Your LyGuide to Virtual Assistants

Virtual assistants are changing the way we interact with our devices and apps. Despite having once been considered only a gimmick, they’re becoming more useful and capable every day. Through their ability to understand us better than ever before, virtual assistants improve our lives every time we use them.

It’s no wonder then that many people consider them indispensable in their daily lives.

The rise of voice assistants

Voice assistants are becoming more mainstream, and it's not hard to see why. They're now available on more platforms than ever before, and they're getting smarter. Voice assistants understand context and can recognize commands better, and they’re starting to make it easier for you to get things done without having to pick up your phone or open an app.

There are a few different kinds of voice assistants: Siri (Apple), Alexa (Amazon), Cortana (Microsoft), Google Assistant, Bixby etc.. The first two have been around since 2011-2012 while the latter two were released in 2016/2017 respectively.*

From bad cop to good cop

Virtual assistants will be able to detect stress in your voice and offer a solution. For example, if you are stressed about not being able to reach the deadline on an important project, virtual assistants will be able to detect this and suggest that perhaps you should consider delegating some tasks to others so that you can focus on what is really important.

They will also pick up on other moods or feelings such as anger and frustration. If they detect these in your voice, they will offer solutions such as meditation exercises or breathing exercises which help calm down the nerves and reduce stress levels.

The rise of open platforms

The last few years have seen a dramatic rise in the number of people using open platforms. Not only are these systems easier to integrate with, but they're also more secure, flexible, and resilient than closed ones. They also tend to be cheaper—and can even be used by more people and devices!

The different types of virtual assistants in our time 

Docking with the IoT

The IoT is the network of physical devices that collect data and interact with each other. In 2018, there were an estimated 9.1 billion connected devices connected to the internet. The IoT is expected to grow to 20 billion devices by 2022.

The Internet of Things (IoT) will be the backbone of virtual assistants in the next generation, where they can be used as a platform that allows businesses or consumers to control or monitor their homes or offices remotely through voice commands via phone or computer speakers.

Workflow integration

Workflow integration is one of the top benefits of using a virtual assistant. It is an incredibly powerful feature that allows you to use different apps together and automate your workflows saving time and effort by automating repetitive tasks.

For example, if you have a social media manager who takes care of your Facebook page but doesn't know how to handle customer support on Twitter, you can set up a workflow that automatically posts tweets from @yourbrand and then replies to users' comments or questions with pre-written messages. This way, all customer inquiries go directly into one place where they can be handled by someone else (or not).

Chatbots

Chatbots are a form of AI-powered virtual assistants. They can be used for customer service, sales, and more. Chatbots can answer simple questions, book appointments, or purchase products.

Sensory devices

Sensory devices are used to detect and analyze data. They can be used for a variety of purposes, including data collection, automation and security. For example:

Sensory devices can be used to monitor patient health in hospitals by measuring body temperature or blood oxygen levels. They can also be used to monitor the speed at which vehicles travel on roads during peak traffic hours to determine if road construction or maintenance is needed.

Sensory devices are commonly used in agriculture as well as retail stores where they collect information on crops being grown or inventory being sold throughout a day. These types of sensory devices help farmers better understand which crops need attention so they can adjust their irrigation systems accordingly or keep tabs on when certain products may go out of stock so they can restock before customers get frustrated by lack of supply (and leave negative reviews online).

Personal assistants

Personal assistants are a great way to manage your day-to-day tasks. Personal assistants can help you with everyday tasks, like scheduling your appointments or organizing your schedule.

Personal assistants can help in the health department as well. They can remind you to take medication on time, or they could even go as far as monitoring your blood pressure and glucose levels. Your personal assistant might even be able to recommend new healthy recipes that fit into your diet plan!

Another advantage of having a virtual assistant is that they'll be keeping track of all of your financial information, so when tax season rolls around you won't have to worry about filing yourself!

A glimpse into the future

The future, eh? It's a scary place. But not for long.

What if we told you that AI already plays a significant role in your daily life? You might say, "But I don't use artificial intelligence!" That's because it's not about what you're using; it's about how much more sophisticated technology becomes as time goes on and its uses become more widespread. As AI continues to evolve, it'll be integrated into our work and personal lives in new ways every day—and soon enough the idea of living without some kind of digital assistance will seem like living without electricity or running water today.

Virtual assistants will change the way we interact with devices and apps.

Virtual assistants are going to change the way we interact with devices and apps. You've probably heard of Amazon's Alexa, Apple's Siri and Google Assistant. But what you might not realize is that these virtual assistants can hear us better than ever before. And they're able to understand our voices even when we are talking at a normal volume in an environment where there's plenty of background noise (like traffic).

Virtual assistants are also able to see us better than ever before. With their cameras, they can take pictures of our faces as we try out different hairstyles or makeup looks on them. They can tell if someone is smiling or frowning by looking into their eyes as well as by analyzing facial features such as eye coloration and skin tone. Some virtual assistants even have specialized software that lets them detect emotional states from photos!

Despite all their capabilities, virtual assistants aren’t always perfect and require special attention. So expect a few glitches along the way.

They might be great at scheduling appointments and answering emails, but that doesn’t mean they won’t make mistakes every now and then. They might get your name wrong or confuse one of your coworkers for another. If you find yourself being bombarded with messages from someone who isn’t supposed to be contacting you, there are steps you can take to fix it:

• Train your assistant so they know how to use tools like Zendesk or Intercom properly.
  
  
• Monitor your inbox frequently so that if something goes wrong (or right), it can be dealt with quickly.
  
  
• Update any training material as needed—for example, if an employee changes positions within the company.
  
  
• Maintain the health of all software used by your team on an ongoing basis.

Virtual assistants will continue to be a big part of our lives, and their capabilities will only expand. You can expect to see more of them in the coming years as they gain ground on apps and other forms of technology.