One of my initial hesitations about using a voice dictation tool is talking aloud in an office environment. Has this discomfort inhibited the adoption of voice tools in the workplace in the past? “It definitely has. I think of it in terms of ROI — how much value does this add for you, versus what is the cost? In this case, the cost is to change your behavior and do something different from everyone else around you. But if what you’re doing adds enough value, then it’s worth it.
“These kinds of changes happen every 10 years or so. The first time phones came around, talking to a metal brick was pretty weird. Wearing AirPods and walking around, talking to nobody in the air, was really weird. But these things just worked, and if something solves a big problem, you’re willing to make the investment.
“I do hear a lot of people say, ‘I don’t know if I want to use this in my office.’ What I often tell them is, ‘Just try it once.’ They usually have an ‘aha’ moment and realize, ‘Okay, this is a big unlock.’ In fact, among all the companies we work with, the majority are in-person, open-office workplaces, with people using voice tools around each other.
