A similar report by Juniper Research predicted that: “Consumers will interact with voice assistants on 8.4 billion devices by 2024; overtaking the world’s population and growing 113% compared to the 4.2 billion devices expected to be in use by year end 2020.” Juniper Research

For most consumers, the rapid adoption of voice assistants is fueled by the search for greater convenience, usability, and a desire to increase social distancing from physically touching shared devices, such as kiosks. The findings of these two studies identified some important trends for the current and future use of voice-enabled devices.

Not surprisingly, the report found that the recent pandemic and the requirements to stay at home have increased people’s usage of smart speakers for getting news and entertainment. In fact, the current circumstance may be the driving force behind greater demand for voice assistants, according to The Smart Audio Report:

Popular use cases for voice assistants today

Juniper Research estimates that voice assistants will be in use on over 4 billion devices by the end of 2020. Not surprisingly, the greatest use cases for voice assistants are currently on smartphones in home speakers, and in cars. The increasing acceptance, mass adoption, and growing comfort with using a voice-enabled device has spurred a voice-first evolution that will soon be permeating a great number of industries.

When asked how they currently use a voice-operated personal assistant, people mentioned a variety of common devices and appliances, including:

• Any device: 63%
• A smartphone: 51%
• A TV/TV remote: 24%
• Your car: 23%
• A computer: 21%
• A tablet: 19%
• A household appliance: 9%

Those same use cases are promising in terms of bringing new users on board, according to the study. When asked where they would be interested in interacting with a voice assistant, non-voice users cited some of the more common use cases, including:

• In a car
• On a phone 
• On a TV
• In home appliances

Rise of the voice-enabled smart home

Both reports by Juniper and The Smart Audio Report found that consumers are increasingly adopting voice-enabled devices for the home. One of the top performers in this area is the TV and TV remotes. 

The growing popularity of voice-enabled devices for the smart home environment is a natural evolution given the preference of consumers for greater convenience and functionality. This fact is substantiated by the Smart Audio report’s findings on customer motivation or using a voice assistant.

Respondents in the Smart Audio report agreed with these statements about perceived benefits:

• Using voice-operated personal assistants makes your life easier: 68%
• Voice-operated personal assistant technology has improved recently: 65%
• You wouldn’t want to go back to life without your voice-operated assistants: 41%

Trends in voice-enabled devices outside the home

While the greatest use cases still reside with the personal devices—speaker, smartphone, car—voice technology is making its way outside of the home into other areas of people’s lives.

As smart speakers become more popular—The Smart Audio Report found that 24% of americans 18+ own a smart speaker (60 million people) up from 21% in 2019 (53 million)—manufacturers and businesses gain confidence that their customers will be delighted with a voice-enabled experience.

The Smart Audio Report found that 24% of Americans 18+ own a smart speaker (60 million people) up from 21% in 2019 (53 million).

According to Juniper Research, the retail market is poised for another shift, this time from eCommerce to voice commerce.

Access to inventories and the ability to order goods and pay for them through a voice interface will make products easier to find and more convenient to buy from anywhere and at any time. Already the retail industry has had to adjust to trends that favor virtual buying experiences over visiting brick and mortar locations. The evolution to a voice-first strategy seems like a natural next step.

Consumer’s growing Impatience for waiting and their desire for frictionless environments may also drive retailers to consider voice-enabled kiosks and pay stations within a store that provide up to date inventory, location, and cost information. 

The future of voice-enabled services

We already know that the adoption of voice assistants is fairly new and growing rapidly. According to the Smart Audio study, 35% of the people they surveyed had been using a voice-operated assistant for one year or less and the majority of users are fairly new to the technology. 

Here’s the breakdown of how long people have been using voice assistants, according to the study:

• 1-3 years 39%
• 3-5 years 18%
• 5 years or more 8%

While studies and research can confirm what we already know, or at least suspect, understanding the why is a little harder. Voice, speech, and language, are the things that make us uniquely human. It’s how we express ourselves and how we connect with others.

In the best science fiction movies, people break down the barriers between humans and machines, interacting and getting information as easily as they talk to each other. Until fairly recently, the technology didn’t exist, or at least it wasn’t developed enough, to make that level of communication possible. Now that advanced voice technology is here, people are embracing it and glorifying the humanness of it in movies like, “Her.”

The development of sophisticated programs, artificial intelligence, and machine learning combined with hardware components such as microphones, batteries, and speakers have made voice user interfaces not only possible, but accessible and easy to use. Bringing voice AI into the home through smart speakers and smartphones has made voice assistants a part of our everyday lives. 

Both studies—Juniper Research and The Smart Audio Report—confirm that consumers are ready to interact with the world around then through voice interfaces. Now, manufacturers and brands hoping to capture their audiences and deliver better user experiences are joining the voice-first movement and finding ways to monetize voice experiences.

According to Juniper Research, there are a few key industries where voice assistants are currently making inroads and helping brands optimize their services:

• Banks and other financial services
• Insurance companies
• Retail and voice commerce
• Education
• Healthcare
• Voice search and advertising