Emerson Sklar, Chief Evangelist at Bespoken Talks About AI-Driven Voice Experiences (Episode 161)
Welcome, Emerson Sklar
Emerson Sklar is the Chief Evangelist at Bespoken. Bespoken is the world leader in testing, training, and monitoring for AI-driven voice and chat experiences.
What Does Emerson Enjoy Doing the Most Lately?
Emerson spent most of his career in the testing space and originally started in automated testing a few years ago at Applause on the manual testing side. Emerson was then drawn to Bespoken because of how different and unique the quality is in voice and the various ad usability.
How Emerson’s Background with the “Eagle Scouts” Played a Role in Who He Has Become?
When Emerson was a youth, he went to over 22 boy scout camps all over the east coast and knew that was his future home. This past summer was the first year that Emerson did not get to volunteer at the camp because of the COVID pandemic. It was very impactful and informative for Emerson to spend time there, both as a camper and as a staff member.
Emerson loves to give back and make an impact when it comes to children. Some important principles that Emerson learned as an “Eagle Scout” are that you don’t have to be perfect; what’s more important is being trustworthy, kind, and being brave.
Ian Mentioned that So much of what Emerson Does at his Company Has to do with Being Courageous and Bold and Asked him to Elaborate on that Concept.
Emerson Talked about being Bold and Courageous at his Company
Emerson mentioned there are two categories of bravery. One is to save a friend if they were in harm’s way and the other kind is the tough kind; when peers are doing things that may be inappropriate and you have to stand up to them.
Emerson said that there is certainly no guaranteed path to success in the voice industry but the genesis has been that his mentors and leaders were very open and receptive.
Some Things Emerson Has Been Working on Lately
At a high level, Emerson mentioned that the concept revolves around robots talking to robots. You can write a script one time, click a button, and it will talk to the device automatically.
Emerson also said that he has a notion of test robots called RoboLlamas. He said that these devices enable us to automate interaction with any kind of voice-enabled device.
Solutions to a Frustrating Customer Service Experience
Emerson said that the rise of intelligent virtual agents has been a very frustrating experience for clients (such as the ones you experience when you call your insurance provider or credit card company) because it doesn’t properly understand you. A lot of companies are noticing that the rates of incoming calls have gone way up now that people are home and have started making investments to tie technology such as Alexa, and Twilio to some of their legacy systems.
Another thing that has become more prevalent due to the pandemic is the need for having live automation and live interaction with voice-enabled devices that are not co-located with you. There is a capability that enables one to do live bi-directional stream sessions with voice-enabled devices using laptops, mobile phones, etc. (commodity hardware). This is much more secure and scalable than just a FaceTime call.
What Areas Does Emerson See as the Most Promising out of the Physical Hardware, Software, or the Brains Behind it All?
Emerson believes that the device manufacturers and embedded hardware manufactures have done a phenomenal job of getting us to where we are today.
Emerson believes that AI has a lot of room for growth. Emerson is the most excited about is the software side. The burden shifted from the actual development of underlying technology to designing something that is really conversational.
Learn More About Emerson Sklar and Bespoken
Bespoken Website
Connect with Emerson Sklar on LinkedIn
Follow on Twitter
Thank You to the Sponsors of The Voice Den:
Headliners Sponsors
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