Virtual assistants: types and examples

We all need our everyday tasks made a little easier. A virtual assistant with artificial intelligence is capable of this and much more. But what is a virtual assistant and what types are there?

Below, we tell you in detail everything about these virtual assistants that make our lives easier.

What is a virtual assistant?

A virtual assistant is an artificial intelligence with personal assistant functions, which is capable of automating and implementing tasks, as well as responding to specific requests.

Simply put, a virtual assistant is an artificial intelligence that performs the functions of a human assistant .

A person makes a request to the virtual assistant, which processes it, interprets it and responds. It has the ability to communicate with us one-on-one using natural language.

Furthermore, it can be found in environments as diverse as telephone, webchat, social networks, mobile applications, metaverse…

What do virtual assistants do?

You may wonder, what do these devices that talk to us do for us? How do they help us in our daily lives? Well, they won't help you mow the garden, but otherwise, in almost everything.

Virtual assistants can turn on appliances remotely, order a taxi without having to raise a hand, have a driver deliver Chinese food to your home, and get to know your home. 

They also read the news to you, warn you about the weather outside and calculate the traffic in your area so that you don't get unnecessarily angry at the horn.

Types of virtual assistants

Below, we leave you a list of the three most well-known types of virtual assistants.

Virtual Administrative Assistants

Its objective is to improve the productivity of the company or the professional it assists.

This type of assistant automates and unifies internal company communications, answers employees' most frequently asked questions, and provides them with access to certain resources.

In short, it improves the employee experience in a simple, fast and effective way.

Virtual Personal Assistants

This type of virtual assistants help the user in everyday tasks normally related to the management of electronic devices.

It can engage in natural conversation, understand the context of your questions, and carry out increasingly complex and useful actions for people, such as organizing your schedule, turning on the heating, or reporting on the daily news.

e-commerce virtual assistants

Nowadays, we are more than used to finding virtual assistants in many online stores.

These types of assistants help resolve queries, make payments, track orders, resolve incidents and ensure customer satisfaction throughout the purchasing process.

However, there are many types such as virtual assistants for project management, personal assistants, content writing, graphic design, etc.

Examples of virtual assistants

Alexa

We can find it on the Amazon Echo device, Amazon's smart speaker. This is a disadvantage, since the information it offers us is not visual, but auditory.

However, we can ask it any type of question and it will return a complex answer. The system allows us to add a series of applications that expand its communication skills. 

Siri

It is the best-known Apple assistant. Currently, it is the most reliable virtual assistant on the market.

It can perform tasks such as: calling a contact, playing music that we want to listen to at an exact moment, launching applications, offering weather forecasts and even telling jokes.

Google Now

It stands out for its almost infinite functions. In addition, it can allow the user to integrate searches that they have already performed on Google and due to the great information obtained it can offer numerous results.

Finally, it can recognize up to six different voices, responding in a personalized way to each one.

Cortana

The Windows assistant, which is characterized by its great personality. It learns about the activity of those who use the device and stores its conclusions in a list called a “notebook”.

In this way, it can offer a more personalized experience. However, its functions are not as extensive as those of Apple's assistant.

Due to the characteristics of each of these, we can give you a series of recommendations:

1. Cortana is ideal for a work environment.
2. The Google Assistant responds to searches in an unbeatable way.
3. Conversations with Alexa can be complex and lengthy.
4. Siri offers us enormous integration with the iPhone, making the most of all the mobile's possibilities. 

Virtual assistants are gradually becoming part of our daily lives. Their evolution is constant and we don't know what the future holds for us.

We hope that with this article you have been able to learn a little more about this current topic. If you have any questions, count on Voltistar. Contact us !

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