Voice Assistants (Robotic Operators)

The main articles are:

• Speech technology: On the path from recognition to understanding
• Call Center: Purpose, Types, and Tasks

2024: Global Voice Assistant Market Growth by 15% to $7.88 Billion

In 2024, costs in the global voice assistant market reached $7.88 billion. This is 15% more compared to 2023, when expenses were estimated at $6.88 billion. Industry trends are addressed in the Market Research Future survey published in mid-February 2025.

One of the main drivers of the market is the ubiquity of all kinds of smart devices, such as smart speakers, smartphones, smart TVs and home automation equipment. Voice assistants are used to increase the convenience of interaction with such gadgets. In addition, voice assistants are increasingly integrating into automotive infotainment systems: these assistants increase traffic safety by allowing drivers to control on-board equipment using simple voice commands. In healthcare, voice assistants are used as part of telemedicine platforms and remote patient monitoring systems.

Technological advances in natural language processing (NLP) are another important factor driving the industry. As NLP algorithms improve, voice assistants become more efficient: command recognition accuracy increases and errors are minimized. The development of more sophisticated artificial intelligence tools and machine learning methods allows these applications to improve themselves when interacting with people, provide personalized answers and take into account the preferences of specific users.

In addition, there is a growing demand for automated customer service solutions. Voice assistants are actively used in support services, providing quick answers to common questions. This not only helps companies reduce the burden on call centers employees, but also ensures the prompt provision of service, which improves the overall user experience. Organizations recognize the importance of maintaining a high level of customer satisfaction, and therefore improve their voice assistance systems.

The study authors highlight five key industry segments: smart home equipment, healthcare solutions, automotive systems, education products, and customer service platforms. In 2024, revenue in the first of these sectors reached $2.5 billion. Healthcare accounted for $1.5 billion, automobile complexes and educational solutions - $1 billion each. Significant players in the global market are named:

• LG Electronics;
• IBM;
• Harman International;
• Cisco;
• Alphabet;
• Amazon;
• Microsoft;
• Sonos;
• Tencent;
• Baidu;
• SoundHound;
• Nuance Communications;
• Apple;
• Samsung.

Geographically, in 2024, North America became the leader with costs of $3.21 billion: the dominance of the region is due to technological progress and high consumer demand in the smart device sector. Europe is in second place with an estimate of $2.57 billion, and the Asia-Pacific region closes the top three with $1.85 billion.

In general, as noted, consumers are increasingly using voice assistants to improve the convenience of everyday tasks, while enterprises are implementing such solutions to optimize operations. Market Research Future analysts believe that in the future, the CAGR in the market under consideration will be 14.52%. As a result, by 2035, costs on a global scale could increase to $35 billion.^[1]

2021

80% of Russians surveyed constantly communicate with voice assistants

An international technology developer voice artificial intelligence Neuro.net has studied which areas of life Russians are ready to entrust to voice. to robots More than 1,000 residents of million-plus cities took part in the online study. RUSSIAN FEDERATION This became known on October 14, 2021.

According to the study, 80% of Russians surveyed constantly communicate with voice assistants. Moreover, women do this more often and more willingly than men: 80.3% versus 73.5%.

The most popular among respondents are voice assistants of gadgets Siri(,, and Alice Marusya others) - 79.8% of respondents interact with them. In second place in popularity are robots call centers those who answer the support hotline. 34.3% of Russians communicate with such assistants on a regular basis.

The third place is taken by voice assistants who sell services (a new tariff for a mobile operator, promotions in a salon, an insurance policy, and so on) - they are often heard by 27.3% of respondents. Another quarter (25.2%) contact digital secretaries - robots that control calls on a mobile phone. Least often, Russians communicate with assistants who conduct a survey and quality monitoring of 17.5%.

The Russians also explained that they are ready to entrust robots: these are mainly repeated typed actions. So, among the options:

• Technical support in simple cases (48.4%);
• Promotional messages (45.4%);
• Obtaining information on the availability of goods at the point of sale and assistance in finding them (41.3%);
• Collecting routine information (quality of service) (37.4%);
• Execution/confirmation of orders (34.5%);
• Obtaining information on the properties of the product of a non-advertising nature (29.1%);
• bankfinancial New/products (29.1%);
• Calling a doctor at home/making an appointment with a doctor (19.4%).

In addition, 70.6% of Russians are ready to communicate with voice robots in the service sector - for example, when delivering food, recording at a hairdresser, booking tables, and so on. Of those who are not yet ready to automate this area of ​ ​ life, 43.4% will change their mind if the robot does not differ from humans in the timbre of voice and manner of communication.

But to give robots the management of their finances (bank account operations and their confirmation) so far, according to less than half of the respondents (46.3%). But in the event that the robot is more humanoid, a third of respondents (34.1%) who answered "no" agree to change their minds.

In the first half of the year, the number of calls using a voice robot amounted to 360 million

The number of calls that the business sends to customers with the help voice robot has increased 8.5 times since 2019 and amounted to 360 million in the first half of 2021. At the same time, companies note an increase in the effectiveness of such calls by 31% over the same period. This is stated in the analytical review prepared (AssetBusinessConsult included in the ecosystem), Sberbank the results of which ABK shared on August 25, 2021.

In the first half of 2021, robot operators of ABK customers made about 360 million calls. In the first half of 2019, this volume was 42 million, in 2020 - 144 million. This growth in ABK is associated with the coincidence of several factors:

• audience loyalty
  • The availability of voice assistants (in the consumer segment) and robot operators (in business) form the habit of the audience to communicate with digital voice.

• improved quality of robot operation
  • If in 2019 the average duration of a conversation with a robot was 51 seconds, then in 2021 - already 35. This is due to the growth in the effectiveness of the technology: the robot understands the interlocutor better and faster provides him with the necessary service.

• rise in digital services market volumes amid pandemic
  • The orientation of users to receive services online or through a call provokes business to either adapt or leave the market.

The ABK calculated that with an almost nine-fold increase in the number of calls from the robot over the past three years, the volume of dropped calls has not increased and is less than 6%. At the same time, there is a natural increase in the user base processed by robotic operators: in the first half of 2021, ABK robots called 800 times more customers than in the same period 2019; On average, more than 1 million people a day receive a call from a robot.

From 1937 to August 2021 in Russia, you can dial '100' from any phone - and hear a robotic female voice that will tell you the exact Moscow time, "said Dmitry Teplitsky, General Director of AktivBusinessConsult. - This voice was addressed by millions of people, and he never disappointed anyone. For us, this is the perfect example of trust between a person and a robot on a handset: you call them with a specific request and get a clear answer.

It is worth noting that the range of business segments in which these technologies are in demand is becoming wider. Most often, robotic operators are used as part of telemarketing, informing, collecting and banking; additional areas include surveys, training, and HR.

Robotic operators are about digital transformation, about resource optimization - both financial and human. We are seeing an increase in the use of this technology in all areas: both in the quantitative data on the results of made calls, the expansion of use segments, an increase in the number of customers, and in the qualitative ones - in the characteristics of the success of these calls. This leads to an increase in confidence in robotic operators, already a certain "habit" of using them, which confirms the prospects for the introduction of technology in many industries - notes Dmitry Teplitsky.

Notes