Companies are using phone calls to send notifications and alerts for commercial purposes. One reason is because their customers pay more attention to voice calls these days than email or even text messages. Another factor is new laws regarding restrictions on reading text messages in cars and commercial vehicles.

In many cities and States in the U.S, it is illegal to read text messages or emails in a commercial or private vehicle. If an Industrial IoT (IIoT) device fails, that device needs to notify someone to come and fix it. That someone may be driving a commercial repair truck. The driver may be able to listen to a telephone call or voice message, but, cannot read an email or a text message and still remain within the law. IIoT devices need to be able to make a phone call and send a voice message to that repair truck.

So IIoT needs to be given a voice. An IIoT device that has merely the ability to send an email must now be able to dial the phone number of the repair truck, handle voice mail if there is no answer, retry if the call fails because of network issues, and more.

Voice really needs to be included in any Customer Service strategy.

With a  cloud-based messaging service, all that is needed to send a voice message from an IIoT device is an ability to send an email. An Email interface is common in many IIoT devices or can be done through an Edge Interface to a central application.

In the past, implementation to communication-enable business processes would have been a major effort. Sending a message from an application or smart device to a phone required specialized hardware and software solutions to be installed in the client’s central data center. Connections to smart devices, CRM, PCS or ERP systems were through complex API’s or propriety software gateways.

With a cloud-based messaging services, all that is required is to add a new recipient in the TO field in the Email. The cloud-based messaging service takes care of the rest. To learn more about how to voice-enable IIoT, visit Email to Voice.