PPB September 2021

sharing deals and coupons, but they’re also focused on retaining customers, and perhaps motivating that customer who tends to abandon their online cart to move forward with the purchase. The data about individual customers makes it possible for the alerts these customers receive, which are AI-integrated text messages that feel like human-to-human conversations, to provide end users with an experience that feels personalized and provides them with the answers they’re looking for—right then and there. This also means that for businesses, it’s possible to program responses to frequently-asked questions—for example, in the case of retail, about sizing, shipping or price—which can be relayed to the customer in real time. TONE technology is not only for mobile engagement, but in the medical industry, it’s being used in a very specific way: to keep track of valuable equipment and to ensure patients are doing what the doctor prescribed in order to fully recover. With a large number of patients coming and going, high-value and highly used equipment, such as wheelchairs, walkers and respirators, are commonly at risk of being lost or displaced. Facilities like hospitals and doctors’ offices, and medical device companies, can utilize the physical TONE Emitters—which would then be placed on or in the equipment being used—to keep track of its location and also how often it’s being used; something that may be applicable to health- care professionals who are managing patients’ care. TONE’s services are rooted in the collection of consumer data. The more a company knows about its customers, the more they can do to determine buying habits and push different types of deals to users based on their habits, to further grow sales. Of course, with a technology that’s “listening,” there’s associated concerns of privacy. The company assures that although TONE technology is indeed programmed to look for TONE Tags, that’s all it’s looking for, and it’s essentially “deaf” to everything else. But in order for TONE’s services to be most effective, they should be used for a consumer pool that is phone application-heavy, meaning that they are frequent or daily app users. If the application isn’t open in a customer’s phone, TONE’s services won’t be able to reach them. Brands and businesses with corresponding phone applications can work to educate their customers by informing and reminding them about the app through in-store signage, social media, email, advertising, commercials and word-of-mouth from employees, and encourage them to download the app by using an incentive, such as a coupon or exclusive deal, to do so. For more information about TONE, email info@thetoneknows.com. | SEPTEMBER 2021 | 75