Voice Automation@HomeOffice

If the Corona pandemic has an advantage, it is that we have learned over the past two years how to optimize our virtual home office workplace.

We have invested in large screens and good PC cameras, we know every setting on our headset and the video conference solution used, and our workplace is optimally set up for the daily video conference marathon (including beautiful background arrangement, sports equipment, and espresso machine).

In addition, many have installed smart voice assistants in their private lives in order to playfully color lamps, open window blinds or simply be woken up with their favorite playlist.

But how can the simple voice control that we have become accustomed to in our private lives be used at work?

Technically, a lot is already possible: dictate letters and emails, open programs, search the intranet, etc.

In an internal employee survey with over 500 participants from Deutsche Telekom, the top requests for the voicification of work applications included topics such as:

• meeting notes,
• live translation,
• to-do lists and
• creating calendar entries.

But what was the working world like before Corona? Have you ever dictated an email in the open-plan office or set a reminder for the next week?

After a nice smile from the colleagues in the office, you let it be. Added to this was the technical equipment and the lack of know-how. Not everyone had good headphones and their microphone adjusted so that the available tools enabled a good transcription.

The time required was too high for many and, depending on the provider and the training effort, one was often disappointed with the result.

It's different in the Corona home office: My headset is optimally set for voice input and most of the time on my head. I often sit alone at the PC and no one bothers me or smiles when I simply dictate my tasks for the next week or my emails (even in two languages).

My conclusion: As much as I'm looking forward to my great work place and my colleagues in the office again, I've rediscovered the technical possibilities of voice automation at (home) work and learned again to appreciate language as the most natural and efficient input method in the work environment.

This article has been written after some training with a voice assistant in my home office....

?#voice #voiceautomation #futurework #homeoffice #innovation #hr

https://github.com/telekom/voice-skill-sdk