There have been some amazing developments in technology over the last few years that continue to keep evolving. Two technologies that have grown leaps and bounds are Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Interactive Voice Response (IVR).

The best way to describe these is to think Alexa. Alexa is a great example that uses both. I can remember when the first voice recognition software programs came out, and they were horrible.  You might recall how frustrating it was to use Voice to Text translation on your phone just a few years ago. Forget it if you had any type of accent. Now, when talking to Alexa, it is almost too easy. Alexa understands multiple phrases, questions and answers, and her vocabulary and ability grows daily.

We need to be aware of how this will affect our industry. Won’t it be nice when technicians and service advisors can speak to Alexa to fill out a DVI or get a part found and ordered? And, what about something simple like automatically responding via text message to a question like, “How late is your shop open today?” I can tell you this technology is already here, and it will only keep advancing and get better.

More acronyms, yes, but important ones that you need to know.