Salesforce Wraps Up Einstein Voice Assistant, Forges Closer Tie with Amazon Connect

CRM giant Salesforce first launched its Einstein Voice Assistant last year. The feature, which was a component of Salesforce’s Einstein Voice, allowed users to update Salesforce records and create tasks using natural language requests. Users could also use the virtual assistant to navigate through Einstein Analytics dashboards and surface metrics such as open service cases and performance guidance.

Last month, Salesforce abruptly announced in a short note that it has retired Einstein Voice Assistant as of July 10, 2020. The note contained no explanation of the reasons behind this decision, beyond observing that the change would apply to the Salesforce mobile app for iOS and Android (News - Alert) in Professional, Enterprise, Unlimited, and Developer editions.

The retirement of the Einstein Voice Assistant doesn’t mean that Salesforce has given up on a voice assistant. The company is forging an even closer relationship with Amazon Connect, allowing the technology to provide powerful AI-powered speech analytics in Salesforce using Amazon Transcribe, Amazon Translate and Amazon Comprehend.

Writing for Venture Beat, Kyle Wiggers noted that many software companies are realizing that their own efforts in voice assistant technology will never match those of a company with a technology reach as deep as that of Amazon.

“Salesforce’s shifting priorities are perhaps an implicit acknowledgement of the voice market’s competitiveness,” wrote Wiggers. “In February, Microsoft (News - Alert) killed all third-party skills for Cortana, its voice platform, as it refocused the technology for enterprise. Amazon provides a rival enterprise voice service in Alexa for Business, which integrates with Concur to share business travel itinerary information, RingCentral (News - Alert) for voicemail readings, and other third-party voice services for corporate customers.”

Furthering the reach of its voice assistant technology, AWS is proceeding with the development of its new AI-based analytic offering called Contact Lens, which is being designed to provide users with access functions as transcription, insights using key phrases or redaction with the click of a “check box” in the Amazon Connect Control panel.

Edited by Maurice Nagle