FAQ

Get answers to your questions about Speakware and voice assistants in general.

Voice assistants
Behind every voice assistant is software that allows users to get information through speech recognition or to control compatible devices.
In addition to pure information retrieval, users can also develop and use their own functions. In addition to apps, you can also increasingly control your smart home by voice (e.g. control lamps or shutters).
Amazons Alexa, Google's Assistant, Apple's Siri, Mircosoft's Cortana and Samsung's Bixby are currently competing.
Just over a third use voice assistants and the trend is rising.
Speech assistants can be used in many ways, but especially listening to music or obtaining information seems to be very important to many. And at least 19 percent use them to control smart home devices.
Each study actually confirms that this is only the beginning of voice assistants. The attainable revenues are expected to multiply in the next 2 years.
More and more software companies are developing their own system for voice assistant manufacturers. Thus, it is becoming increasingly possible to convert ones home to a smart home and then to control, for example, heating thermostats, shutters or other devices by voice command.
Voice applications for Amazon Alexa are called skills. To use a skill, it must first be enabled on your Alexa device (such as Amazon Echo), which is also possible via voice activation. Available skills can be viewed in the Amazon Store.
Voice applications for the Google Assistant are called actions. To use an action, it can be started directly with certain commands without having to install it first. Which actions are available and how to start them can be viewed via the Actions Directory in the Assistant App or in the browser.
Someone that uses Apple's Siri, is tied to Apple's devices. Without iOS or macOS you can not use Siri. The Google Assistant and Amazon Alexa offer more freedom. Both are cross-platform and available on a wide range of devices, even if some of this freedom comes with limitations.
Without an Internet connection, the device can not connect to the cloud of the respective provider, which means that the functionality is very limited or is not available at all. So the answer here is yes.
At around 46 percent, most opt for the living room and around 40 percent for the kitchen.
Due to the constant exchange of data with the provider's cloud, one can expect that the technology improves constantly. A topic that often comes up in connection with voice assistants is artificial intelligence, which can improve itself and learns from mistakes.
Via the internet it is sent to the respective assistant's cloud server. There, a software that acts as a kind of translator takes over. If the software finds the keywords to activate a command, the recognized voice command is forwarded to relevant apps or services needed to act on the voice command. The required data is then translated back to human language and sent to your voice assistant. Partially the providers also employ employees who evaluate recordings to improve speech recognition.
The Apple ecosystem requires that the so-called Siri Shortcuts are hardwired to an app. This means that it is not possible to create app independent Siri skills or custom Siri intents.
With the Cortana Skills Kit every end user can develop their own skills. It is also possible to use already created third-party skills.
Speakware
Currently Amazon's Alexa and the Google Assistant are supported by Speakware. Support for further assistants is planned.
Speakware takes care of a lot of tasks during development and operates the voice application. Therefore, you don't have to deal with technical aspects. Some tasks however cannot be done by Speakware automatically, like the management of content. We've gone to great lengths to make the Speakware user interface understandable to beginners. If you came across something you don't understand, contact us and we'll be happy to help.
Testing on devices is recommended, but not a requirement. You can also test your application with a particular voice assistants using a free app on your smartphone or in the simulator running in your web browser.
Linking an Amazon account is required if you want to publish your voice application for Alexa, a Google account is required to publish your application for the Google Assistant.

Creating a project with each voice assistant provider is a prerequisite from Amazon and Google. Speakware takes care of managing these external projects as much as possible.
No, Speakware is currently unable to import existing projects. Importing functions with utterances (but without replies) is planned. If you need this function in a timely manner, please contact us.
The user interface is currently available in Enlgish and German. For voice applications, Speakware currently supports the following languages: English, English (Australia), English (Canada), English (India), English (United Kingdom), English (United States), French, French (Canada), French (France), German, Hindi, Italian, Japanese, Portuguese (Brazil), Spanish, Spanish (Latin America and the Caribbean), Spanish (Spain). Support may vary per voice assistant.
Speakware currently supports only static responses that you can maintain through the Speakware interface. However, the possibility of dynamic responses is planned for Speakware. Contact us if you need a custom solution.
This is not a problem as long as you have recognized this in good time. Open your project and select the voice assistant under "Settings" in the menu. There you will find one or more buttons to update the data of the external project. The data of the external project is thereby overwritten with the data from Speakware.
No, running your voice application requires an ongoing Speakware subscription. However, your external Alexa or Google Assistant project will not be deleted by Speakware. You are therefore able to re-program the missing parts of your application independently and continue to operate your voice application without Speakware.
The prices of Speakware plans cover the service provided by Speakware. This includes managing your voice applications and responding to voice assistant requests. The Google service Dialogflow used by the Google Assistant allows up to 180 calls per minute in the free "Standard Edition" (see Quotas). For very popular applications, it may therefore be necessary to switch to the paid "Enterprise Edition" (see Pricing).
No, Speakware explicitly targets business customers. Usage by private users is currently not provided.
Your question is missing?

Contact us, we are happy to help!

Contact
Just try it out

Create your voice application - free of charge and without obligation.

Try now