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Forbes Technology Council

Over the last several years, voice-activated technology has gained mass adoption in the consumer world. It’s not uncommon to hear people dictating notes, reminders and appointments to their smartphones, asking their car’s GPS for directions or controlling their home’s systems and ambiance through a console like the Amazon Echo or Google Home.

The natural progression of this useful technology is for it to be integrated into the workplace. Although many employees already use voice controls for their daily work, it’s only a matter of time before enterprise software and hardware become equipped with voice activation. As we look toward the age of the ubiquitous smart office, members of Forbes Technology Council shared their thoughts on how companies will use voice to empower and improve their workforce.

1. The Rise Of The Smart Office 

Voice activation is increasingly running the smart home and driving the future of IoT. These consumer innovations will be mimicked in commercial spaces, where resource needs are higher and more complex. Companies can conveniently optimize energy and comfort at the office with a quick command — just like individuals use personal assistant devices to adjust lighting and thermostats at home. – James McPhail, Zen Ecosystems

2. Better Reporting 

Amazon is one of the first companies to make a serious attempt to get voice activation into the workplace with Alexa for Business. First adopters are using Alexa for meetings and to set up conference calls. I’m looking forward to being able to trigger custom workflows that integrate voice control with my calendar or task list and to get real-time voice reports for important business metrics. – Vik Patel, Nexcess

3. Supercharged Data Analysis 

Voice-activated tech, utilizing advanced AI like natural language processing (NLP), will eventually integrate with enterprise systems and leverage their wealth of data. With this foundation, these solutions will be able to instantly analyze records, create reports, and search intranets in addition to completing basic recording and automation duties. The search queries excite me most. – Adam Rogers, UltimateSoftware.com

4. Fully Automated Office Management 

Workers will be able to engage the workspace in every way. Starting with easy commands, such as finding people, locations or equipment, AI will continue to improve so that voice activation and office technologies and hardware will be able to help better interpret an issue, give a worker the ability to self-correct a mistake or make recommendations based on the worker’s past use/performance. – Elizabeth Dukes, iofficecorp.com

5. Slack Integration 

As more companies start allowing their employees to work from home, voice-activated technology can help feel more connected. I can see more remote workers adapting voice-activated technology and integrating it with a tool like Slack. Alexa could read all of the Slack messages in a thread while you’re working on a project instead of having to stop your work to read the thread. – Thomas Griffin, OptinMonster

6. Increased Creativity And Collaboration 

Depending on whether voice activation tech can be sharpened and enhanced, this tech permits ideas to be captured much quicker than before and allows creativity to unreservedly flow. This can have tremendous positive implications for all stages in a business environment. Collaboration and teamwork can increase. – Alexandro Pando, Xyrupt