When Nuance (News - Alert) introduced Nina, its mobile virtual assistant, the company’s intent was to help provide voice-based service apps for Android (News - Alert) and iOS devices. While it has done that, growing popular among businesses such as banks, one must always know when it’s time to grow, and Nina is growing indeed.

Following its acquisition of Virtuoz, Nuance has revealed upgrades and expansions to its virtual assistant, bringing it to the desktop Web. This will allow text-based commands and requests as well as interactive voice response (IVR), helping companies respond to the multi-channel demands from customers.

With Nina, customers can gain connectivity to live CRM systems, that way, they can be directed to a staff member upon request. If they have any questions or requests typed online, they can receive a push notification sent to their phone. It’s designed to provide a faster and simpler customer experience, where they get to what they need without having to sit through endless menus. It can also be adapted and adjusted to meet a company’s brand and design, so it won’t seem like a clunky virtual agent tossed in at random.

Nina also supports voice biometrics to identify customers. There’s no reason to worry about identity theft, so long as there’s no “Freaky Friday”-style body switch going on, since it will know you by the sound of your voice. It also has support for up to 38 different languages, helping customers feel more at home.

"Nina is driving a new generation of customer self-service, where customers finally get the experience they've been demanding at a scaled that the world's largest brands require,” explained Robert Weidman, EVP and GM of Nuance Enterprise Division. "Through our innovations in language, understanding, and expression, Nuance is unique in our ability to securely deliver intelligent virtual assistants, in a wide number of languages, recognizing speech and text, across many channels."

Voice controls and recognition have been growing far more powerful and useful, so customers are beginning to expect them. If they don’t, then Nina will be a nice surprise, which will raise their expectations for future encounters. Nuance is expanding the capabilities of Nina to provide even more ease and convenience for its clients and their customers – now, they can be heard clearly by all.