Recent Posts - page 165

  • Soft Launch for Google’s Free DA: 1-800-GOOG411

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    The soft launch of 1-800-GOOG411 signals that Google, Inc. will vie with Microsoft (with Tellme), AT&T (with Nuance and others) and Jingle Networks in defining how directory assistance will morph from caller-paid, limited-function, query-and-response to an advertiser-supported, search/find/transact model. By 2010, advertiser support of free DA could capture roughly $3 billion of the $9 billion spent by advertisers and end-users for speech-enabled mobile search. Yahoo! is yet to be heard from.

  • Voice Biometrics in 2007: Scaling Up for the Mass Market

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    Even with a potential FFIEC mandate for phone-based multifactor authentication on the horizon and the insidious cost of fraud continuing to rise, the question remains: Are voice biometrics ready for mass adoption? All directional indicators point to “Yes,” as does a growing roster of implementers and prospects. Speaker verification solutions have the potential to raise customer satisfaction while conforming to the strictures of “strong” authentication. A multitude of solutions providers are emerging to support two-factor authentication for telephone banking that remains cost-effective by leveraging existing CRM, Web services and security infrastructures.

  • Wall Street Journal – March 14, 2007

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    Excerpt: Web-based voice services are still a relatively new field. The industry has so far been populated by small specialists, but is ripe for consolidation, says Dan Miller, an analyst at Opus Research Inc. of San Francisco. Companies spent $1.12… Read More ›

  • Investor’s Business Daily – March 14, 2007

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    Excerpt: Most of Tellme’s business today involves providing automated call center services for companies such as E-Trade, (ETFC) FedEx (FDX) and Merrill Lynch. (MER) But the acquisition is really a “mobile play” for Microsoft, said Dan Miller, an analyst with… Read More ›

  • Microsoft Buys Tellme Networks, Becomes SEMS Prototype

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    With its acquisition of Tellme Networks, Microsoft enters the realm of speech-enabled mobile search (SEMS) in a very big way. Heated competition among search leaders (Google and Yahoo!) and speech processing partnerships (Nuance and IBM) should accelerate now, with mobile subscribers benefiting from stepped up innovation. But uncertainty remains in the role of wireless carriers and the structure of targeted advertising sales.

  • A New Day for Enhanced DA: Nuance Preps to Take on Tellme

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    Nuance’s purchase of BeVocal signals that a race is on to build the optimal platform for automated handling of speech-enabled search, especially from mobile subscribers. The $8 billion+ market for automated directory assistance will be the first battleground. Today, Tellme is the market leader, but Nuance and partners are positioning themselves to gain market share while focusing on the longer term opportunities for speech-enabled mobile search (SEMS).

  • Assessing the Speech-Enabled, Mobile Landscape

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    Embedded speech made quite a splash at last week’s 3GSM World Congress in Barcelona, Spain. Nuance, IBM, VoiceSignal and Tellme Networks have rallied sufficient participation among wireless carriers, device makers and content providers to get a significant percentage of the general public using spoken commands to message, search and take command of their mobile resources.

  • Business 2.0 – February 2007

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    Excerpt: The overall market for voice-recognition technology topped $1 billion for the first time in 2006, a 100 percent increase in just two years. Within that broad market, there are numerous subsectors that are likewise surging: The market for server-based… Read More ›

  • View from RSA 2007: Voice Biometrics Have Much to Prove

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    Attending this year’s RSA Conference gave us the chance to gauge the security community’s perception and acceptance of voice biometrics. Bottom line: Security officers and solution vendors remain skeptical of speaker verification as a strong authentication solution. It’s up to the vendor community to connect-the-dots for security advocates by making it clear that biometrics figure into security solutions and, where phones are concerned, voice biometrics fit the bill.

  • CAT Foundations 2007: Making Speech Matter

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    In an era of tepid IT spending growth (a modest 5%-7% for 2007, according to most estimates), speech-enabled self-service and associated application software and services is growing in excess of 20%. Much of the growth is a reflection of top management’s heavy involvement in technology purchases. Executives now find that a higher return on investment (ROI) and lower total cost of ownership (TCO) result from effectively deploying self-service resources that leverage IP-telephony and Web services investments, extending speech processing access over traditional telephones and mobile devices.