TalkLocal Founder Manpreet Singh to Discuss Virtual Assistants and AIs at LSA

SAN FRANCISCO - March 4, 2016 - PRLog -- TalkLocal's (http://www.talklocal.com/) co-founder Manpreet Singh will join Mark Slater of Pingup, Kelly Thomas of Microsoft, and Timothy Tuttle of MindMeld as they discuss the impacts of virtual assistants and artificial intelligence on the local search space. The Local Search Association’s event isn’t the only conference to feature the thought leadership of Manpreet Singh or members of the TalkLocal team. In addition to Manpreet’s speaking engagement at the BIA/Kelsey Now Conference in late February and Contact.io Conference in late January where co-founder Amandeep Bakshi made his mark, industry followers can look forward to Manpreet Singh joining them at Leadscon (http://www.leadscon.com/leadsconlv/speakers/) in March and SpeechTek (http://www.speechtek.com/Speakers/Manpreet-Singh.aspx) in late May.

According to Manpreet, the disappearing user interfaces of the internet of things makes virtual assistants and AIs a critical part of navigating the web in the future.

“There won’t be a keyboard for users to enter their search keywords. Nor will there be a search results page where users can browse their options. The internet of things revolution means that our devices will have to understand our needs and make decisions on our behalf”, Manpreet explained.

As president of TalkLocal.com, a phone call matching service that connects consumers to the right local pros in about 90 seconds, Manpreet sees his clients as the types of businesses who are at risk of being left behind in the internet of things revolution; their weak online presence makes them virtually invisible to AIs and virtual assistants. He says that on-demand booking is seen as the number one way that smart devices and assistants will operate in the home services space; but low-tech businesses are the last to sign up as on-demand service providers.

TalkLocal’s AI takes service request details, submitted by either voice or via an online platform, and sends those job details to a top matching business by phone in real time. Available businesses get the automated Voice over IP phone call and free lead preview along with the option to connect with the customer live for a small flat rate. The phone-based user interface has allowed the service to reach businesses across the country, even reaching those that had never heard of the service prior to that first lead.

“TalkLocal is positioned to bridge the gap between brick and mortar local service professionals who rely on inbound calls; and the AIs and virtual assistant apps that consumers will start using in the future”, Manpreet explains.

TalkLocal has raised $4m to date, has served customers in 49 states, and recently marked its 2 millionth service request call. It offers 50 service categories including roofing (http://www.talklocal.com/roofers/), accountants and heating and  cooling.

Download the app for free on iPhone (https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/talklocal/id917671789)? and Android (https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.talklocal.app).