1. Improving Performance in the
Workplace with Voice-Enabled
Natural Language Solutions
How are workers accessing information today, and how might that
improve with the introduction of new technologies?
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2. Summary
EasyAsk, the leader in natural language technology
and solutions, published a research report entitled
Improving Performance in the Workplace with
Voice-Enabled Natural Language Solutions on
how workers are accessing information today and
how performance in the workplace can be
improved with Siri-like solutions for the enterprise.
This presentation highlights a few key findings from
this report – for insight and full data, download the
report.
The research suggests savings and business
benefits to be considerable – organizations in the
U.S. could realize more than $800 million daily
savings in wage costs alone.*
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3. How many systems or applications might
you access to do your job?
8% 9%
58% access three
or more systems to 11%
do their jobs
None
24% One to Two
6%
Three to Four
Five to Six
Seven to Nine
10 or more
Don't know
15%
27%
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4. How much time each day do you think you
spend in systems or applications looking
for answers or reports you need to perform
your job?
7%
13%
Half spend
between 31
minutes to more None
11%
than 2 hours a 26% 1 to 10 minutes
day looking for 11 to 30 minutes
answers or 31 minutes to 1 hour
1 to 2 hours
reports
More than 2 hrs
15%
Don't know
13%
15%
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5. When looking to answer questions to
perform your job, do you have easy access
to the right information?
A quarter of respondents said 25% to 100% of the time
they do not have easy access to the right information
they need to perform their jobs
1%
All the time (100 percent)
58% Most of the time (75-99 percent)
3%
Other, please specify
26%
19% 4% Some of the time (25-74 percent)
Little of the time (1-24 percent)
Never
15%
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6. Do you find it difficult to find the right
information to perform your job?
48% find it
5%
difficult to find 15%
the right 12%
information a
quarter to all the
time All the time (100 percent)
Most of the time (75-99 percent)
Some of the time (25-74 percent)
Little of the time (1-24 percent)
Never
37% 31%
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7. If you had to build If someone else
your own, how builds reports for
difficult is it to build you, how long does it
new reports? take to get the new
report?
No one ever builds reports
I would never build new for me <or> An hour or
1% reports less
Up to ½ day
Easy
9% 3%
20% Other, please specify 11% Other, please specify
26%
15%
61%
Very difficult 1 day
19% 25% 42% 15%
Somewhat difficult 44% 2 to 4 business days
8%
4%
Mildly difficult
5 to 10 business days
Building reports is difficult for workers and
42% of those that ask for help have to wait
one day to more than 10 to get new reports
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8. How difficult is it for you to access the
appropriate existing reports?
52% know that they
cannot find all existing
reports
7%
I don't access reports
I can find all reports
22%
30% Don't know
52% 19%
I can't find any reports
I can find some reports
19% I can find many reports
3%
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9. When you have a new business question,
do you typically ask a colleague or one of
your organization’s software applications?
Nearly three-quarters of
the time a worker has a
new business question,
they interrupt a
colleague to ask
questions 7% Other, please specify
35%
Don't know
Neither
12% 72%
Application
38% Both Application and colleague
7%
Colleague
1%
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10. When you have a new business
question…
do you have the necessary
do you typically know what technical skills to find the
application to ask for answers? answers?
Other, please specify Other, please specify
Don't know Don't know
No No
Yes Yes
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 0% 20% 40% 60% 80%
Majority of workers know what systems to access and
how to ask systems new business questions, but only
7% ask only systems or applications without also
interrupting colleagues
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11. If you had a Siri-like tool on your mobile
device that connected to all of your
business’ systems and applications, would
it make it easier to perform you job?
1%
19%
Yes
No
Don’t know
53%
Other, please specify
27%
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12. If you your colleagues could ask and receive
answers to business questions via a natural
language voice
do you think that would add value to your
interface on any company’s revenue and/or profitability?
