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RAIN Appoints New CEO to Propel UAE Growth and Global Launch of Surgical Voice Assistant, “Orva”

Appointing Abbes Seqqat as CEO, RAIN accelerates the commercialization of the "Orva" (operating room voice assistant) and expands its footprint in the UAE’s dynamic healthcare ecosystem.
More
RAIN Team
#leadership #healthcare #uae #orva
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RAIN unveils Orva, the first voice AI assistant for the operating room, at Abu Dhabi Global Healthcare Week

Orva, akin to an “Alexa for the OR,” delivers voice-first surgical documentation & coordination in a hands-free solution
More
RAIN Team
Healthcare, Voice AI, Operating Room, Announcement
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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.
More
Eric Turkington
Vice President of Growth
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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.
More
@phillcomm w/ Chen Zhang & Eric Turkington
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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.
More
RAIN Staff
Voice assistant, Suffolk, RAIN, Hey Louie, CoLab, Construction, Technology
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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?
More
RAIN
Staff
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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
More
RAIN
Staff
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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...
More
Eric Turkington (w/ DeepBrainAI’s Joe Murphy)
VP of Growth
Voice, RAIN, DeepBrainAI, Joe Murphy, AR, VR, Augmented Reality, Virtual Reality, Voice, Voice Technology, Voice Assistant, AI Humans,
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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.
More
Eric Turkington
VP, Growth
voice tech, voice assistant,
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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.
More
Eric Turkington
VP, Growth
self, service, customer
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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.
More
Eric Turkington
VP, Growth
synthesis, deepfakes, Bourdain, AI
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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.
More
Kristen Wong
Strategy Analyst
multimodality, shopping, ecommerce, advertising, visual, retail, commerce, Alexa, Amazon, Samsung, kitchen
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Biometric

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.
More
Dale LaRue
Director, Client Strategy
healthcare, assistants, automotive
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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.
More
Kristen Wong
Strategy Analyst
employees, enterprise, deskless, transportation, logistics, drivers, trucks, fleet, delivery, Garmin, Volvo, Volkswagen, Alexa, Omnitracs, LeasePlan, Penske, Iveco
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Construction

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.
More
Kristen Wong
Strategy Analyst
employees, construction, enterprise, deskless, jobsite, ProCore
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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.
More
Kristen Wong
Strategy Analyst
education, ABCmouse, AoL, singing, songs, learning, Google, design, multimodal, multimodality
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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.
More
Kristen Wong
Strategy Analyst
employees, farmers, agriculture, crops, enterprise, deskless, agtech, agritech, farm, Alexa, Autogrow, IT
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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.
More
Eric Turkington
VP of Strategic Partnerships
employees, enterprise, deskless, workforce, training
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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.
More
Eric Turkington
VP of Strategic Partnerships
employees, enterprise, deskless, workforce, retail, hospitality, restaurants, efficiency, productivity, operations, training, sales, associates
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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.
More
Eric Turkington
VP of Strategic Partnerships
spotlight
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Why Employee Voice Solutions Are the Perfect Shiftmate for Service Workers

