2019 Conferences To Be On the Look Out For

Recently, noHold announced its sponsorship involvement with AVIOS' 2019 Conversational Interactions Conference. noHold's CEO, Diego Ventura, will be presenting for the third time at this conference. His talk will include information on how companies will be able to take large databases of information, and through Artificial Intelligence, add a conversational interface to any repository of information. http://www.conversationalinteraction.com/

We are excited to share another conference noHold has been following called SpeechTEK 2019, the smart customer interactions event. This conference is being held in Washington D.C. and is consider the World's leading speech technology and AI conference. http://www.speechtek.com/

Both of these conferences have speakers and attendees from major brands from all around the world that come together to discuss the impact that technologies, such as Artificial Intelligence, are having on business. noHold is honored to be part of that conversation. 

noHold Goes to Orlando's WATS2018 Conference

Source

On April 17th through the 19th, 2018, the CEO of noHold, Diego Ventura, went to a conference called WATS 2018. For those that aren't familiar with that conference, "WATS is the world's largest gathering of aviation training professionals serving airlines, regulators, training providers and training industry with more than 1,200 expected from 50+ countries." (https://www.wats-event.com/about-wats)

It was a great event, with over a thousand professionals in the aviation space attending. Multiple companies were really interested in learning more about Artificial Intelligence (AI), and Diego saw a lot of opportunities for AI to aid in the aviation training industry.

If you are interested in learning how the aviation field is planning to utilize AI, contact us via www.nohold.com.

Local Initiatives: 2017 Best of Milpitas Award for Software Company

Milpitas has been home to noHold since its inception in 1999. We are fortune to have our headquarters in the heart of the Silicon Valley where innovation and talent are all around us on a daily basis. Just this month, the Milpitas Business Recognition awarded noHold as a winner for the 2017 Best of Milpitas Award. 

"Each year, the Milpitas Award Program identifies companies that we believe have achieved exceptional marketing success in their local community and business category. These are local companies that enhance the positive image of small business through service to their customers and our community. These exceptional companies help make the Milpitas area a great place to live, work and play."

To read the official press release, please click here. Thank you to the city of Milpitas for the recognition!
www.nohold.com

Why Virtual Assistants will be Key to Getting through the Holiday Shopping Season on Top

Photo credit

Black Friday and Cyber Monday have kicked off the holiday shopping season this year with a bang. While it was reported that the number of shoppers increased from last year, retailers saw a drop in the average amount of money that was spent - approximately $10 less. (money.cnn.com) This drop could be attributed to a number of things. 1. More people reported all their purchases were sale items, 2. A higher percentage of people bought items that were that were 60% off and higher, (IMAGE) and 3. Businesses were ill prepared (specifically online) for the massive amount of shoppers. According to Forbes, lots of big brands' websites were experiencing server issues that couldn't handle the volume of people. 

Photo credit

"Consumers faced a variety of technical problems on Black Friday and through the so-called “Turkey Five” (the five days after Thanksgiving). Major retailer sites, including Macy’s, QVC, Walmart, Victoria’s Secret and Newegg, all experienced outages, due at least in part to server overload due to enormous boost in traffic. The Gap, Inc. family (Gap, Old Navy, Banana Republic and Athletica) was offering a massive 50% off site-wide deal fell victim to the same fate. Other retailers, such as Williams-Sonoma, saw a significant decrease in their page load time—not a great occurrence when buyers are in a hurry to empty their online carts and get on to the next sale." (Forbes)

While things like this are bound to happen,it did not effect the number of online users which continues to grow each year. From last year to this year, approximately 5 million more users were shopping online (about $3.34 billion came from online sales), while brick and mortar store shoppers decreased by 3 million people this year. Out of the online shoppers, $1.2B came from mobile purchases. This is a huge increase from previous years. 

