Q: Can the user ask Alexa any question related to Energy?
A: Alexa has a concept of user intent and Bidgely has defined a fixed set of intents. For every intent, Alexa can be configured to accept multiple questions that can be asked in different ways. As long as user asks a question that closely matches one of the configured questions & ways of asking, Alexa will respond correctly. In addition, Bidgely is constantly working towards adding different question variations to make the conversation smoother and more natural.
Q: Can we use Alexa to send Notifications?
A: Yes, Alexa can be used to send notifications and the consumer will be informed at the next opportunity on the device. However, a consumer will have to enable the notifications preference to receive these. We plan to provide this functionality in future releases.
Q: Will Bidgely log all questions asked to improve & enrich intents?
A: Yes, we will be continuously improving Voice interactions. These improvements will cover both the breadth of questions (intents) and the variations of answers available. Bidgely is uniquely qualified in this regard due to our deep expertise in machine learning along with the fact that we will able to leverage learnings from multiple utilities to constantly improve every deployment.
Q: Does Bidgely’s voice solution support visual devices (e.g. Echo Show)?
A: We do not support visual devices in the current version. We will continue to assess the market acceptance of visual devices and provide support if there is sufficient demand.
Q: How can the Energy Assistant incorporate functions from the utility as well as from Bidgely?
A: Bidgely will work with the utility to incorporate functions such as Bill Pay and program offers. This follows the same general approach as the integrations we perform within our platform for other channels such as a web portal or mobile app.
Q: Does the user need to invoke the Energy Assistant by name (e.g. “Google, open my EnergyCo Energy Assistant.” or can he/she just ask a question directly (e.g. “Google, what will my electricity bill be this month?”
A: The user needs to invoke the energy assistant by name.
Q: What are the integration requirements for Alexa?
A: This depends on the type of customer:
- Existing Customers: For existing utilities already working with Bidgely, there is no additional integration needed for Alexa.
- New Customers: A new utility can integrate with Bidgely in the same way the AMI solution is integrated today.
- In addition, the end consumer will have to enable the Utility-specific Alexa Skill in their Amazon account and link with their Bidgely account as a one time setup.
Q: I already have an Alexa Skill solution, can I add Bidgely Voice interactions to my existing solution?
A: Yes, Bidgely has insights and voice services available that can be used to add Bidgely-specific voice interactions to a utility’s existing Alexa Skill. Bidgely will work with you in consulting mode to help with the integration.
Q: How do I add additional voice interactions such as Outage Reporting & Status, Bill Pay, etc.?
A: Utility-specific voice interactions such as outage reporting can be added to the Bidgely Alexa solution. This will require Bidgely to integrate with utility Outage APIs and Services
Q: Can I have my brand or name for the Alexa Skill?
A: Yes, we can configure the Alexa Skill to have the utility name during invocation and voice commands.
Q: What languages are supported?
A: At present, we support only English language communication. Other languages will be supported in future releases.
Q: Which smart speakers do you support?
A: We currently support Amazon Echo and plan to support Google Voice in a future release.
Q: Can I control my smart home devices such as thermostats from the Bidgely voice solution?
A: Yes. We are actively working on adding such features to the platform.
Q: Does the end consumer need to opt in to use this? Does Bidgely help?
A: Yes, this is an opt-in solution. Bidgely has developed marketing materials that you can use to describe the benefits and help the consumer understand the steps to enable the Skill/Action.
Q: How does an End Consumer start using Bidgely Alexa Skill or Google Action?
A: The end consumer will have to enable the Bidgely Alexa Skill in his/her Amazon/Google account and link to the Bidgely account as a one-time setup. After linking, the consumer can start using the Bidgely Solution by invoking it e.g., “Alexa, Open my <utility name> Energy Assistant”
Q: Do you have proof points of how it helps in reducing call center volume or increase engagement?
A: We are working with selected utilities in measuring these KPIs and will be able to share these soon.
Q: Will the Bidgely Voice solution address unique slang and regional linguistics of my region?
A: Yes. The solution has a set of core scripts, and these scripts can be edited and augmented with regional-specific changes.
