Voice app
A voice app is software that extends voice assistants with additional dialogues and functionalities. Voice app is a manufacturer-independent generic term. The Amazon Alexa language assistant uses the term Skill for voice apps, the Google Assistant the term Action and Samsung Bixby the term Capsule.
Names and activation of voice apps
Voice apps have a fixed name, the so-called Invocation Name. This name is usually chosen by the developers of a voice app themselves.
Users activate voice apps on voice assistants using a specific word sequence followed by their invoication name.
| Voice assistant | Activation sequence |
|---|---|
| Amazon Alexa | "Alexa ask (voice app name) ..." |
| Google Assistant | "Hey Google, talk to (voice app name) ..." |
If a voice app has been activated in this way, the programming of the relevant voice app is called up to process the subsequent request, which then also generates the response to be output.
Voice App Store
A voice app store is a platform on which an overview of the existing voice apps of a voice assistant is offered and sold there.
Currently existing voice app stores:
| Voice App Store | associated language assistant | Number of US skills (Jan 19) | Number of skills D |
|---|---|---|---|
| Amazon Skill Store | Amazon Alexa | 56,750 | 6,675 |
| Google App Store | Google Assistant | 4,253 | (unknown) |
| Bixby Marketplace | Samsung Bixby | (unknown) | (App Store not available) |
Voice app development
A variety of technologies are available for developing voice apps. JavaScript and the Node.js library are very often used to develop Amazon Skills .
Documentation for voice app development:
| Voice assistant | Developer documentation URL |
|---|---|
| Amazon Alexa | https://developer.amazon.com/de-DE/alexa/alexa-skills-kit |
| Google Assistant | https://developers.google.com/assistant |
| Samsung Bixby | https://bixbydevelopers.com/ |
Use in companies
The areas of application of voice apps are just as broad as mobile apps . Important classes of purposes are
- Voice apps accompanying the product
- Voice apps as an integral part of a product
- Use as a communication tool in marketing, e.g. B.
- Customer services via voice assistants
- Voice content marketing
- Voice branding
- Employer branding and recruiting
- Use to optimize internal company processes
Individual evidence
- ↑ Bret Kinsella: Google Assistant Actions Totel 4,253 in January 2019 , In: Voicebot.ai, February 15, 2019, accessed on December 19, 2019
- ↑ More than 6,600 Alexa Skills available in Germany , accessed on December 19, 2019
- ↑ Thomas Hörner: Marketing with voice assistants, Verlag Springer Gabler, Wiesbaden 2019, ISBN 978-3-658-25649-4