Voice technology presents a major untapped opportunity for service industry companies.
More
Matt Lang
Strategy Director
employees, enterprise, deskless, workforce, retail, hospitality, restaurants, efficiency, productivity, operations, Walmart, training, sales, associates
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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.
More
Eric Turkington
VP of Strategic Partnerships
employees, enterprise, deskless, workforce, agriculture, education, healthcare, retail, hospitality, manufacturing, construction, transportation, efficiency, productivity, operations
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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.
More
Kristen Wong
Strategy Analyst
advertising, NBC, NBCUniversal, Peacock, Spotify, Pandora, Axe, Unilever, Alexa, Google, NARS, Estee, Suave, Coors, Bayer, Berocca, TV, commerce, shopping, hearables,
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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.
More
Eric Turkington
VP of Strategic Partnerships
productivity, employees, enterprise, agriculture, education, healthcare, retail, hospitality, manufacturing, construction, transportation, efficiency, productivity, operations
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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.
More
Eric Turkington
VP of Strategic Partnerships
deskless, workforce, funding
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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.
More
Eric Turkington
VP of Strategic Partnerships
trends, predictions, 2020
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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.
More
Kristen Wong
Strategy Analyst
trends, 2021, advertising, mobile, OVA, peripherals, hearables, earbuds, retail, automotive, cars, gaming
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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.
More
Matt Lang
Strategy Director
children, child, kids, Google, Alexa, Amazon, Echo, family, education, entertainment, privacy, design, data
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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.
More
Eric Turkington
Dale LaRue
custom, data, owned, Amazon, Google, Samsung, Alexa, Bixby, OVA, MVA, brand, identity, enterprise, employee
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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
More
Eric Turkington
Dale LaRue
custom, data, owned, Amazon, Google, Samsung, Alexa, Bixby, OVA, MVA, brand, identity
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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.
More
Eric Turkington
Dale LaRue
custom, data, owned, Amazon, Google, Samsung, Alexa, Bixby, OVA, MVA
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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.
More
Eric Turkington
Dale LaRue
custom, data, owned, Amazon, Google , Alexa, OVA, MVA, brand, identity, healthcare, Suki, entertainment, BBC, NFL, Muncie, automotive, Houndify, SoundHound, QSR, McDonald, Pandora, Dominos, Snapchat
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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.
More
Nick Rovisa
Director of Business Development
hotel, resort, hospitality, Wynn, guests, employees, enterprise, Amazon, Alexa, concierge
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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.
More
Kristen Wong
Strategy Analyst
Sensory, data, Amazon, Apple, Google, Siri, Alexa, data, brand, Buick, custom, branded, wake, word
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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.
More
Todd Mozer
CEO
Sensory
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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.
More
Eric Turkington
VP of Strategic Partnerships
brand, sonic, sound, branding, audio, logo, design
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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.
More
Hannah Paxton
Strategy Analyst
education, pandemic, COVID, COVID-19, learning, children, kids, students, Amazon, Alexa, Google, collaboration, Bamboo, teacher
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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?
More
Eric Turkington
VP of Strategic Partnerships
pandemic, COVID, COVID-19, virus, Google, Amazon
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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.
More
Eric Turkington
VP of Strategic Partnerships
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Music’s Next Renaissance: The Industry after COVID-19

The potential for voice-activated listening will shatter paradigms of streaming as we know it.
More
Dale LaRue
Director, Client Strategy
music, entertainment, COVID-19, COVID, pandemic, radio, podcasts, artists, lavels, concerts, streaming songs
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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.
More
Shanna Walia
Strategy Analyst
pandemic, COVID, COVID-19, virus, Google, Amazon, Alexa, hospital, healthcare, biometrics
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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
More
Shanna Walia
Strategy Analyst
Google, Amazon, Alexa, Echo, privacy, security, surveillance
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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.
More
Vixen, Europe
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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.
More
Matt Lang
Strategy Director
search, SEO, optimization, web, website, Alexa, Amazon, Google, shopping, commerce, purchase, car
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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.
More
Matt Lang
Strategy Director
commerce, shopping, retail, e-commerce, Amazon, Alexa, Google, purchase, car, automotive, multimodal, advertising
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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?
More
Bryan Sebesta
UX/UI Designer
adoption, Amazon, Google, design, UX, UI, VUX, VUI, Alexa, Headspace
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Building Toward Natural Interactions with Voice Assistants

Best practices to reduce friction and improve user experience through voice assistants.
More
Ben Steele
Sr. Producer
design, experience, UX, UI, VUX, VUI
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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?
More
personalization, personalize, design, IT, Amazon, Starbucks, data,
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Let’s Talk About Brand Voice

When technology is anthropomorphic, which voice inherently is, the expectations around how that technology performs increase.
More
Elissa Dailey
Strategy Director
persona, brand, tone, authenticity, marketing, design, Sesame, Elmo, Starbucks, Alexa, Amazon
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3 Best Practices for Designing Empathetic Voice Experiences

One of the biggest challenges with voice assistants is that they sound like humans…almost.
More
Will Hall
Chief Creative Officer
experience, empathy, empathetic, emotion, Amazon, Alexa, design
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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.
More
Hannah Paxton
Strategy Analyst
advertising, JetBlue, NPR, Amazon, Google, Pandora, Spotify, Instreamatic, Alexa, Audioburst
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Awards

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.
More
Steven Hansen
Chief Technology Officer
Headspace, Alexa, Amazon, meditation, meditating, VOXA, health, happiness, design
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RAIN Partners with Imagination, Bringing Voice to Immersive Brand Experiences

More
Brian Edelman
Founding Partner
Imagination
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Managing Feedback and Navigating Errors in Voice Experience Design

Developers need to take into account unexpected scenarios in every question of the voice experience.
More
Octavio Menocal
Voice App Engineer
developer, intent, design, Amazon, Alexa
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How to Put Voice to Work in Your Organization

