Although voice recognition technology has been in use since the late ’90s, it was not adopted by many players in the warehousing industry. Even today, its use is still low but the future seems bright if the current hype is anything to go by. As demand on e-commerce continue increasing and the need for fast delivery of items keep rising, new innovations come in handy in solving problems that have been ongoing issues. As such, traditional methods such as the voice-directed technologies characterized by headsets and microphones are being replaced with more modern technologies like as Alexa and Google Echo.

Since the release of Alexa by Amazon and the invention of Google’s Echo, for example, millions of voice recognition devices with voice-activated assistants have been sold. These devices have changed the way in which we carry out our daily tasks ranging from shopping to playing music at home. The same is also slowly happening to retail and warehousing where voice recognition is turning things around. However, unlike back in the day when operating costs were the main aspect driving the adoption of technologies such as voice recognition, things are different now. Businesses are highly concerned with enhancing productivity, training employees, and in the end ensuring high productivity. Efficiency in warehousing is as important as the business since customers and businesses need the items they purchase to arrive as fast as possible.

When technology is advanced to help humans perform various critical activities, it becomes helpful not only in the employees' professional lives but also in their personal lives. In the same way you can ask Alexa to play a certain song or tell you the news, the voice assistant can also be asked to provide top statistics on the business over a given period or even predict what the future of the company may look like. Voice recognition software makes it easy, quick and efficient for an employee to go through various reports such as Excel worksheets. For instance, if one wants to find out how the warehouse performed the previous day or how many orders are to be fulfilled the next day, voice recognition technology can deliver the results quickly.

As a result of the competition in the market, companies are looking for ways to improve customer experience by speeding up customer service which may have an impact on the image of the company. By speeding up service queries, customers can have their questions answered quickly.

With the usefulness of voice recognition in different industries, the question is no longer about whether voice recognition will evolve or not. It is about when this is going to happen. Be it today or tomorrow, every industry needs to prepare to embrace it as it has already proven to be good.