Pullstring Update Aims to Make Everyone a Voice App Developer
Pullstring has released an update to its Converse software that makes it easier of non-technical digital professionals to create and launch voice applications. Converse is used by several organizations today including Activision and Mattel. A Pullstring executive said that Alexa skills for HomeAdvisor and Nickelodeon’s SpongeBob are examples of solutions built on the platform. In addition, the Destiny 2 Ghost Alexa skill and the Match Game skill, launched in late 2017 by Freemantle Media that includes in-game monetization, were also built using Converse.
Streamlining Development and Content Updates
The Converse 1.0 update adds a number of new features including personalization and session persistence. A blog post from Pullstring vice president Guillaume Privat mentions that there is now “support for variables, entities and Alexa slot types…[and] blocks for questionnaire-like data capture and conditional branching.” This is a small sampling of new features that also includes project management, team collaboration, rich audio file management and integrations for dynamic content.
These features are designed to help voice application publishers enhance user experience. However, the official company announcement focuses more on how Converse is designed to help non-technical marketers and designers build voice applications without the assistance of developers. The company says it is offering 200 million global “knowledge workers” the “ability to design and deploy voice applications on Amazon Alexa with no technical knowledge.” Looking at the feature set, it appears particularly suited for agencies that want to prototype, develop and launch voice applications for clients, but don’t have the technical resources available to work with the current SDKs provided by Amazon and Google.
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