns.

custom, data, owned, Amazon, Google, Samsung, Alexa, Bixby, OVA, MVA, brand, identity, enterprise, employee

Imagining the Future of Hospitality

As a leader in hospitality, Wynn Las Vegas and Encore Resort saw the opportunity to utilize voice technology to enhance the guest experience.

hotel, resort, hospitality, Wynn, guests, employees, enterprise, Amazon, Alexa, concierge

Next In Line: How Voice Tech is Poised to Transform Retail As We Know It

A touchless, voice-driven shopping experience poses several opportunities in the consumer buying journey.

Sensory, data, Amazon, Apple, Google, Siri, Alexa, data, brand, Buick, custom, branded, wake, word

A Wake Word Resurgence Is Upon Us

Wake word technology will see a resurgence, driven in part by the fact that wake words have gone mainstream and that brands are realizing there is value to controlling their own voice experiences.

Your Brand’s Blind Spot is the Ear

In an increasingly sonic world, consumer brands are dimensionalizing their identities through sonic expressions that go far beyond audio logos and jingles for TV spots.

brand, sonic, sound, branding, audio, logo, design

Tech is about to transform education, and voice will be a vital component

Education has struggled to fully adopt technology as there have been numerous pushbacks on the role of digital devices in the classroom.

education, pandemic, COVID, COVID-19, learning, children, kids, students, Amazon, Alexa, Google, collaboration, Bamboo, teacher

RAIN & PulseLabs Analyze Voice Utterances During Spread of COVID-19

There's a strong case for keeping track of conversations on voice assistants and smart speakers. What are consumers saying, and how are they saying it?

pandemic, COVID, COVID-19, virus, Google, Amazon

RAIN & ORtelligence Partner to Voice-Enable Hospital Operating Rooms

Healthcare tech start-up pioneering novel surgical process optimization platform working with RAIN to enhance voice interface.

Music’s Next Renaissance: The Industry after COVID-19

The potential for voice-activated listening will shatter paradigms of streaming as we know it.

music, entertainment, COVID-19, COVID, pandemic, radio, podcasts, artists, lavels, concerts, streaming songs

COVID-19 Accelerates the Paradigm Shift from Touch to Talk

As COVID-19 threatens the global populace, we’re seeing voice and AI at the forefront to stemming the risk of infection.

pandemic, COVID, COVID-19, virus, Google, Amazon, Alexa, hospital, healthcare, biometrics

Why the Privacy Controversy Over Voice Assistants Misses the Point

Here is what actually happens with voice assistant recordings and why discussions about privacy in voice today are missing the bigger picture

Google, Amazon, Alexa, Echo, privacy, security, surveillance

RAIN & Vixen Labs Announce Global Partnership, Uniting the Leading Voice Specialist Agencies in the US & Europe

Global partnership creates the first voice specialist agency network spanning North America, the UK, and Europe.

State of Voice Search 2019

Implications for how brands and businesses should be optimizing their digital ecosystems for visibility in a voice search driven world.

search, SEO, optimization, web, website, Alexa, Amazon, Google, shopping, commerce, purchase, car

State of Voice Shopping 2019

Voice users are turning to their assistants for many points along their shopping journey including product research, price comparison, adding to cart and more.

commerce, shopping, retail, e-commerce, Amazon, Alexa, Google, purchase, car, automotive, multimodal, advertising

How To Drive Adoption of Voice Experiences

How can designers let users know all that is possible in a voice experience without overwhelming the user?

adoption, Amazon, Google, design, UX, UI, VUX, VUI, Alexa, Headspace

3 Best Practices for Designing Empathetic Voice Experiences

One of the biggest challenges with voice assistants is that they sound like humans…almost.

experience, empathy, empathetic, emotion, Amazon, Alexa, design

Let’s Talk About Brand Voice

When technology is anthropomorphic, which voice inherently is, the expectations around how that technology performs increase.

persona, brand, tone, authenticity, marketing, design, Sesame, Elmo, Starbucks, Alexa, Amazon

How to Personalize a User’s Voice Experience

How can designers let users know all that is possible in a voice experience without overwhelming the user?

personalization, personalize, design, IT, Amazon, Starbucks, data,

Building Toward Natural Interactions with Voice Assistants

Best practices to reduce friction and improve user experience through voice assistants.

design, experience, UX, UI, VUX, VUI

How Brands Can Use Voice-Enabled Ads to Enhance Their Message

Voice ads can capture how a user feels about the promotion of an offering and creates a new avenue for brands to find messaging that resonates.

advertising, JetBlue, NPR, Amazon, Google, Pandora, Spotify, Instreamatic, Alexa, Audioburst

RAIN Powers Headspace’s Webby Award-Winning Alexa Skill

The Headspace Alexa Skill recently took home the 2019 People’s Voice and Webby Award in the category of Apps, Mobile and Voice - Health, Fitness & Lifestyle.

Headspace, Alexa, Amazon, meditation, meditating, VOXA, health, happiness, design

Managing Feedback and Navigating Errors in Voice Experience Design

Developers need to take into account unexpected scenarios in every question of the voice experience.

developer, intent, design, Amazon, Alexa

RAIN Partners with Imagination, Bringing Voice to Immersive Brand Experiences

How to Put Voice to Work in Your Organization

Introducing RAIN’s Enterprise Voice Design Sprint.

employees, enterprise, logistics, efficiency, safety

Creating a Fluid Conversational Experience

Learn how our VOXA framework enabled us to create a fluid cross-platform experience.

