Kiosks have provided convenient self-service solutions for many businesses. By integrating voice technology, you can transform the way people interact with your self-service kiosk.
You can increase efficiency and accessibility by adding voice capabilities to assist kiosks with ordering or airport check-in services. Voice technology can broaden customer reach and make kiosks more user-friendly.
Continue reading to learn more about how speech recognition can help you achieve your business goals, possible challenges, and the future of voice technology in kiosks.
Understanding Voice Recognition Technology
Voice recognition technology provides a computer system with the ability to interpret and understand human speech.
It is programmed to interpret spoken words and convert them to commands. It is a great way to increase accessibility by customers issuing spoken commands.
Voice recognition technology utilizes natural language processing to analyze spoken words and interpret their context and meaning.
It can easily distinguish between diverse sounds and words. However, there is a distinction between voice recognition and speech recognition.
Although the terms are used interchangeably, they are not very the same.
Voice recognition refers to the system’s ability to identify a specific individual’s voice, while speech recognition refers to the system’s ability to understand words or phrases regardless of the speaker.
As such, kiosks utilize speech recognition to facilitate multiple users.
How Voice Technology Works in Kiosks
Voice technology enhances the user experience by providing an interactive, natural, and smooth way to command the machine to carry out tasks.
It allows customers to make a decision quickly at food ordering kiosks by simply speaking their order rather than scrolling through menus.
It broadens the target audience by allowing access to people with disabilities and limited mobility or visual impairments. It is an intuitive way to help familiarize users with the kiosk system.
Kiosks with voice technology reduce the need for physical interactions in the post-pandemic world.
For hygiene-conscious users, voice technology is safer in high-traffic areas such as airports and restaurants. It can reduce virus spread and ensure customer safety.
Benefits of Voice Technology in Kiosks
Easy Access
Voice technology provides access to a wide range of users. This includes people with various disabilities, the elderly, and non-native speakers. These persons can bypass language barriers to use the kiosk without assistance.
Furthermore, the interface is helpful to persons with different accents and dialects for international visitors. The multi-language support for voice-activated kiosks can bridge gaps in public spaces like airports and hotels.
Faster Transactions
Kiosks with voice technology can simplify transactions for customers. It allows users to navigate processes without multiple screens or system menus to place orders or make requests.
The addition of voice technology in kiosks can reduce congestion and lines and provide quicker, more efficient service.
This leads to a more satisfying user experience, as well as makes it possible for your business to handle more customers at once.
More Hygienic
The post-pandemic environment has been more concerned with high-touch public areas. Kiosks are high-contact surfaces that can easily accumulate bacteria.
Voice technology reduces the need to touch kiosk screens, so you can eliminate worry about the spread of illnesses. It enables users to make cleanliness a priority.
Challenges of Using Voice Technology in Kiosks
Background Noise
The main challenge of using voice technology in kiosks is the noise levels in high-traffic areas. The kiosks are installed in crowded and noisy areas, which makes speech recognition a bit impaired.
Customers may find it difficult to issue voice commands if there are too many competing sounds. To combat this issue, many kiosks use noise-canceling microphones in tandem with sophisticated speech recognition software.
It is not a foolproof strategy, however, it makes it possible to operate voice-activated kiosks in many noise-prone environments.
Privacy
Consumer data protection and privacy are also a concern at kiosks with interactive voice technology.
Customers may be wary of issuing voice commands due to the increase in voice phishing or recording for malicious use. You must consider what information is inputted through speech at these kiosks and use strict controls.
To alleviate these concerns, the kiosk technology deletes voice data after each interaction. Users are also clearly informed on how their data will be used and their privacy can be maintained.
High Costs
Voice technology implementation may be costly for some businesses. The advanced software provides high-quality speech recognition but may have countless updates and maintenance requirements.
It may be very expensive to constantly update and ensure integration with different systems. However, the increased customer engagement and satisfaction may outweigh the costs of implementation and maintenance.
It is important that you assess the cost-benefit of voice technology before investing.
The Future Trends for Voice Technology in Kiosks
Artificial Intelligence
Voice technology has advanced to include the use of artificial intelligence (AI) to enable kiosks to understand complex commands. It allows the kiosk to interpret a wide range of languages and accents for more personalized experiences.
AI-powered voice technology can learn from past user interactions and provide increased accuracy over time. This allows the kiosk to recognize previous customer orders and preferences for a seamless user experience.
Expansion into New Industries
Voice technology in kiosks can expand to different industries. They can assist the healthcare, education, and entertainment industries with various tasks.
These kiosks can be deployed to assist patients with quick check-in or registration with touchless communication.
Similarly, transportation hubs can use voice-activated kiosks to quickly assist visitors or commuters with accessing information or navigation, flight check-in, and booking transportation. It can streamline operations and provide faster results.
Conclusion
Voice technology can revolutionize the kiosk experience for all users by providing a more interactive and hygienic way to use the terminals.
Although there are challenges of background noise, increased privacy issues, and high costs, they are easily mitigated with proper kiosk design and planning based on your industry or main goal.
As voice technology improves, we can harness the power of advanced software to enhance the user experience through additional personalization and smarter responses.
If you are interested in adding voice technology to your kiosks, contact us for a free quote.