1%
mobile or computing No – neither
Don’t know
28%
device… 25%
46%
9%
34% Other, please specify
Yes – revenue
Yes – profitability
3% Yes – both
would it make it easier to perform your job?
Other, please specify
do you think that would improve your
customer’s experience and/or satisfaction?
Don’t know
No – neither
1% Don’t know
No
Other, please
23%
41% specify
Yes 53%
9% Yes – customer
22% experience
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 4% Yes – customer
satisfaction
Yes – both
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13. If you could speak to your computing
devices to ask for information or answers,
as you would speak to your colleagues,
how much time do you think you could
save in the average day?
40% anticipate 11%
saving 31 minutes None
22% Don’t know
to more than 2 13%
1 to 10 minutes
hours each day,
63% 18% 11 to 30 minutes
with 63% expecting 31 minutes to 1 hour
to save some 1 to 2 hours
14%
amount of time 15% More that 2 hours
7%
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14. If you had an application that could answer
many of your questions via a voice
interface, and also suggested other
relevant existing reports, would that help
you do your job more efficiently?
29%
Nearly 30% are still
unsure, but of those 48%
Yes
that know, most No
expect improved Don’t know
efficiency
23%
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15. What devices would you most likely prefer
to use a natural language voice interface
with?
Smart Phones Tablets Computers
Other, please Other, please Other, please
specify specify specify
Desktop Mac
Blackberry Blackberry
Desktop PC
Android Android
Laptop Mac
iPhone iPad
Laptop PC
None None None
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 0% 20% 40% 60% 0% 50% 100%
While these results may represent ownership as of today, it is still significant
because it is likely a snapshot of preference for the immediate future
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16. How many computing devices do you own
and/or use for work?
The number of 30%
devices per
user and 25%
diversity of
computing
devices will 20%
likely continue
to grow – 15%
complicating
information
access, if 10%
organizations
do not plan 5%
properly
0%
None One Two Three to Five to Six Seven to 10 or more Don’t know
Four Nine
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17. What percentage of your working time is
away from a desk?
85% spend some
amount of time
away from their
desks, with 60%
spending more than
10% to 100% mobile
22% None
23%
Don’t know
1 to 10 percent
61% 18% 11 to 25 percent
26 to 50 percent
2%
10% 51 to 75 percent
76 to 100 percent
15% 10%
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18. About the Research
 EasyAsk initiated its workplace performance research
in the first half of 2012
 The independent research company Market Tools
executed the survey
• Market Tools uses validation and quality-assured sample to
ensure a random sample of respondents
 420 qualified responses within the U.S. across a wide
range of roles, industries and organizational size
 Margin for error for the entire survey is +/- 4.8 percent
at a 95 percent confidence level
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19. Additional Resources
 Download the full research report here:
http://www.easyask.com/?p=3235
 To learn about EasyAsk Quiri, a Siri-like solution for
the enterprise, go to
http://www.easyask.com/products/quiri/
 For more information about EasyAsk, please visit
www.easyask.com
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20. About EasyAsk
 Leader in natural language technology and solutions
 300+ customers
 Software solutions include:
– EasyAsk Quiri: Siri-like mobile access to enterprise information
– EasyAsk Business Edition: intuitive query and analysis tools
– EasyAsk eCommerce Edition: intelligent e-commerce search &
navigation
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21. Endnote
* According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, as of March 2012, there are
132.166 million US workers with a mean wage of $23.29 and hour. A 2003
Bureau of Labor study suggests that at least 55.5 percent of all US workers
use a computer at work. This would equate to at least 73,352,130 people
using computers at work in the US in May 2012. The EasyAsk Business
User survey found that 11 percent of respondents will save 1 to 10 min, 13
percent will save 11 to 30 min, 18 percent will save 31 minutes to one hour,
14 percent will save one to two hours, and 7 percent will save more than two
hours every day. Total estimated savings is $800,656,592.48 per day.
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