Speech Technology - June 2008 - (Page 11) > > N E W S > > T R E N D S > > A N A LY S I S > > N E W S > > T R E N D S > > A N A LY S I S > > N E W S > > T R E N D S > > A N A LY S I S SOUNDBYTES >> Made-to-Order Voices A new company, Belgiumbased Acapela Voices, announced its business model and features for creating corporate personas using TTS. Voices are recorded in a studio, then tweaked and customized for use in a TTS application. The company hopes to penetrate the mobile, automotive, telecommunications, and multimedia markets. >> Microsoft Goes Beyond Ford Following the popularity of its speech-enabled applications offered as the Sync system in Ford vehicles, Microsoft announced that its embedded speech technology will also be available to other automobile companies. So far, both Hyundai and Kia have announced that Microsoft’s voice command technology will be available in select models beginning in November. Some blogs have rumored that the newest version will come equipped with navigation devices and enhanced safety features. >> Pets as Passwords? Researchers from Northumbria University and Newcastle University in Great Britain plan to develop an electronic pet that would act as a voice biometrics device. Using an electronic pet similar to a Tamagotchi, users would store their personal information within the pet rather than on a company database, and keep the pet with them at all times. This information would be activated by an owner’s voice fingerprint, as well as the user’s walking style. www.speechtechmag.com >> Aussies Prefer Automation Computerworld Australia reported on a survey that showed one in three Australian customers prefers speech recognition over actual human interaction. Conducted by Callcentres.net and commissioned by Nuance Communications, the study found that customer satisfaction with speech recognition has increased 11 percent since 2005. Researchers said improvements in speech recognition and open dialogue led to the higher scores. >> More TTS for Mac Loquendo’s TTS technology is now compatible with Apple’s Mac OS X starting at version 10.4. Using Loquendo’s TTS Pronunciation Lexicon developers can control abbreviations, regional accents, and other specialized vocabulary by tuning the synthetic voice’s speed, pitch, and volume. According to Loquendo, its TTS configuration can be deployed in a variety of software architectures and works with server-based, multimodal, and embedded applications. >> Eureka! I’ve Found It! CallMiner released the sixth generation of Eureka!, its speech analytics solution. This incarnation of Eureka! is primarily geared to deliver results for large-scale, enterprise-level installations. CallMiner believes this release emphasizes the product’s scalability. According to CallMiner cofounder and chief technology officer Jeff Gallino, Eureka! had already been successfully deployed for a few years; he cites Daimler Financial Services Americas and Evanston Northwestern Healthcare as customers. >> More Mobile Partnerships Audiopoint partnered with Innovectra, provider of online advertising technology, to enhance the latter’s ActivImpact offering with a new speech platform. This voice service, marketed as Activ411, allows Innovectra to provide voice access to its Webbased publisher’s directory data and services via both standard and mobile phones. >> BBC for All The BBC announced that all shows on all of its main channels are now subtitled to accommodate the hearing-impaired, marking the completion of a commitment made back in 1999. The first BBC subtitled program, a documentary about deaf children, was assisted by Ceefax software and premiered in 1979. The BBC’s latest move to subtitle all programs required the development of new speech recognition technology built over the original software. The BBC now offers 50,000 subtitled programs a year. >> Exploring More UC Speech-to-text provider SpinVox announced the appointment of two executives who will spearhead its unified communications business. The British company named Todd Woodstra vice president of global unified communications sales and Brian Tyler unified communications business development manager. SpinVox has already sought to position itself to take advantage of this market. In February, it released JUNE 2008 CallMail for Call Centers and Enterprise Voicemail—two major components in the company’s unified communications portfolio. >> Self-Help Solutions Microsoft announced its new entrant in the self-help/ e-service channel: the Automated Service Agent (ASA) solution. Built on core technology from Colloquis, ASA is an online support solution that enables organizations to add another facet to customer service. Instead of simply offering a Frequently Asked Questions page on a Web site, ASA uses Microsoft’s natural language technology to communicate conversationally with customers and deliver accurate replies. >> VoiceXML Propels IVR Sales Analyst firm Datamonitor released a report stating that the number of VoiceXML-based IVR ports shipped will surpass traditional IVR ports. The firm predicted that worldwide IVR license investments will increase from $475 million in 2006 to $845 million by 2012. In addition, by 2009 almost 69 percent of IVR shipments will be VoiceXML-based platforms. >> Speechifying UC Avaya selected Nuance Communications’ speech recognition technology to supplement the Modular Messaging 4.0 offering in its one-X Speech package. The program allows users to interface and manage their email, voicemail, and scheduling tasks over the phone. One-X Speech was designed to increase employee productivity in hands-busy, eyes-busy environments. Speech Technology | 11 http://Callcentres.net http://www.speechtechmag.com
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