3 voice intelligence startups optimizing virtual and hybrid meetings

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Working smarter, not harder, is consistently the name of the game when it comes to emerging conversation AI startups across sectors. There has, however, been a notable surge in the number of companies that use voice intelligence to level up day-to-day meetings — making them easier to manage, more productive and even fun to engage with, despite distance between colleagues.

In a world where workplaces are still relying on hybrid or entirely virtual teams, products such as MeetFox’s end-to-end business management software can simplify and automate what once was a complex scheduling process. MeetFox, a Symbl for Startups inductee that was acquired by Sendinblue in 2022, provides users with seamless meeting scheduling, in-browser video calls, instant payments and limitless integrations.

For sales, this means connecting with leads faster and closing more deals. MeetFox’s product has the potential to streamline the recruiting process for Human Resources, facilitate virtual tutoring appointments and make payment a breeze. Teams that only want one app to manage their appointments will also be pleasantly surprised by MeetFox’s ability to connect to the tools they already use.

Another Symbl for Startups standout, Tangle, takes a different approach to optimizing remote and hybrid meeting models. On-screen transparent avatars of colleagues give Tangle’s customers the impression that they’re working closely with co-workers without being disruptive. Who is talking to whom, or whether someone is busy taking a call (or is out of office), are all things users are able to quickly learn via these avatars.

Tangle highlights how hard it is to foster rapport with co-workers in a fully remote environment. When interactions with co-workers of one’s choice are animated on top of other applications throughout the day, it changes that dynamic and creates an ongoing meeting space where barriers to collaboration are removed.

Tangle allows “aha” moments and their subsequent action items to be shared with minimal friction and in real time. This “real time” facet of the product is incredibly beneficial for onboarding remote employees as well, because participants can ask questions, bounce ideas off of each other and create action items as they arise naturally.

As many of us have realized by this point, the remote-first workplace isn’t going anywhere anytime soon. It is in any given business’ best interest, therefore, to adopt software that increases cohesion and prevents bottlenecks that lead to burnout. The benefits of human interaction in a workplace are manifold, which is why Tangle uses Symbl.ai’s API to support and track these relationships when employees are scattered across the country — or globe.

One Symbl for Startups member that focuses specifically on pain points involved with hybrid workplace discussions, where some team members are working in close physical proximity and some aren’t, is Between. Between eliminates audio issues including echoing and feedback when multiple laptops share the same room, which means colleagues are able to talk freely at the same time as they would be if everyone were together in person.

Between gives team members the ability to move from one conversation group to another without the awkward pause that occurs when administrators manually push people to breakout rooms, letting smaller groups naturally splinter off while still remaining part of the bigger conversation. This new paradigm of the hybrid or fully remote office mandates that co-workers be able to easily collaborate to complete projects with others, which is something every startup mentioned in this article clears the path for.

As you might imagine, this is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the many innovative conversation AI startups popping up to solve pain points for remote and hybrid workplaces. The virtual work landscape is constantly changing, so make sure to follow Symbl for Startups on Twitter and Medium to stay ahead of emerging companies in conversation AI that support the shifting employee paradigm.