Digital platform providers Amazon, Apple, Facebook, Google, and Microsoft are competing fiercely to find the next big method to grab more minutes of consumers’ attention. Voice control and monitoring may just be the golden ticket, claims Forrester Analyst James L. McQuivey in new research out today. “Far more than just replacing keyed-in commands, a system of voice control and monitoring — what Forrester calls ‘vox’ — will provide entirely new avenues through which to deliver value to consumers.” How so? By turning voice control into a device-bridging interface, we will go far beyond the current single-device inputs to create a persistent personal assistant available wherever the consumer is.

According to McQuivey, Amazon has the first, best shot to build — and make money from — Vox. The commerce giant has already enabled voice-based purchasing for select customers with Dash and, combined with its deep data chops and device-agnostic mentality, sits in the best position to build the strongest digital customer relationship ever.

To learn more about this research, visit the Forrester CMO blog.