Creating the ultimately customer experience online (via any device) is important to attract new customers and retain existing ones. A major trend this year that consumers are adopting (and preferring) is Virtual Assistants (VA's). While having a VA all year round is a good practice, VA's are also valuable to have during peak seasons as well, such as the holidays. Being able to position your Virtual Assistant as a way for consumers to get quick answers to pre-sales and post-sales questions will reduce the number of inquiries to live agents/employees and increase customer satisfaction. Check out this white paper showing how some of our customers have leveraged their Virtual Assistants during peak seasons: http://www.nohold.com/manage-traffic-spikes-better-with-self-service.html

And it is not just large brands that can benefit. Small and medium businesses, even little personal shops on eBay or Etsy can have a Virtual Assistant to eliminate some of the holiday stress. Visit albertai.com to learn more about creating a Virtual Assistant (bot) quickly and easily, no programming skills required. 

Cheers!

noHold Implementation Manager, Andrea Sahli, To Speak at the Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing Conference

Photo Source

If you don't already know, the world's largest conference for women technologist is happening next week! From October 19th to the 21st the 2016 Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing Conference will be taking place in Houston, Texas.

noHold is very proud to share that our Senior Implementation Manager, Andrea Sahli, will be speaking at this years event. With over 14 years of experience working with Artificial Intelligence at noHold, she will be sharing her knowledge on the evolution of Intelligent Virtual Assistants. See picture below for full description of talk. 

This will be an exciting conference, honoring many talented women in computing. Congratulations Andrea for being a part of them! 
www.nohold.com

noHold Recognized as 2016 Best of Milpitas

Having our headquarters in the heart of Silicon Valley (Milpitas, CA) has been such a positive experience for noHold. We are able to provide leading brands with exceptional technology, employ some of the brightest people in the industry with the same passion for technology and Artificial Intelligence, and be at the fore front of almost all major tech developments as they surface. 

"Each year, the Milpitas Award Program identifies companies that we believe have achieved exceptional marketing success in their local community and business category. These are local companies that enhance the positive image of small business through service to their customers and our community." noHold is honored to be awarded the 2016 Best of Milpitas Award in the category of Computers. 

To read the full press release, click here. 

Cheers to a great Memorial Day weekend!

www.nohold.com

What's Trending at this Year's F8 Conference

Facebook's F8 Conference was held earlier this week in San Francisco, CA. This is an annual conference for developers to discuss new integrations, open source technologies and the latest immersive experiences.

One of the biggest product announcements at this year's conference was the Messenger Platform. "The new service is a framework powered by artificial intelligence, allowing developers to build chat bots that can communicate one on one with users in a conversational tone. The more use, the more personalized a bot can be in serving a user" (ABCNews). "If you look at every technological advance," said Libin, "the big jumps forward were when something becomes easier, has less friction, becomes more natural than whatever it replaced - so email from normal mail, chat from email, smartphone apps from desktop apps, I think bots are the next evolution of making something more natural." (Marketplace)

Click the picture below to watch a short introduction to what the Messenger Platform can accomplish. 

For a more in depth session on how to build your messenger bot, watch this video of engineers explaining how Messenger is reinventing online communication. It is about an hour long, but gives great details about how the Messenger bots work and a live demo.

This is an exciting time for Artificial Intelligence. As more and more companies are acquiring AI companies and expanding their research and development, the more validation is shown that the world is ready for a more advanced and interactive experience with Virtual Agents. They are becoming the preferred way for companies to communicate with their customers and vice versa.
www.nohold.com

How to Reimagine the Customer Experience

2015 has been a big year for service/product evolution in customer-centric companies. With technology dominating the market, and consumers demanding the latest and greatest, big brand players are definitely delivering. 

Photo Credit: news.mattel.com

For example, Mattel, the worldwide leader in the design, manufacture, and marketing of toys and family products, announced at the beginning of the year their latest collaboration with Google to revamp one of their most iconic toys, the View-Master. With the help of Google, Mattel was able to transform a classic toy and turn it into an 'immersive digital experience for kids.' Experts are referring to this sort of evolution as "reimagining the customer experience." Alongside Mattel, Cablevision is also working towards adapting to modern customer needs. When announcing the addition of a free digital antenna and digital Wi-Fi phone service to their broadband package, the Chief Operating Officer, Kristin Dolan, went on to say, "As a connectivity company, Cablevision is reimagining its relationship with its customers. Our new 'cord-cutter' packages take a modern approach to traditional triple-product bundles and provide real alternatives that fit new consumer lifestyles."

