Voice Recognition Is Great For VARs... Or Is It?

Two of the leading vendors in voice recognition (VR) are Voxware and Vocollect. Both companies have been fairly successful in their niche markets. But there is no similarity in their views when it comes to marketing their products through VARs.

The Market Dictates The Channel
Voxware targets the industrial and warehouse markets. Vocollect targets the retail industry, including the supply chain. According to Bathsheba Malsheen, PhD., president of Voxware, the company depends heavily on its VAR channel to market its products. Vice President of Vocollect David Shlager says his company uses no VARs.

More than $30 billion in groceries were picked and sorted last year using VR technology from Vocollect, according to Shlager. But, this figure represents barely a scratch on the surface of the total market. "Our sales growth last year was 100%," said Shlager. "We expect it to be 50% this year. This is significant growth, but it is not what it should be."

Malsheen says every vendor selling VR technology to the supply chain and warehouse markets should see 100% annual sales growth or more. "With the onslaught of Internet sales, home shopping programs, and e-commerce, ‘fulfillment' has become a key word in business," said Malsheen. "There are razor-thin profit margins in these sales, so order picking, receiving, and tracking return items must be shaved to the minimum. VR is the technology to meet these challenges."

Supermarket chains may not be a suitable target for VARs, according to Shlager. The major chains will likely deal with the actual vendor. "As for the smaller markets that are customarily targeted by VARs, I believe VR is too much of a leap for their customers," Shlager said.

Different Rules For Industrial Markets?
Admittedly, Vocollect does not focus on the industrial market. So maybe the rules are different. Voxware's Malsheen told me, "Productivity now has the attention of the highest levels of management in the corporate world. VR increases productivity, provides real time information transfer, and allows hands-free information gathering. Users love the technology. Training and installation functions are easy for VARs. Add to that triple figure sales growth rates, and it's hard to fault the technology."

Continuing, Malsheen stated, "E-commerce is not always easy to integrate into existing infrastructures, whereas VR is easily retrofitted for direct shipment of goods. Smaller and more powerful, wearable computers have solved the problems that have plagued the VR industry. VR improves customer service, employee comfort, and productivity. New ‘tools,' that speed up the installation process make this a perfect package for VARs and integrators. We are counting heavily on our VAR channel to grow our market."

And The Answer Is…
Some VR markets can and should be addressed by VARs, while others should not. That sounds pretty simple, but it's true. Think about it. VARs could apply that philosophy to most of the products they sell. Very large sales to chain stores are usually handled by vendors with multiple distribution outlets. VARs who are dedicated to more localized markets tend to do better with customers that need more personalized attention.

No matter how you view this, VR is growing at very respectable rates. It is a technology worth investigating, and you should do it soon.

Questions about this article? E-mail the author at Editor@corrypub.com.