Meredith, Alexa, Amazon, VOXA, health, healthcare, fitness, nutrition, beauty, exercise

RAIN & Prime Video Launch Immersive Gaming Skill

New Alexa Skill, DreamWorks Kung Fu Panda: The Paws of Destiny allows kids to talk to beloved animated characters and learn the lessons of kung fu.

Game, kungfu, panda, dreamworks, Amazon, Prime, Alexa, children, kids, movie

What's your company's voice IQ?

Take our quiz today to see where you stand and what you can do now to advance your position in voice and conversational AI.

quiz, strategy, maturity

The First Voice-Activated Sneaker Drop

RAIN teams up with Nike, Google, R/GA, Turner Sports to make history.

ecommerce, retail, sneakers, shoes, Nike, commerce, shopping, NBA, TV, Google, RGA, basketball, live, design, multimodality, Adapt, retail, e-commerce

Voice Strategy & Roadmap (VSR)

RAIN’s Voice Strategy & Roadmap (VSR) approach takes stock of how voice tech relates to your business, your digital ecosystem, and your consumers, today and in the near future.

State of In-Car Voice Assistants

The recent success of Amazon’s Echo Auto pre-sales has made in-car voice assistants and their usage a major discussion for 2019.

car, auto, automotive, in-car, Amazon, driver, driving, Google, Verizon, Apple, carPlay, BMW, SoundHound, Drivetime

7 Voice Technology Predictions for 2019

To get you thinking about what’s next in the voice landscape, we’ve tapped the RAIN brain trust for their 2019 predictions.

trends, predictions, 2019, Siri, Apple, healthcare, biometrics, health, multimodality, multimodal

Bridging the Gap Between Voice Technology and Social Influencers

What we learned from a voice-first social influencer activation.

social media, games, influence, social, influencers, Unilever, Alexa, Amazon, celebrity

Your Check-List for the Multimodal Revolution

The Multimodal Revolution is here. Is your organization ready?

Amazon, Alexa, Google, multimodal, multimodality, screen, Echo, Facebook, marketing

Voice Assistant Consumer Adoption Report 2018

Download our new report in partnership with Voicebot and Pullstring.

trends, voicebot, pullstring, 2018

How Voice Activation Will Transform Healthcare

The industry and brands involved need to be ready to adapt.

Why The Future of Online Reviews Will Be Driven By Voice Technology

Here’s what we can expect from a future of reviews driven by voice.

reviews, ecommerce, shopping

Introducing the Perfect AI Assistant

3 Ways Voice Assistants Can Improve Home Healthcare

How voice assistants can provide valuable support to the aging-in-place community.

Amazon, Google, Alexa, healthcare, hospitals, doctors, practitioners, patients, Pillo, Ipsoft, Amelia, HIPPAA, compliance

Hey Siri, we have to talk

An open letter to Apple’s digital assistant.

Siri, Apple, venturebeat

Voice Forward, Not Voice Only

Our conversations with technology need to be multimodal — which is why the next generation of voice-driven experiences actually demands a screen.

Google, Assistant, Alexa, Amazon, multimodality, multimodal, design, venturebeat

State of Voice Shopping 2018

V-Commerce Has Arrived. Most studies suggest that at least 25% of consumers who own and engage with voice assistants have used it for purchases.

commerce, shopping, retail, e-commerce, Amazon, Alexa, Google, purchase

The 2018 Smart Speaker Consumer Adoption Report

RAIN partnered with Voicebot to understand how people are interacting with Voice-enabled devices today.

Voicebot, report, 2018, consumer, adoption, trends

Meet the man in charge of integrating emerging tech like AR, VR and Voice at RAIN

As VP of Emerging Experiences, Greg Hedges blends strategy and design with tech know-how.

Voice Assistants are big this holiday season (but still annoying to shop with)

As interactions grow smarter over time, consumers will do more and more of their shopping via Voice.

Greg, Hedges, shopping, commerce, ecommerce, AdAge, Alexa, press

Interview with Steven Hansen, CTO of RAIN

Steven joins Voicebot Editor Bret Kinsella to talk about RAIN’s latest projects and lessons learned.

press, Voicebot, Steven, Hansen

How brands can build a winning voice strategy

Brands who are first to market will win more often.

strategy, press

RAIN and Ministry of Supply launch Alexa-enabled jacket

‘Mercury’ jacket signals new era of consumer interaction, where machines work together to make a user’s experiences more meaningful.

Alexa, jacket, press, voicebot

Voice is the original user interface

Andrew Howlett explains the unique opportunity brands have in the Voice technology space.

WARC, strategy, press

10 rising tech stars who are fueling a new wave of digital insights

Nithya Thadani joins this year’s list of Young Influentials shaking up the tech world.

Nithya, Thadani, press, AdWeek

What can brands do with voice devices in 2018?

Will Hall offers advice to brands on how to “win” Voice ahead of this year’s CES.

AdWeek, Will, Hall, press

Why this CEO believes in the power of tech connection

Nithya Thadani talks emerging technology, the power of connection, and the best advice she's ever received.

5 Good Minutes w/ Bloomberg Radio

Latest RAIN Reports

The Dawn of Brand-Owned Virtual Assistants

Our four-part report dives deep into the “what,” “why,” and “how” of brands building owned virtual assistants (OVAs). This shift will be profound for brands, consumers, and the voice ecosystem. Are you ready?

Voice in 2021: 9 Trends to Watch

See how voice is changing the way we live and work: 9 Voice Trends to Watch in 2021