With technology at the forefront of almost everything, this is a critical time for companies to stay relevant and up to date so they don't get pushed out by the competition, and 'reimagining' the customer experience is a great way to accomplish that. What some companies turn a blind eye to is as your products and services progress, so should your customer support initiatives. It is import to recognize the need to reimagine all aspects of the customer experiences, including pre- and post- sale interactions. Traditional FAQs are not going to be enough anymore, and live agents can get costly. Experience shows that providing consumers with a dynamic and interactive self-service tool, such as a Virtual Assistant (VA), increases customer satisfaction because it gives users the freedom to find their own answers, on their own time.

Just as goods have been evolving with the times, VAs are progressing with the age of technology as well. At the beginning, VAs simply automated FAQs leveraging content from its own knowledgebase to answer questions. Now, VAs are more dynamic and interactive than ever before, integrating to back-office systems (CRM, existing Knowledge Management solutions, etc.) and connecting to various software platforms (live chat, social media, communities, etc.).

How is your company reimagining the customer experience? 
For more information on how VAs can help your company revolutionize the way you connect with your customer, please visit our website: www.nohold.com

Photo Credit: loyalty360.org

Robotics Challenge Finals 2015- Humanoid Robots Continue to Advance Each Year

Just a couple weeks ago, teams from all over the globe competed in the Robotics Challenge Finals 2015 put together by DARPA (The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency). Check out this video from Yahoo! Tech to get a summary of what went down at this event.

Each year the robots entered into these challenges advance greatly. While the technology is rapidly growing, it is still in its infant stage according to DARPA's own Gill Pratt, the person in charge of the Robotics Challenge. "'These are still the Model Ts,' Pratt told me. 'In coming years, reliability will go up, prices will go down. And the technology here can be applied to robots for many, many purposes- in particular, robots for an aging society. In the United States right now, 13 percent of the population is over age 65. In 15 years that number will rise to 20 percent. Who's gonna take care of us? Wouldn't it be better if I could age in place, if I wouldn't have to go to a nursing home? If there would be technology in my home to make life better, so that I can have a more dignified life as I grow old?'"

Society is slowly gaining more and more acceptance of humanoid robots, and moving away from the fear of AI world domination. What is your opinion on robots, and their progression throughout the past 5 years?  
www.nohold.com

Self-Service and the Internet of Everything Make a Big Splash at CES 2015

It was a record breaking year for the International Consumer Electronics Show (CES). There were tons of innovative and immersive technologies being showcased, including things like driver-less cars, 4K TV's, advances in wearable devices, and virtual realities.

But what do all these things have in common? They all have the potential to be connected with the Internet of Everything (IoE) phenomenon, a continuing hot topic throughout the space. Check out this short clip from CES's YouTube channel, highlighting one of the major trends at this years show, the IoE.

Artificial Intelligence and Virtual Assistants also made an appearance at CES 2015. According to an article from inc.com, Virtual Assistants are one of the top tech trends to watch out for this year (8 Hot Tech Trends Coming to Your Office in 2015). Gartner also predicted in 2012 that "by 2015 [this year], 50 percent of online customer self-service search activities will be via a Virtual Assistant for at least 1,500 large enterprises" (Gartner Says Organizations That Integrate Communities Into Customer Support Can Realize Cost Reductions of Up to 50 Percent). While the exact numbers are not available at this point, it is apparent that since 2012 more and more companies are adopting self-service strategies to support their customers' needs.   

What were some of the tech gadgets that caught your eye this year? Any predictions for CES 2016?  
www.nohold.com

Tips Tuesday: Send Your Kids Back to School with the Best Suited Device for Them

As August is coming to a close, friends and family are trying to catch their last 'fun in the sun' moments before summer officially ends, and school begins. In light of it being back-to-school month, and having the added stresses that come along with that, I wanted to share a resourceful article with great information about picking the right device that fits your youngsters needs. The article is titled "How to Pick the Right Back-to-School Computer for Your Kid." Check it out to see some suggestions regarding which computers are best for kids of different ages. 

