Inman

Voice-activated home search available through GSAR

An Amazon Echo Dot | Photo by Amber Taufen

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On May 1, Greater Syracuse Association of Realtors (GSAR) and Central New York Information Service, Inc., announced it’s made voice-based home search available to consumers throughout its market.

Homebuyers can search for available listings and open houses in GSAR’s nine counties, and owners can inquire about the value of their home.

The voice-activated internet (VAI) search is made possible through a relationship with VoiceterPro, an Albany-based VAI software company focused on helping MLSs, brokers, and associations market their brands and services.

Amazon Echo’s Alexa and Google Home’s “Hey Google” will launch a search when asked to open or start “CNY Realtor” on either device.

“With more than 118 million American adults owning a smart speaker and millions more using Alexa and Assistant, offering voice search allows us to better serve homebuyers, sellers and our Realtors,” said Lynnore Fetyko, CEO of the Greater Syracuse Association of Realtors.

The service will not cost anything for its users, who are asked a series of general questions about location, budgets, and bed and bath requirements. An email summary will follow up the top three voice results, providing more data and website links to cnyrealtor.com.

Open house times and dates will accompany shared listings, when applicable.

VoiceterPro was developed by 30-year real estate broker Miguel Berger and his son, Ami, a software developer. It was launched in 2016 for Amazon Echo, and in 2017 became available for Google Home.

“Lynnore and her team have a forward-thinking organization that will leverage the power of voice to the benefit of the real estate professionals they serve,” the elder Berger said.

As Fetyko referred to, the rise of voice search has been tremendous in the past several years. OC&C Strategy Consultants reports that 55 percent of households are expected to own a smart speaker by 2022, a 42 percent increase from 2018.

Along with VoiceterPro, AgentNEO is another company developing VAI-software for the real estate industry.

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