technology for nonprofits leveraging voice recognition · 2020. 2. 26. · ibm’s watson &...
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Leveraging Voice Recognition Technology for Nonprofits
NC Tech4GoodJune 5, 2018
Caroline Stroud
Senior PortalMarketing, Partnerships
LinkedIn.com/in/carolinestroud
Voice Recognitionb. 2010**Voice recognition research and development was pioneered by Bell Laboratories in 1952.
Siri
IBM’s Watson & Microsoft’s Cortana
Google Assistant (Home)
Amazon’s Alexa (Echo)
Alexa has 82% of smart speaker share
There are over 25,000 Alexa skills to date
Who uses voice recognition technology?
Voice recognition (VR) is simple & smart
VR follows natural speech patterns
● VR relies on speech to communicate and perform actions.
● VR can decipher and respond to accents, dialects, inflections.
● Virtually no learning curve.
VR is only getting smarter (AI)● Voice is powered by artificial intelligence (AI) to continually evolve
and become a “smarter” friend or companion to users
● Alexa learns a user’s “Voice Profile” and improves recognition as she is utilized
● Ability to match a user’s voice sample, or “voice print,” to verify a
person's identity
Voice recognition:Edison Research& NPR’s
Survey demographics● 1,620 Americans surveyed ages 18+
● 800 smart speaker owners
● 820 non-smart speaker owners (control)
● Device owner data weighed to nationally representative figures
How nonprofits are leveraging voice technology
NPR● Currently offering 10 different Flash Briefing skills designed to
compliment news, podcast, radio shows○ Including Planet Money and NPR Story of the Day
● Flash Briefing skills are designed to reach users on a daily basis ○ These skills utilize an automated feed to share the latest news from a given
outlet
● “Alexa, what’s my Flash Briefing”
● “Alexa, what’s in the news”
American Heart Association● Skill designed for informational and educational content
● Alexa could play a role in life-saving situations: ○ Follow Alexa’s prompts for step-by-step CPR
● “Alexa, ask American Heart what are the warning signs of a heart attack”
● “Alexa, ask American Heart how to perform CPR”
Audubon Society● Skill designed to “bring bird calls into your home”
● Alexa can play back songs of 600 North American bird species
● “Alexa, ask Audubon to play an American Robin”
● “Alexa, ask Audubon what a Northern Cardinal sounds like”
NRDC and Ad Council● Skill designed to combat food waste
● Alexa can recommends storing techniques for food types
● “Alexa, ask Save the Food how to store asparagus”
● “Alexa, ask Save the Food if my avocados are still good”
Mayo Clinic● Two currently available skills on the Alexa Skill store
● Mayo Clinic First Aid
○ “Alexa, ask Mayo First Aid how to treat my baby’s fever”○ “Alexa, ask Mayo First Aid about spider bites”
● Mayo Clinic News Network
○ “Alexa, what’s my Flash Briefing?”
GlobalGiving● Enables updates about ongoing GlobalGiving projects
● Ask about featured projects or types of projects like technology
● “Alexa, ask GlobalGiving for the featured projects”
● “Alexa, ask GlobalGiving what the top education projects are”
UNICEF “Trick-or-Treat”● Skill designed to keep children and families engaged: jokes,
spooky sounds, fun facts
● Launched in conjunction with the annual Halloween UNICEF
campaign, October 2017
● To date, Trick-or-Treat for UNICEF is one of the
longest-running youth engagement initiatives and has raised
nearly $177M dollars
● “Alexa, open Trick or Treat UNICEF”
Voice-enabled donations
“Alexa, make a donation”● First released in April 2018
● Donate between $5 and $5,000
● Name, email address are shared with organization
● Alexa authenticates a voice donation using a user’s four-digit passcode
● Complete list: https://pay.amazon.com/us/alexadonations
Benefits of voice-enabled donations● Forge greater bonds with supporters
● Capture valuable donor data
● Build donor personas to find more donors like current demographic
● Connect donors to your social networks
● The easier you can make it for people to join your mission, the more supports you
will attract
What’s next?
Ford: Alexa-enabled vehicles
● Connect your Ford SYNC Connect vehicle to Alexa
● “Alexa, ask FordPass to start my car with PIN 1234.”
● “Alexa, ask FordPass to lock my vehicle.”
The future of VR ownership
● By 2022, it’s estimated that 55% of US households will own a smart speaker
(Amazon Alexa, Google Home, Apple HomePod, SonosOne, etc.)
● Hypothesis is that $19B will be spent by 2022 to advertise on voice platforms
● “Build a brand’s voice strategy around information provision as well as sales” -
James Moar
Q & A