Photo Credit: www.imore.com

Not only is picking the right device important, but choosing the right support to go along with that technology is also key. With so many consumers turning to mobile and portable devices, the best way to respond to troubleshooting, diagnosing problems, and how-to support questions is to utilize light-weight and intuitive self-help options such as Virtual Agents. 

Since the kids of this generation are growing up in a technology driven society (also referred to as the App Generation), it is inevitable that they will utilize their devices in school settings. Parents need to know how to pick the right one, and teachers need to learn how to incorporate the kids identity with technology and use it in their curriculum. "Born after 1990, members of this generation have been surrounded and immersed to an unprecedented degree by technology: laptops, tablets, smartphones, handheld devices of every size and shape. Unlike so-called digital immigrants, they cannot remember a less technological era; indeed, unlike every previous generation, most of them do not know what it is like the be lost" (The App Generation: How Technology is Changing Us). 

What devices work best for your family's needs? Do they like the kid-friendly touchscreens or the more advanced software for performance?
www.nohold.com

Throwback Thursday: Dentist Move from Old-Fashion Painkillers to New-Aged Virtual Realities

I recently came across an article from Yahoo! Tech (Instead of Painkillers, Dentists May Soon Just Plunge You into a Virtual Reality) and found that virtual realities have been proving to be for more than just gaming. These headsets that immerse you into another world are appearing in your neighborhood dentist office? Yes, that is right, the dentist office! According to Tara Long of Discovery News, studies are being done on using virtual realities to alleviate dental pain. Check out the video below for the whole scoop. 

Video Source: Yahoo! Tech

Before the presence of immersive technology, painkillers/ anesthesia were the only way to reduce some of the pain from dental procedures. Now, the future of this technology is looking to replace modern medicine. What is your opinion on virtual realities used inside the dentist office? Is it all just a hoax or does the distraction and immersive elements of virtual realities really make you not feel the pain?

www.nohold.com

The Internet of Everything Improves Cities

Smart phones, smart cars, smart homes, and now, smart trash cans. This video shows how Philadelphia is moving towards becoming a 'smart' city by installing solar-powered trash compactors for the public. 


Video Credit: cnn.com

As they mention in the video, "The big belly solar compactor automatically crushes down it's trash, allowing it to hold 5 times the amount of garbage as a standard waste basket. When it's full, it sends an alert to a website indicating it needs to be emptied. That little alert makes a big difference." With the capability to hold more garbage and send notifications when it is time for a trash bin to be emptied, the city becomes more efficient, while saving money.

Internet connected trash cans are just another example of how smart technology is impacting our lives. As more and more things become 'connected', people will start to interact with Virtual Agents(VA) on a daily basis as their primary source to manage all these devices.

Do you think VA's are going to play a big role in the Internet of Everything? Can you imagine a 'butler-style'  Virtual Agent that can communicate with all your devices and notify you when something needs to be done?
www.nohold.com

A Look Back at noHold's Top Stories of the Week

Happy Friday all, hope you had a great work week, and have an even better weekend! But before you rush out of the office, take a look back at some of our top posts of the week. 

1. Cruise: A start-up company markets the first version of their highway autopilot system. What does this mean for Google's self-driving car? 

2.  4/5 Users Prefer Using a Virtual Agent to Traditional Support Options 

This week, after completing multiple A/B test sessions, we have found that 4 out of 5 people who tried both, the current support options of 'Brand X' and a Virtual Agent of 'Brand X', preferred using the VA to guide them to what they were looking for. For a description of the A/B testing done, check out the blog, Majority of Users Preferred Interacting with a Virtual Agent as a First Line of Support. 

