Originally published in May 2022
Updated in January 2026
Virtual digital assistants such as Amazon Alexa, Apple Siri, Microsoft Cortana and others use AI software to recognise and respond to spoken requests. When voice technology began in 2011 with Siri, nobody foresaw that it would drive a new era of digital innovation.
Now, in 2026, an estimated one in three US adults owns a smart speaker. Analysts report that nearly 95% of smartphone users engage with voice assistants.
Voice interfaces are spreading all over industries, such as banking or contact centers. That is why businesses rush to release their voice technology integrations to communicate with customers easily and take advantage of internal processes.
Virtual assistants are built into many different smart devices, but the most common among them are smart speakers and phones. According to Juniper Research, users of digital voice assistants may reach 8 billion by next year.
Thus, smart speakers are the devices with the largest year-on-year growth. The conversational AI market has intriguing opportunities for enterprises as well. That’s why virtual assistants are becoming one of the most convenient ways to automate customer support, communicate with customers, and streamline internal processes.
In 2019, Oracle unveiled its AI-trained voice for Oracle Digital Assistant. By 2026, more than 85% of Global 2,000 firms rely on voice to run enterprise systems, achieving faster decisions, richer engagement, simpler workflows, and a fifteen per cent rise in productivity.
Oracle’s intelligent voice assistant can analyse enterprise- and domain-specific vocabulary that open and consumer-centric domain models are not trained on. It also makes voice and user interaction more expressive by handling complex queries and extracting intelligence from all available enterprise applications, such as ERP, CRM, and HR systems, to respond in context to the query made.
In addition to being used to provide enhanced customer support by ensuring convenience and personalisation to consumers, voice assistants have proven their value for administrative tasks. Working as virtual colleagues, voice assistants automate low-value tasks such as:
- Schedule meetings
- Set reminders
- Assist with conference calls
- Send follow-up emails
Companies are considering using voice assistants to connect employees with internal departments, such as HR, for example, becoming a conduit for employees to find information about corporate policies and more.
Here are some real-life examples of use cases that can serve as inspiration for your business.
Initially, human resources employees personally took all phone calls from applicants and manually created profiles in the corporate database for new candidates, filling out the necessary information. This was not only time-consuming but also difficult to find out if the candidate had already applied for the position.
Voice assistants can relieve HR department employees of routine work in recruitment by providing information on open roles and job descriptions over the phone or through other channels.
Moreover, voice bots and chatbots simplify access to necessary information about corporate policies, schedules, and more.
The financial services industry is becoming more and more competitive every year. Digital customer experience can make or break a bank’s relationship with its customers. As of today, 45% of consumers have already asked for voice assistant features in their favourite mobile apps.
Fully integrated with the CRM system, a financial voice bot knows what customers say on WhatsApp and what the best credit card options are based on their profile info. Voice assistants can also offer to make money transfers, balance checks, and other banking services.
Tovie AI offers a wide range of voice and chatbot solutions for financial services, banks, and insurance companies
A European brewing company implemented a voice assistant for sales agents to automate and speed up order placement.
Initially, the sales representative had to manually place the order while restocking the shelves. Time is of the essence here: when sales reps see their company’s products running out in the store, they must place orders instantly. Otherwise, others will take their place on shelves.
So, when they can place orders using only their voice, it takes the pressure off. To summarize, voice assistants are a powerful tool that can take any search opportunity to a whole new level, providing limitless opportunities for businesses.
Developers are using new platforms and services to create, train, and deploy AI-based chatbots and skills for smart assistants. Thanks to well-designed tools, the process of developing voice assistants is quite simple. And the more people involved in developing the technology, the faster and more intriguing it will evolve.