For field sales teams, it comes as no surprise that their hands are always full. Whether they are driving between customer meetings, reviewing account information, capturing meeting outcomes, or following up on opportunities, life would be easier with an extra set of hands, or hands free operation.
But, what exactly is hands free operation, and what are its use cases and benefits? We’re going to cover all this and more in this post!
What is Hands Free Operation?
Hands free operation describes equipment or technology that can be utilized and/or operated with minimal or even zero manual intervention. One of the most common types of hands free operation devices is voice-activated software. These can be in the form of headsets, smartphones, tablets, or even telephones that have the software enabled.
Through a speaker, the device listens to, deciphers, and understands voice commands as if it were a human having a conversation. Voice recognition software is transforming how companies and people operate – speeding up processes, improving accuracy, and increasing safety.
What are the Benefits of Hands Free Operation?
Although wishing for an extra set of hands could solve the problem, it’s not feasible. Hands free operation delivers the same, if not greater, advantages though. Operating business processes through the use of voice rather than manual manipulation can result in:
Greater Productivity
While keeping hands-free, your field sales representatives are able to get more done because they can do more at once. For example, if they have to make notes after a customer meeting, they can instead speak through the meeting outcomes and use voice to capture important information. Speech recognition tools also empower field sales representatives to stay more focused on the task at hand, thereby improving efficiency and productivity.
Enhanced Mobility
Working in field sales means spending much of the day away from a desk, travelling between customers, preparing for meetings, and following up while on the go. That’s why it’s increasingly important for field sales representatives to be able to access and communicate important information without depending on desktop access. With hands free operation devices, this is now possible. As a result, representatives can stay connected to customer, account, opportunity, and deal information while they keep moving.
Improved Collaboration
Manual interventions often rely on notes or digital information that is stored on separate, disconnected devices. This causes data siloes or even lost information. With digital, hands free operation tools in play, data can be shared seamlessly with relevant parties and teams. As an example, when a field sales representative is finished with a customer meeting and a follow-up task or Salesforce update is needed, that information can be captured while the conversation is still fresh, giving managers and sales operations a more current view of what is happening in the field.
Better Insights
Similar to the collaboration aspect, hands free and voice-enabled devices like aiola are capable of capturing otherwise lost data. Not only does the software collect spoken information and turn it into structured data, but it can also help reduce the delays and gaps that happen when important customer and deal information has to be entered manually later.
Popular Voice-Activated Technologies
It’s likely you’ve already had experience with hands free technology, especially for personal use. Here are a few examples of common AI-driven voice recognition tools:
Google Assistant
For Google Home or Android devices, users can access Google Assistant, which can be commanded to handle several tasks, such as playing music, turning on lights, or answering questions.
Apple Siri
Apple’s virtual assistant, Siri, is available on iOS devices and can manage everyday tasks from its user. You can ask Siri questions, request Siri to call or text people in your contact list, and set reminders, to name a few.
These personal use hands free operation assistants help to make daily tasks simpler, especially for people who are on-the-go or multitasking.
However, when it comes to using these personal devices in a business setting, they fall short. This is because they aren’t designed to specifically handle operations and critical workflows. That’s where aiola steps in.
aiola
aiola is a Voice AI solution purpose-built for field sales teams using Salesforce. It creates a natural communication channel between field sales representatives and Salesforce, making it easier for reps to communicate important customer and deal information while they are on the go.
Field sales representatives can speak naturally using their own words to capture customer visits and meeting outcomes, retrieve customer, account, opportunity, deal, and pipeline information, create follow-up tasks, and trigger Salesforce actions through voice.
Spoken information can be turned into structured and validated Salesforce data and connected to the company’s existing Salesforce objects, fields, validation rules, and workflows.
For field sales representatives, managers, RevOps, sales operations, and leadership, this means information from customer conversations can reach Salesforce while it is still fresh, helping create a clearer and more current view of customers, opportunities, activities, and next steps.
aiola’s Voice AI is also designed to work across accents, industry terminology, and noisy field environments.
Common Challenges of Voice-Activated Systems
Hands free operation devices are a game changer in both professional and personal settings. That being said, not everything is perfect from the get go. A few considerations to keep in mind when leveraging voice-activated systems are:
- Data Security: It’s of utmost importance for any digital technology to protect its user’s sensitive and private data. Many people wonder how their voice will be used, where their data is stored, and the potential for misuse.
- Acoustic Noise: Another major point is that in order to fully understand voice commands and speech, the system must be able to hear properly and focus on the necessary keywords. Loud background noise and environments can threaten accuracy.
- Accents and Languages: Since speech tools are used globally, they should, in an ideal world, be able to understand all accents and languages. However, some are still learning.
The good news for businesses is that aiola overcomes all of these challenges, with the first-of-its-kind technology to understand all accents and business-specific jargon in any acoustic environment.
Closing Words
Hands free operation is the power of speech put into action. By reducing manual constraints and requirements, field sales representatives can do more with their words, while capturing important customer information, completing Salesforce updates, and staying connected to the business while on the go.