As 2020 comes to a close, we wanted to take this moment to reflect on the year and to offer our heartfelt thanks for being part of our voice-first community. It’s also an opportunity for the team at SoundHound Inc. to share some of the brighter spots of a year that featured exciting new partnerships and thought leadership that highlighted on our continued commitment to voice AI innovation.

At the end of the year, we asked our employees what excites them about working in the voice AI industry. Here’s what they had to say:

Despite the challenges we all experienced this year, we remain optimistic and excited for the future of voice AI, and for what lies ahead in 2021. Voice technology continues to help people of all ages access healthcare, entertainment, information, and get helpful answers faster than ever before.

This year, we talked to more than a 50 experts from academia and business, to think tanks and analyst firms who unanimously had a single message for companies: Keep looking forward, while taking measures to keep your customers, employees, and communities safer, and look for ways to make people’s lives more convenient and connected.

Our road to recovery guide, “Fueling the Next Wave of Innovation,” is as timely today as it was when we published it earlier this year. If you didn’t have a chance to watch the videos, read the blogs and timely advice, or review the resources, check it out now.

Thankful for voice AI partnerships

This year, we continued to announce new partnerships to add Houndify’s award-winning technology to a range of products and apps. As the pandemic spurred growth in the voice AI industry, resulting in part from consumer demand for hands-free and contactless interactions, we helped our partners voice enable cars, mobile apps, and quick service drive-throughs and to add more exciting content to our knowledge domain library.

Here is a recap of some of those partnerships:

• New Snapchat Voice Scan Feature Powered by Houndify Voice AI
• Houndify Powers Mastercard’s Drive Through Voice Ordering Feature for QSRs
• SoundHound Inc. Partners with Parkopedia to Add Parking Services to Houndify
• Houndify Powers the In-Car Assistant in Honda’s Newest Cars in Europe and Japan
• Hyundai’s Voice Assistant in Elantra and Elantra Hybrid Powered by Houndify
• ReadSpeaker TTS Brings Humanlike Voices to Houndify Voice Assistants
• Houndify Partners with Edamam to Voice-Enable Food Knowledge Database
• iHeart Radio Podcasts and Music Available on Hound App and Houndify
• WCities Adds Extensive Location and Event Data to Houndify
• RADIO.COM’s Music, News, Podcasts and More Added to Houndify Domain Library

A new Houndify website

2020 saw the birth of a whole new website for Houndify. The first pages of the website were launched in October with an overview of our technology, products, solutions, and products. We’re just getting started and the website will be growing over the next six months to include more case studies, product information, and resources to help our audience learn more about VUI design best practices, get expert advice, and keep up with the trends and changes in voice AI technology. See what’s new at www.houndify.com.

Speech-to-Meaning® Blog

In early March 2020, we launched our new Speech-to-Meaning® blog, which has expanded its readership with a growing subscriber community. Subscribe today to keep up-to-date on voice AI trends, events, news, and expert advice and best practices. 

Here are 10 of the most popular blogs from 2020:

• How to Talk to Your Voice-Enabled Car and Everything Else
• Top 40 Voice AI Influencers to Follow on Twitter
• The Democratization of Voice AI and Its Adoption by Older Adults
• How Voice AI Can Meet the Needs of a Post-Pandemic World
• How Mercedes-Benz Build a New Generation of Voice Control with MBUX
• Are Voice-Enabled Kiosks the Next Big Thing for Hotels and Restaurants?
• 5 Keys to Delivering a Voice Experience that Truly Represents Your Brand
• How Voice Assistants are Shaping the Future of In-Vehicle Control
• The Art and Science of Creating a Custom Wake Word for Your Brand
• Custom vs. White Label Voice Assistants: What you Need to Know

Voice AI influencers and podcasters share their views

We had the honor of working with some of the most influential experts in the voice AI community throughout the year. They appeared as panelists on our webinars, as guest bloggers, and contributed to our timely and in-depth white papers and e-books. If you haven’t already, check out what they had to say about the current and future state of voice AI.

If you missed it the first time, here is some expert advice from the leaders in voice AI community:

• [Webinar] How Brands are Voice-Enabling Mobile Apps to Drive Engagement
• [Webinar] The Role of Voice Technology in a Post-Pandemic World
• [Strategy Guide] Overcoming the Top 3 Challenges of Voice AI Adoption
• Top 3 Growing Use Cases for Voice AI and Text-to-Speech in Gaming
• Expert Predictions on the Future of Voice AI in 2020 and Beyond
• Top 25 Voice Technology Companies to Help Businesses Scale
• Voice AI Design—No Older Adult Left Behind
• During COVID-19 Innovation and Survival Aren’t Manually Exclusive
• The New Future of Voice AI: Expert Predictions Altered by a Pandemic
• 5 Inspiring Women in Voice Share Their Perspective on International Women’s Day

Grateful and looking towards the future

Last, but certainly not least, we wanted to thank you for being a part of the voice AI conversation. We’d love to hear from you, our audience, about what you liked, what you want more of, and anything else we can shine a light on. It’s been our honor this year to be a trusted source on all things voice including voice assistants, technology, solutions, trends, and best practices. We look forward to bigger and better things next year. 

If you’re interested in exploring a custom voice assistant for your brand, contact us and we’ll help bring your voice strategy to life. Developers interested in exploring Houndify’s independent voice AI platform can visit Houndify.com to register for a free account.