June/July 1997

Magazine Features

Around the World with Voice Response

The challenge of attracting, retaining and developing relationships increases as companies expand to world markets. Each country has unique sets of technical, cultural and communications issues to overcome. Customer relationship management is an ongoing continuous improvement process being used worldwide and customers are demanding premier service delivery.

Cancelling the Noise of Wall Street

The harsh environment of trading floors, including the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, requires voice recognition solutions beyond that which the traditional recognizer can provide.

Five Steps to Developing Speech-Based Applications

Creating a natural language application can be challenging; World Bench is a new application development tool that can simplify that process. It includes speech engines and a basic lexicon that allow the developer to interactively create and test natural language applications using high-level rules which can be debugged from within the application. Since the tool supports the Scalable Language API, it is an ideal way to develop speech-based applications for new handheld systems such as those running Microsoft’s WinCE. It can also be used to develop desktop applications under Windows. World Bench also addresses the challenge of localizing natural language applications for the global market. Several language versions can be created and tested together as a single project.

Going International with Speech Applications

Developing speech applications for the expanding world market involves not only deploying the significant technological improvements of recent years, but also addressing a series of considerations uniquely encountered in multi-language speech products.

Know the Difference Between Recognition and Verification

One question speech system users need to answer before they actually make a purchase is “do I really know what I want?” Often, newcomers to the industry are confused about the difference between speech recognition and speaker verification and have expectations which are not impossible, but just inappropriate for the system they are investigating. Hopefully, the following will be helpful.

New Speaker Verification API is Announced

Technology that can make computers and applications more secure by identifying the voice of the persons using them was announced recently by the Speech Recognition API Committee, a consortium of leading technology developers and users.

Speech Recognition Hits the Street

There are few communication environments where speed, accuracy and precision are as important and difficult as live equities trading. The floor of a stock exchange is an atmosphere of barely controlled chaos where brokers need to communicate their clients’ needs in an emotionally charged, very noisy environment. It is an atmosphere where the bulls are stampeding, or the bears are growling, and there never seems to be a calm middle ground.

Typing Aloud

A “mini-corporation” that uses technologies to increase general workplace productivity and to enable people who are blind and visually impaired to run all significant aspects of a business will be featured at Adaptive Solutions ‘97, to be held later this month in New York City. Several prominent speech companies are participating.

Why Your Bank Needs To Hear Your Voice

Voice ID or Speaker Recognition represents an extraordinary opportunity to reinvent, not just reengineer, remote banking, electronic commerce and transaction processing. Voice ID will soon become the customer identification method of choice because it solves a key problem for financial institutions - meeting customer need for increased, non-intrusive security and greater convenience.

Editor's Letter

Letter from the Editor

In today's business climate, competing in the global market is more important than ever. Companies are finding that this is truly a world of opportunity for those who can deliver reliable, cost effective products and services to any corner of the globe.

Forward Thinking

Banking on Voice ID

This is the first of a series of columns that Judith Markowitz will be writing on voice ID applications, markets, technology and products.