Adobe brings voice analytics to its cloud platform

Adobe on Thursday unveiled new voice analytics capabilities in Adobe Analytics Cloud designed to help brands personalize customer experiences and drive loyalty via voice-based interfaces.

Using machine learning and artificial intelligence technology from Adobe Sensei, the platform enables businesses to analyze voice-activated searches through AI assistant platforms including Apple Siri, Microsoft Cortana, Google Home, and Amazon Alexa.

For companies developing skills or other voice-based app equivalents, the software will track performance across devices and platforms, and provide a clearer picture of the overall customer journey.

The theory is that businesses can better analyze the brand/customer relationship by understanding how people think and reason, and ultimately drive brand loyalty through personalized digital interactions.

Adobe says the software will address key complexities in measuring voice interactions, including the ability to parse the syntax of a sentence to capture user intent and identify parameters. Additional data points factored into analysis include frequency of use and actions taken after a voice request.

In terms of customer experience, Adobe is signaling that voice is the new user interface for brand content, and that insights from voice-enabled devices can be leveraged on other channels.

"One of the most important trends in modern technology is how quickly consumers adopt new ways of interacting with content, as we've seen with mobile and video," said Bill Ingram, vice president of Adobe Analytics Cloud. "We expect a similar trajectory with voice enabled devices."

Adobe is also optimistic about the future of the voice-enabled device market. A new report from Adobe Digital Insights claims that unit sales of voice assistant devices grew 39 percent year-over-year. Google Home sold the most units over the holiday season but now falls behind Amazon's Echo Dot in unit sales.