Featured Research
Speech-enabled services abound for owners of high-end “smartphones,” but the newest version of Nuance Voice Control delivers the promise of conversational access to owners of “feature phones.” This expands the reach of conversational access to 80% of the subscriber base.
Featured Research
The Virtual Launch Event that Microsoft held for Office Communications Server 2007 R2 was a technical triumph. Without leaving their desks or home offices, attendees could see case studies and visit virtual trade show booths. Plus, Microsoft got its mixed message across: PBXs, IVRs and their equivalents are “dead ends.” But PBX makers and routing specialists remain key partners.
When Nuance licensed selected speech processing patents and support services from IBM Labs, it marked a new phase for speech-enabled solutions. Nuance will target delivery of server-side and embedded product innovations in a couple of years. Meanwhile, IBM continues to market WebSphere Voice Server and Embedded to existing clients, prospects and go-to-market partners worldwide.
Voxeo continues to use its cash flow in acquiring firms whose software and technology expand geographic scope and create greater business potential to its developer community. The acquisition of VoiceObjects delivers on Voxeo’s promise of openness, strict adherence to standards and multi-vendor support to the application layer of the solution stack.
Tellme’s new partnership initiative — embracing NEC, Dimension Data, Aspect Software, Gold Systems, Servion and others — marks a transformational change in business strategy and company identity. In 1999, Tellme was arguably the first, and certainly the most ambitious, voice portal and ASP, defining premium voice services for both enterprise customer care and service provider content delivery. In its quest for “scale” it has become wholesale platform for medium-sized enterprises.
A Philippine government employee pension program serving 1.5 million people in the Philippine Islands has become a showcase for voice biometric-based authentication to enable loan applications and payment distribution. At Voice Biometrics Conference London 2008, Jean Bengo, vice president of the Government Service Insurance System, shared the organization’s experience and delivered insights into both its origins and technological underpinnings.
Signaling that speech recognition on the iPhone has reached acceptable levels, Google’s roster of mobile apps has expanded to include support of spoken search terms on iPhones. Other smartphones, including BlackBerries, G-1 and other Android platforms, will follow in short order.
Version 2 of Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 was introduced in Amsterdam earlier in October. Halfway around the world, in Boulder, CO, Gold Systems is already living Microsoft’s dream of moving all its voice traffic into the IP “cloud” while enabling all employees to take advantage of VoIP- and SIP-based routing tricks.
Amid nearly universal bad news surrounding gas prices, stock prices, real-estate prices, etc., speech processing technologies and associated applications and software are in growth mode. SpeechTEK 2008 served as an ideal venue to take stock in the factors driving growth as speech technologies better integrate with IT components and move closer to the critical path of competitive businesses. Companies highlighted in the advisory include: Genesys, Voxeo, Nexidia, IBM, Syntellect, and Nuance.
Application developers are packing the iPhone App Store with a wide variety of crowd pleasers and time-wasters that take advantage of the flat screen, multi-touch navigation and gravitometer. Automated speech processing is just beginning to enter the mix, but has a good deal of catching up to do.