3. Throwback Thursday: Evolving from computer bots to humanoids

What is your opinion on robots that look exactly like humans? If you have used a Virtual Agent for Customer Support, Care, or sales questions, do you prefer to know that it is an automated solution before interacting?    
                                                                                                                   
Cheers!
www.nohold.com

World Cup 2014 MVP...Technology: The First 'Digital World Cup'

Photo Credit: hdwallphotos.com

Who is excited for the World Cup to kick-off!? This afternoon (1:00 pm PST) Brazil will be facing off against Croatia in the first match-up of World Cup 2014: Brazil!  

This World Cup is going to be much different than the previous years, though. People are referring to it as the first ‘digital World Cup’ impart because of the the emphasis on smartphone applications and fan connectivity via social media. Twitter is going to be a sort of ‘ESPN zone’ for your phone; fans can stay updated with their favorite teams and share with others their own thoughts using ‘hashflags’ (tweeting using the three letter code for their country, i.e. #ITA). “The popularity of smartphones will make this year’s World Cup the most connected and interactive tournament ever” (Source: Why World Cup 2014 will be the Most High-Tech Tournament Yet).

Looks like wearable devices are making an appearance this year as well; FIFA is introducing goal line technology. Now, multiple cameras will be mounted on the goal and once the ball crosses the line, a notification will go out to wrist watches the referees will be wearing indicating ‘GOAL.’ This technology will be particularly useful for referees to determine if the ball passed the line in unclear situations.

Even the soccer balls are getting updated with cutting edge technology and aerodynamic designs. During training, various countries used a ‘smart ball’ equipped with sensors inside the ball to detect speed, spin, strike, and flight trajectory, as well as determining impact points for penalties and corners. Utilizing this technology gives insight into specific data that can help teach players how to improve their game (Source: http://micoach.adidas.com/us/smartball). Check out how much the official World Cup soccer ball design has changed over time.

Photo Credit: fastcompany.com

These were just a few of the technology highlights that will make their way to World Cup 2014. More tech advancements include security robots, foam spray to draw temporary lines, futuristic soccer cleats, World Cup Instagram profile, different ways to stay cool in the hot weather conditions, and more.  With all these new technologies and innovations, how do you think this will impact the games?

www.nohold.com

Can a Virtual Agent Decide What Kind of Tablet Best Fits Your Personality?

Photo Credit: stores.macmall.com

We have all seen the fun, social quizzes typically on Facebook to find out, “What Star Wars Character is Most like You?” or “Who is Your Perfect Literary Boyfriend/Girlfriend?” Once in a while, we come across one that strikes our interest and we get pulled in to take it.

Many popular brands use these types of quizzes to engage their audience, and promote sharing among friends via social media. By doing so, brands are able to create a unique experience, increase engagement, while spreading brand awareness to prospective clients without having to do it directly themselves.

One way to implement quizzes is through a Virtual Agent. Using fun quizzes as a part of the Virtual Agent experience will encourage more users to interact. A core part of the technology used for a Virtual Agent is its ability to provide an interactive and diagnostic experience for users. Meaning, it can take the answers from the quiz, and using logic, turn them into meaningful metrics. For example, a company in the consumer electronics industry that is focusing on tablet sales can include a quiz in the Virtual Agent that might ask, “What Kind of Tablet Best Fits Your Personality?” Take the photo above: an Apple superstore created a quiz, "Which iPhone 5s Color Are You?" People were interested in taking the survey, increasing engagement, and participants were encouraged to buy the product they thought best suited them according to the results. By incorporating a fun quiz into the Virtual Agent experience, you create 'stickiness', promote sharing, while capturing actionable customer intelligence, among other benefits. 

Tell us how your company leverages quizzes to increase customer engagement. Have you thought about using a Virtual Agent as a customer experience companion? 

www.nohold.com

Throwback Thursday: How Kids React to the Apple II

The creation of computer desktops was the beginning of the technology era. Granted they did not always look as sleek and sophisticated as they do now, but back then, it was a big deal to own a computer. Also, finding support for these desktops was more challenging than it is now. One of noHold's first customers, a globally recognized leader in visual display technology, got ahead of the curve when they implemented a Virtual Agent to provide support for their computer products and monitors. They realized the growing demand for cutting edge technology and applied it to products, as well as support options. 

