How Box is changing conference room interaction using Amazon's Alexa

Dive Brief:

Box is working to create a more efficient workplace by allowing employees to use Amazon's Alexa to find, book and interact with conference room facilities, according to Paul Chapman, CIO of Box. Working with Teem and its Alexa skill, Box employees can book and manage meetings digitally.
Using Alexa is part of Chapman's effort to rethink the workplace experience, an area he says is often overlooked in IT organizations. Users can waste a "tremendous" amount of time finding the proper conference room facilities and equipment, Chapman told CIO Dive. "It’s fragmented, it’s not integrated and it’s certainly not digitized."
Box is creating a more streamlined experience by using Alexa and a system for digitized conference room engagement. Alexa is also starting to play a bigger part of the in-conference room experience, according to Chapman. Users can ask the voice-activated personal assistant to book a room, check into a meeting, extend a meeting, end a meeting, or inquire when they have another meeting on the schedule.

Dive Insight:

The user experience and interface are going through a "paradigm shift," according to Chapman. As companies become more digitized and efficient in back-end processes, IT leaders are looking toward new areas to streamline.

Companies could eventually introduce more complicated digital interactions, even with an adoption curve for new technology. With more consumers starting to rely on virtual personal assistants, such as Google Now or Apple's Siri, integrating that technology into an office setting should not prove too much of a hurdle.

While Box relies on Alexa primarily for conference room interaction, the voice-activated personal assistant could take on a more complex role. Users may eventually be able to use Alexa to call up an org chart, for example.

For some companies, adopting digital technology can be a challenge. While a company like Box can integrate conference room technology across its organization, a larger enterprise may have a harder time with implementation and scale. An existing office environment may pose a particular challenge, for example, but a company building a new headquarters could integrate digital technology into office construction.