The TalkLocal Live Demo at DC Tech Meetup is on Facebook Live

WASHINGTON - May 18, 2016 - PRLog -- TalkLocal, as previously announced, presented a live demo of their Amazon Echo Alexa skill, but with a twist. As expected, Gurpreet Singh and Amandeep Bakshi discussed the technology. However, in a surprise turn, three of TalkLocal's interns - Alexis Dominique, Harliv Kaur, and Prabhleen Broca- took the stage, the microphone, and the lead to demonstrate TalkLocal's capabilities before the DC Tech Meetup attendees. The entire event, from the candid expressions of pre-performance jitters to the thunderous applause of the enthusiastic audience, was caught on Facebook Livestream. The live streaming video, another unexpected surprise, was recorded by Krystal Moore who can also be seen in the video. According to co-founder and CEO Gurpreet, the three interns - two of which had only been with the team for a week - pulled off  the live demonstration with less than six hours notice and, for him, the bold move was meant to send a message about the team's high confidence in their technology.

" Alexis, Harliv, and Prabhleen; they were brave. They had little experience with the technology prior to the presentation, very little prep time, and so they took a chance and acted on faith. As CTO and CEO, I had complete confidence in our team and TalkLocal technology. The success of the presentation only confirmed it", Gurpreet explained.

The interns, taking turns interacting with Alexa, began by demonstrating Alexa's existing skill set. Alexa successfully responded when asked about the weather, the nearest Starbucks, and even her own well-being. Unfortunately, when asked to find a local plumber, Alexa responded that she didn't know. From there, the team launched the TalkLocal skill by saying "Alexa, ask TalkLocal."

To quote Alexa (as heard during the demonstration), "TalkLocal helps you connect with the best local professionals usually in minutes. Currently, TalkLocal can help you find a plumber. We will be adding services such as trash removal, painters, roofers, and others soon."

The interns then took turns demonstrating how the TalkLocal skill successfully processes and responds to a wide and complex variety of potential interactions.

Here are a few examples:

Example 1
Alexa asked:  "What do you need help with?"
User (Prabhleen) response: "I don't know"
Alexa response: "What specific service or repair do you need help with?"

Example 2:
User (Alexis) response: 'I want a peanut butter sandwich"
Alexa response: "This appears not to be a plumbing request. Please rephrase or cancel".

Example 3:
User (Harliv) response: "Alexa, I hate you"
Alexa response:  "Foul language is not appreciated. Please rephrase or cancel."

Alexa finally accepted the request only when an intern described a problem related to plumbing - a leaky faucet. Alexa then explained that TalkLocal will "analyze ratings and reviews, phone analytics, and social standing to find the best plumber" and advised that the user's phone will ring in a few seconds.

Alexis, one of the presenting interns, explained the reasoning behind all of the non-plumbing related interactions.  "As much as we wanted to just submit a request and get off the stage, we had to demonstrate the app's success in navigating the most challenging aspect of natural language processing - building an AI that expects the unexpected and responds to human nature and human error", Alexis explained.

Finally, Gurpreet took over to continue the demonstration. With TalkLocal, top-matching businesses hear a free lead preview of the job details over the phone and get the option to press 5 to speak to the customer in real time. So, as Gurpreet held a microphone to his phone's receiver, the DC Tech audience and online viewers listened to what a top-matching prospective plumber would hear when receiving a service request by phone. Immediately after the audience heard the service details recited by an automated voice, Gurpreet pressed 5 and another phone rang. Intern Prabhleen was the one who answered the phone and they briefly engaged as plumber and customer before concluding the presentation.

The TalkLocal Amazon Alexa skill will soon be available in the Alexa Skills store. TalkLocal has raised $4 million in venture and angel funds to date, served customers in 49 states, and delivered nearly 2.5 million calls to connect consumers and businesses. We currently support thousands of tasks across 50 service categories including roofing, accountants, and heating and cooling. Visit http://tinyurl.com/gurawgx to view the demo live.