The customer experience team at Newcastle Permanent Building Society were confident replacing adhoc different systems across its contact centre and digital channels with a single, integrated platform would lead to efficiencies and cost reductions. What they didn’t know initially was how it could innovate their omnichannel and team approach.

Southern Cross Austereo (SCA) is claiming an Australian-first with its new voice-activated locals guide offering aimed at making community events listings more accessible to share with audiences.

Voice recognition technology is being tapped by R U OK? and JCDecaux in their latest collaboration aimed at supporting Australians feeling the mental health strain during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

Nova is claiming an industry-first with a new interactive audio commercial format aimed at making radio, podcast and smart device advertising more engaging. And at least one creative industry leader sees both its possibilities for marketers tactically as well as strategically.

A new study has found, by 2030, 67 per cent of customer engagement will be handled by smart machines. However, will this simply be trading empathy for efficiency?

Real Insurance is claiming a life insurance industry first with a new Google Assistant app allowing customers to gather details on policy information through their mobile or smart speaker.

A brand reset and commitment to simplifying health insurance for Australia’s younger consumers has led frank to launch what it claims is the first voice app for the private health industry.

Brands not taking the opportunity to get on the front foot of voice-based interaction and experiment with devices such as Amazon Alexa risk missing the boat on the next wave of customer engagement.

​It is often said smell is the most evocative senses, readily resurfacing memories and feelings. But with marketers generally limited in their ability to reach the olfactory organs of most consumers, other senses can still be used to great effect.

NAB has expanded its investment into voice-based interaction with customers with the launch of a new MLC superannuation virtual assistant for Google Home devices.

ASX-listed artificial intelligence company, Flamingo, has commenced a trial with Liberty Mutual Insurance Company in the US that will see its cognitive virtual assistant guiding customers through auto insurance quotations.

Getting consumers to successfully adopt your brand’s AI-powered chatbot or voice-based interaction means sticking to simple use cases that tap into marketing, operations and service capabilities across the organisation.

NSW commuters are to become the latest beneficiaries of voice-based interaction thanks to a new Transport for NSW integration with Amazon’s Alexa platform.

The arrival of Amazon Alexa in Australia is set to become an even bigger game-changer in the way brands interact with their consumers than mobile apps when they made their debut more than 10 years ago, industry pundits believe.

Mercer is taking a big step into the world of artificial intelligence-powered robots with a prototype that allows consumers to access customer services, transact and glean personal financial advice using their voice.

The new voice-activated era is driving more brands to launch innovative marketing campaigns, with some reaping more success than others. We take a look at 8 brands who are leveraging voice-activation to boost engagement and drive customer experience.

The Australian Taxation Office (ATO) has extended the use of voice biometrics technology to its mobile app in a bid to provide more consistent multi-channel experiences to citizens while boosting security and productivity.

Coles is conducting an in-home customer trial of Hiku: A device that incorporates voice-recognition capabilities and allows users to add items to an online shopping list.

An Ernst & Young report says that text analytics and voice-recognition software can help customer-service reps solve problems instead of trying to cross-sell an unhappy caller.