Introducing RAIN’s Enterprise Voice Design Sprint.
More
Eric Turkington
VP of Strategic Partnerships
employees, enterprise, logistics, efficiency, safety
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Creating a Fluid Conversational Experience

Learn how our VOXA framework enabled us to create a fluid cross-platform experience.
More
Matt Lang
Strategy Director
Meredith, Alexa, Amazon, VOXA, health, healthcare, fitness, nutrition, beauty, exercise
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Gaming

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.
More
Nick Rovisa
Director of Business Development
Game, kungfu, panda, dreamworks, Amazon, Prime, Alexa, children, kids, movie
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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.
More
Eric Turkington
VP of Strategic Partnerships
quiz, strategy, maturity
|
Retail

The First Voice-Activated Sneaker Drop

RAIN teams up with Nike, Google, R/GA, Turner Sports to make history.
More
Dale LaRue
Director, Client Strategy
ecommerce, retail, sneakers, shoes, Nike, commerce, shopping, NBA, TV, Google, RGA, basketball, live, design, multimodality, Adapt, retail, e-commerce
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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.
More
Greg Hedges
VP, Emerging Experiences
strategy
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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.
More
Hannah Paxton
Strategy Associate
car, auto, automotive, in-car, Amazon, driver, driving, Google, Verizon, Apple, carPlay, BMW, SoundHound, Drivetime
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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.
More
Matt Lang
Strategy Director
trends, predictions, 2019, Siri, Apple, healthcare, biometrics, health, multimodality, multimodal
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Social Media

Bridging the Gap Between Voice Technology and Social Influencers

What we learned from a voice-first social influencer activation.
More
Matt Lang
Strategy Director
social media, games, influence, social, influencers, Unilever, Alexa, Amazon, celebrity
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Your Check-List for the Multimodal Revolution

The Multimodal Revolution is here. Is your organization ready?
More
Matt Lang
Strategy Director
Amazon, Alexa, Google, multimodal, multimodality, screen, Echo, Facebook, marketing
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Voice Assistant Consumer Adoption Report 2018

Download our new report in partnership with Voicebot and Pullstring.
More
trends, voicebot, pullstring, 2018
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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.
More
Matt Lang
Strategy Director
reviews, ecommerce, shopping
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How Voice Activation Will Transform Healthcare

The industry and brands involved need to be ready to adapt.
More
Eric Turkington
VP of Strategic Partnerships
|

Introducing the Perfect AI Assistant

More
trends, report
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3 Ways Voice Assistants Can Improve Home Healthcare

How voice assistants can provide valuable support to the aging-in-place community.
More
Matt Lang
Strategy Director
Amazon, Google, Alexa, healthcare, hospitals, doctors, practitioners, patients, Pillo, Ipsoft, Amelia, HIPPAA, compliance
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Hey Siri, we have to talk

An open letter to Apple’s digital assistant.
More
Will Hall
Chief Creative Officer
Siri, Apple, venturebeat
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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.
More
Steven Hansen
Chief Technology Officer
Google, Assistant, Alexa, Amazon, multimodality, multimodal, design, venturebeat
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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.
More
Matt Lang
Strategy Director
commerce, shopping, retail, e-commerce, Amazon, Alexa, Google, purchase
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The 2018 Smart Speaker Consumer Adoption Report

RAIN partnered with Voicebot to understand how people are interacting with Voice-enabled devices today.
More
Voicebot, report, 2018, consumer, adoption, trends
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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.
More
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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.
More
AdWeek, Will, Hall, press
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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.
More
Nithya, Thadani, press, AdWeek
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Voice is the original user interface

Andrew Howlett explains the unique opportunity brands have in the Voice technology space.
More
WARC, strategy, press
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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.
More
Alexa, jacket, press, voicebot
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How brands can build a winning voice strategy

Brands who are first to market will win more often.
More
strategy, press
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Interview with Steven Hansen, CTO of RAIN

Steven joins Voicebot Editor Bret Kinsella to talk about RAIN’s latest projects and lessons learned.
More
Matt Knecht
press, Voicebot, Steven, Hansen
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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.
More
Greg, Hedges, shopping, commerce, ecommerce, AdAge, Alexa, press
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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.
More
|

5 Good Minutes w/ Bloomberg Radio

More
Nick Rovisa
Director of Business Development
press

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?
Read More

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
Read More

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