Speech Technology Magazine Announces 2007 Industry Awards
Speech Technology Magazine announced the recipients of the 2007 Speech Industry Awards for leadership and superior performance Aug. 22 at the 13th Annual SpeechTEK Conference and Exposition in New York.
Awards were presented to individuals and companies for extraordinary efforts made to increase awareness and acceptance of speech technologies and for outstanding accomplishments in bringing new products and services to the marketplace.
"Only the most dedicated individuals and innovative products and implementations are recognized each year at SpeechTEK," says David Myron, editor-in-chief of Speech Technology Magazine. "Expectations are very high and the industry only recognizes those accomplishments that truly stand out."
The 2007 Speech Solutions Awards included:
Speech Luminaries - Influential professionals who have advanced the causes of their respective organizations and worked tirelessly to increase awareness and acceptance of speech technologies. They were:
• Mark Randolph, chairman of the VoiceXML Forum and director of engineering and technology at Motorola;
• Michael Codini, chief technical officer at VoiceObjects;
• Elisa Elderbaum, IT project manager at National Government Services; and
• Michael Dwyer, vice president of research and development at CallMiner.
Star Performers - Standout vendors that have contributed to the industry's growth, either through innovative product or service launches, a heightened focus on speech technologies through alliances or mergers and acquisitions, or exceptional executive of an existing product or service. The winners were:
• SpeechGear;
• Microsoft;
• Verizon Business; and
• Worldly Voices.
Market Leaders - Companies that have led the industry over the past 12 months in specific categories based on polls conducted with leading industry analysts and consultants.
Speech Engine – Winner: Loquendo; Leaders: Nuance Communications and IBM; and Vendor Contender: Voxeo.
Self-Service Suite – Winner: Cisco Systems; Leaders: Avaya and West Interactive; and Vendor Contender: Intervoice.
Speech Analytics – Winner: Nexidia; Leaders: Autonomy and Verint Systems; and Vendor Contender: Utopy.
Professional Services – Winner: SpeechCycle; Leaders: West Corp. and Convergys; and Vendor Contender: Genesys Telecommunications Laboratories.
Speech Security – Winner: Agnitio; Leaders: PerSay and BBN Technologies; and Vendor Contender: Nuance Communications.
Implementation Awards - End-user companies that have garnered impressive results, including financial return, productivity gains, improved efficiencies, and better customer service, from recent speech technology deployments. They were:
• Wachovia, for an implementation of Convergys’ SpeechPort;
• Church of God Home, for an implementation of Vocollect Healthcare’s AccuNurse system;
• Telecom New Zealand, for an implementation of Tuvox’s Perfect Router; and
• Bright House Networks, for an implementation of Aspect Software’s Customer Self-Service voice portal.