Today's youth are growing up with state-of-the-art technology all around them. In turn, smartphones and tablets are becoming more of a staple than a luxury, especially in the Silicon Valley. The video below shows young kids of different ages, interacting with one of the first Apple desktop computers that was released in 1977, The Apple II.  

Note: Take a look at one child, as she tries to 'speak' to the computer. Does she think it has a Virtual Assistant? 

As you can see, the kids were shocked to find out that it wasn't a touch screen and there was no Internet connection, but when the Apple II came out, it was a huge milestone for technology. In only 30 years we have managed to innovate the concept of the desktop and create compact devices with even more capabilities.With this type of forward thinking, only time will tell what the latest technology trend will be. Eventually, future generations will see a tablet and think it is completely unusable, similar to the reactions in the video. 

I'll leave you with this picture of ways some older desktops are being put to use.

Photo Credit: Gadgetsin.com

Happy TBT!

Self-Driving Cars...The Future is Near

Google Self-Driving Car on City Streets

Since Google's announcement of its self-driving car project (circa 2010), it is continuing to be an ongoing effort from the Google team to perfect this technology. Since noHold is located so close to Mountain View, California, we sometimes see Google's "driverless cars" on the streets. 

The video above shows you the latest progresses being made from the test drivers and engineers at Google. The autonomous car can now account for many unique scenarios. For example, navigating through construction zones, yielding to bicyclists, and passing railroad crossings.

It is still unsure of when these self driving cars will be available for purchase. Experts in the automotive industry suggest that the technology for autonomous cars will not be ready till 2020, but it looks like Google might make it happen sooner than expected (When Can We Buy Google's Self-Driving Car).

Artificial Intelligence in the form of a Virtual Agent increases customer satisfaction, reduces costs, and captures actionable intelligence. When the software in your car gets ‘smarter’, what kinds of benefits do you hope to see? Do you think the smart software will reduce costs related to accidents, traffic violations, etc? 

www.nohold.com

President Obama meets ASIMO, Honda’s Humanoid Robot

During a youth science event at the National Museum of Emerging Science and Innovation (AKA Miraikan) in Tokyo, Japan, President Barack Obama was introduced to ASIMO, Honda’s humanoid robot. For those of you who don’t know, ASIMO is an acronym for Advanced Step in Innovative MObility. For 14 years now, Honda has been developing and enhancing ASIMO’s capabilities of interacting with its physical surroundings. ASIMO has improved so much since its inception; it can now walk up stairs, pour and serve a cup of juice, run, recognize faces, and talk.  

President Obama also saw a demonstration of Atlas, DARPA’s (the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency) creation of a humanoid robot designed to save lives from the rubble of natural disasters. As advances are being made in robotics, the technology that are fueling these parts are being widely utilized in other aspects of innovation; driver-less cars, wearable devices, drones, and more. People are becoming increasingly more optimistic about the future of high tech.

“…Obama professed his belief in the importance of science and math programs, telling students they ‘have more technology and more power than even the greatest innovators of previous generations, so there is no limit to what [they] can achieve,’ he said" (President Obama Plays Soccer with ASIMO the Robot). The power of technology gives future generations the ability improve innovations and create things that we never thought possible. What do you think the next capabilities for ASIMO are going to be? What would you like a humanoid robot to be able to do? 

www.nohold.com

"...It's the Only Support Solution That Drives the Cost Down the More it is Used.”

The best way to measure the success of a Virtual Agent is to learn straight from the clients that implement them. One of noHold's customers, ViewSonic, a globally recognized leader in visual display technology, provided noHold with a testimonial on their experience with a Virtual Agent. 

"InstantSupport™ helps us provide quick and consistent solutions for our customers with just a few key strokes.  Its reporting tools guide us towards updates to keep our solutions current and it’s the only support solution that drives the cost down the more it is used.” - Carol Hansen, Manager, Customer Care, ViewSonic

Kudos to ViewSonic for maximizing the use of their Virtual Agent and reaping the benefits of lower support costs and higher customer satisfaction. 

Are Virtual Agents one of the only support solutions that drive down costs the more they are used? What's your opinion?