Voice-Driven Technology is Focus of ASAT

The latest developments and applications of speech recognition, text-to-speech, speaker voice verification and other advanced speech technologies will be the focus of the fourth annual Advanced Speech Applications & Technologies (ASAT) Conference, April 14-16 at the San Francisco Airport Marriott in Burlingame, CA. An increasing number of industries are finding many practical uses for speech recognition as the technology becomes more accessible and affordable. Conference sessions and workshops will focus on how these applications can lead to better customer service and communication in many industries including banking, manufacturing, healthcare, law and government. This year’s program is to be highlighted by keynote addresses from Alan Nathan, Vice President at Charles Schwab & Company and Anne Marie Derouault, Worldwide Speech Sales and Marketing Executive at IBM Corporation. Nathan’s presentation, scheduled for Tuesday, April 15, will reportedly be an examination of how Charles Schwab & Company integrated the VoiceBroker into its customers service program. “Making Speech Recognition Work: A Report from the Front Lines,” will describe the analysis that led to the requirements for the service, the issues that arose as it was developed and tested, and how they were solved. VoiceBroker, a telephone service using speech recognition technology to provide stock, mutual fund and market indicator information to retail customers, was developed for Schwab by Nuance Communications. The VoiceBroker understands and responds to inquiries on every security listed on the New York Stock Exchange and the NASDAQ system. Nathan is responsible for the development and marketing of VoiceBroker. His prior positions at Schwab included various responsibilities for technology, research and development and strategic planning. On Wednesday, April 15, Dr. Derouault is scheduled to speak on “Speech Recognition - Toward a Pervasive Interface on PCs”. She will examine the need for speech recognition integration on PCs and related products. She will also indicate the necessary stages of integration and what progress has been made toward achieving it. Based in Paris, Dr. Derouault directs all world-wide marketing and sales efforts for IBM’s speech recognition business, including managing the European sales strategies, directing the development and release of speech recognition applications and speech recognition research and development. Dr. William Meisel, president of TMA Associates, a consulting firm and the editor of Speech Recognition Update, an industry newsletter, is the ASAT program organizer. Dr. Meisel will also speak at the conference, giving his analysis of the state of the industry session Tuesday morning. He will summarize the market forces that are driving speech recognition and examine a number of market and technological barriers. Attendees will learn what speech recognition products are technically feasible today, what products customers are buying, what the direction of today’s market is, as well as learning Dr. Meisel’s predictions for the future. The ASAT Exposition will showcase more than 35 leading manufacturers and technology integrators who will present their products and services including speech recognition systems and solutions, speech recognition hardware and software, text-to-speech, multilingual speech recognition and more. For more information about ASAT, contact David White at Advanstar Expositions, 201 E. Sandpointe Ave., Suite 600, Santa Ana, CA. 92707-5761 or at 714 513-8646.