by Brian Owen, Editor, VoiceFirst Canada Media, presenter of VoiceCon Canada ‘VoiceCAN’
“Within the next five years, one third of Canadians will own a smart home device. By 2021, the number of consumers worldwide using AI voice assistants will reach 1.83 billion users.” reports Danny Galic, Aviva Canada’s VP of Digital and Engineering at Aviva Insurance Canada. Mr. Galic outlined Aviva’s mission and objective stating that, “Putting customers first and providing solutions that are convenient to them has always been our belief at Aviva. This is why we developed a Skill on Amazon Echo devices for Canadians to make insurance easier.”, adding, “The ‘Aviva Insurance‘ skill can answer insurance questions to help customers better understand their policy, help them find an Aviva broker, and get a quick car insurance quote for Ontarians.”
It is Aviva’s mandate to provide many channels of access and communication for their customers. Mr. Galic commented, “This is part of our omni-channel strategy – providing customers with opportunity to interact with us, irrespective of channel.”
Mr. Galic outlined the inception and deployment of Alexa, stating, “Our initial pilot is in the B2C (Business to Consumer) space, but we are looking at opportunities to apply the developed skills, as they evolve and mature, to B2B (Business to Business). The types of skills we are developing, both transactional and information based, are transferable to B2B. The usage is still low, but we’ve had positive responses so far. We will be looking at the data to plan for next iterations and to expand the skill further. In the future, we are planning to evolve it into more personalized and integrated service.”
In conclusion, Mr. Galic summarized, “Voice is a new emerging user experience, so the Aviva Insurance skill on Alexa is a test and learn pilot where we want to develop and evolve (a) voice user interface for insurance related tasks.”
As an added comment, we have been wondering as to the consequences, with respect to bilingualism in Canada and the Official Languages Act, when Alexa is deployed more publicly with either a Business to Business or Business to Consumer application.
When asked about Alexa en Francais! (in French), Mr. Galic responded, “In terms of the French language, since Amazon Alexa is only available in English right now, we’re looking forward to adapting new capabilities as they become available.”
For more information about the Aviva Insurance skill for Amazon Alexa, click here.
For information about other skills available to Canadians, click here.
