FreightWaves LIVE: voice technology in cars and the cab

FreightWaves joined in on the third annual Alexa Conference with its estimated 600 attendees from more than 12 countries, including executives, developers, entrepreneurs, strategists, and marketers—all the roles involved in conceiving and creating voice experiences.

“We’re still trying to figure it out, but we’ve got all kinds of data trapped in data bases,” says Trever Ehrlich of Kenco Logistics. “And we try to get to that, run reports, and it can time-consuming to run those reports and find the data, and from what I’m hearing today, we might be able to make that process easier where you say a command or two and that information pops up, KPIs, etc.”

“I’m here to learn more about voice in the cab. We’re always looking at safety and ways to make drivers’ lives easier inside the cab, but also how to make their lives safer inside the cab. Voice is just a natural extension of that. It’s about being able to have a conversation, if you will, ‘I’m taking control’…an interaction between the truck and the driver without having to do anything other than use your voice,” says Matt McLelland, innovation strategist of Covenant Transport Services.

“2019 is going to be a huge year for voice and the connected car,” says Bradley Metrock, CEO of Score Publishing, and executive producer of the Alexa Conference. “The type of voice connection we’re going to have in the car is very different from the type we have in the home. It requires a totally different way of thinking. It’s going to empower us to be safer on the road, to reduce the amount of time we’re on the road, and make us more connected while we’re on the road. By the time we get to fully autonomous vehicles, it’s going to be a beautiful thing.”