Design & Realization of the Voice Apps for Das Örtliche

Das Örtliche is one of the most important directories and is absolutely essential in the German media sector. In addition to the print, online and app versions, the directory also plans to take the first step into digital communication via voice assistants. Das Örtliche is available as an application for Amazon Alexa, Samsung Bixby and Google Assistant. Users can use the digital assistants to search for addresses, opening hours and telephone numbers of all listed companies. A special feature is the free call function for Alexa, which allows a call to be initiated through the application. But that's not all, because the range of functions is constantly being expanded. Since November 2018, users have also been able to reserve tables at a large number of restaurants or search directly for ATMs.

With millions of different companies and private individuals listed, the big challenge was to make this flood of data manageable, categorize it and pour it into apps for digital assistants.

The dialog flow is optimized with certain wordings to guarantee the best possible user experience. In product descriptions, we provide recommended sentence constructions that are easy to understand for the digital assistants. We are constantly working on new functions and expansions so that the voice applications work even better and accommodate the wide range of services offered by Das Örtliche.